| Abstract: | ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: This study was done to obtain concentrated polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) linoleic acid (LA; 18:2) and monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) oleic acid (OA; 18:1) from Jatropha curcas seed oil by urea complexation. Urea complexation is a method used by researchers to separate fatty acids (FAs) based on their molecular structure. Effects the ratio of urea-to-FAs, crystallization temperature and crystallization time on the final products of urea complexation were examined. D-optimal Design was employed to study the significance of these factors and the optimum conditions for the technique were predicted and verified. RESULTS: Optimum conditions of the experiment to obtain maximum concentration of LA were predicted at urea-to-FAs ratio (w/w) of 5:1, crystallization temperature of 10 C and 24 h of crystallization time. Under these conditions, the final non-urea complex fraction (NUCF) was predicted to contain 92.81% of LA with the NUCF yield of 7.8%. The highest percentage of OA (56.14%) was observed for samples treated with 3:1 urea-to-FAs ratio (w/w) at 10 C for 16 h. The lowest percentage of LA (8.84%) was incorporated into urea complex fraction (UCF) with 1:1 urea-to-FAs ratio (w/w) at 10 C for 8 h. CONCLUSIONS: The separation of PUFA (LA) and MUFA (OA) described here. Experimental variables should be carefully controlled in order to recover a maximum content of PUFA and MUFA of interest with reasonable yield% with a desirable purity of fatty acid of interest. |
