EFFECT OF OIL EXTRACTION ON CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF BALLNUT KERNEL (CALOPHYLLUM INOPHYLLUM) MEAL FOR MONOGASTRICS

Abstract

Feeding poultry and pigs by farmers in Nigeria is becoming difficult due to high cost of compounded feeds. In the recent time, farmers have been using feed alternatives. Knowledge of utilizing bullnut as feedstuff is scanty Hence, this study was carried out to evaluate the effect of oil extraction on chemical composition of ballnut kernel meal. Mature ballnut fruits were harvested and processed for milling. The milled seeds in the first group were stored in an airtight container and labeled "full fat ballnut cake," while the second group was transferred into a simple screw press to extract the oil. The
oil-extracted ballnut cake was further divided into two sub-groups; the first sub-group was stored in another airtight plastic container and tagged "mechanically defatted ballnut kernel cake." The second sub-group was subjected to chemical oil extraction using petroleum ether. Proximate, phytochemical, and fatty acid compositions of the samples were determined. Data were subjected to analysis of variance using General Linear Model (GLM) procedures of GenStat 14th edition. The results of proximate analysis showed that chemical extraction method increased the crude protein of ballnut
kernel meal from 19.73% to 28.28%, crude fibre from 2.80% to 4.45%, and ash from 4.17% to 5.47%. Concentration of flavonoids, tannins, and cyanide were increased with the chemical oil extraction method to 13.25%, 26.83% and 20.74%, respectively. It can be concluded that the chemical method improved the chemical composition of ballnut kernel meal relative to other methods.