Evaluation of the Industrial and Medicinal Values of Oil Extracted From Neem Seed

Abstract

Aladekoyi Gbenga, Ajayi I O and Olatunji T

Neem seed (Azadirachta indica) is a medicinal plant which is exclusively tropical in distribution. Traditionally India medicine regards the plant in high esteem. The fatty acid composition of Neem seed oil were: Myristic acid (C14:0) (64.5842) as the highest saturated fatty acid ,Oleic acid (C18:1)(5.3124) as the only highest monounsaturated fatty acid, Linoleic acid (C18:2)(2.6041) and Linolenic acid (C18:3)(0.9938) as the only polyunsaturated fatty acid present. Physicochemical properties of the extracted oil were investigated and their physical characteristics indicated that Oil extracted from Azadirachta indica is light green in color with bitter taste, percentage yield of 43.500%, Specific gravity of 0.8943 and Refractive index of 1.4610 respectively. The chemical characteristic of oil from Neem seed were Acid valve (mglg), (6.7320±0.01), free fatty acid (% oleic)(1.8984±0.01), saponification valve (mglg),(58.9050±0.02), Iodine valve (mglg),(16.2432±0.01), and peroxide valve (mmo1/kg)(104.0000±0.02) respectively. The antibacterial activity of the oil from Azadirachta indica was tested against five pathogenic organism and their zone of inhibition indicated that the oil was susceptible to Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas spp, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and resistance to Proteus ssp. The values in millimeter were Escherichia coli (2.00±0.01), Staphylococcus aureus(5.00±0.02), Pseudomonas spp( 7.00±0.02), Klebsiella pneumonas(2.00±0.01) and no zone of inhibition against Proteus spp. This study revealed that the oil extracts from neem seed is a useful source of drug for the treatment of pathogenic organism like Pseudomonas spp and Staphylococcus aureus which are most resistance to some antibiotics drugs.

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