Effect of Refining and Fractionation Processes on Minor Components, Fatty Acids, Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities of Shea Butter.

Shea butter is becoming increasingly popular in foods, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. This work aims to study the effect of the refining process on the quality and stability of fractionated and mixed shea butters. Crude shea butter, refined shea stearin, olein and their mixture (1:1 w/w) were analyzed for fatty acids, triacylglycerol composition, peroxide value (PV), free fatty acids (FFA), phenolic (TPC), flavonoid (TFC), unsaponifiable matter (USM), tocopherol and phytosterol content. Additionally, the oxidative stability, radical scavenging activity (RSA), antibacterial and antifungal activities were evaluated. The two main fatty acids in the shea butter samples were stearic and oleic. The refined shea stearin showed lower PV, FFA, USM, TPC, TFC, RSA, tocopherol and sterol content than crude shea butter. A higher EC50 was observed, but antibacterial activity was much lower. The refined olein fraction was characterized by lower PV, FFA and TFC in comparison with crude shea butter, but USM, TPC, RSA, EC50, tocopherol and sterol content was unchanged. The antibacterial activity was higher, but the antifungal activity was lower than those of crude shea butter. When both fractions were mixed, their fatty acid and triacylglycerol composition were similar to those of crude shea butter, but other parameters were different.

Production of ethoxylated fatty acids derived from Jatropha non-edible oil as a nonionic fat-liquoring agent.

Natural fatty derivatives (oleochemicals) have been used as intermediate materials in several industries replacing the harmful and expensive petrochemicals. Fatty ethoxylates are one of these natural fatty derivatives. In the present work Jatropha fatty acids were derived from the non edible Jatropha oil and used as the fat source precursor. The ethoxylation process was carried out on the derived fatty acids using a conventional cheap catalyst (K2CO3) in order to obtain economically and naturally valuable non-ionic surfactants. Ethoxylation reaction was proceeded using ethylene oxide gas in the presence of 1 or 2% K2CO3 catalyst at 120 and 145°C for 5, 8 and 12 hours. The prepared products were evaluated for their chemical and physical properties as well as its application as non- ionic fat-liquoring agents in leather industry. The obtained results showed that the number of ethylene oxide groups introduced in the fatty acids as well as their EO% increased as the temperature and time of the reaction increased. The highest ethoxylation number was obtained at 145°C for 8 hr. Also, the prepared ethoxylated products were found to be effective fat-liquors with high HLB values giving stable oil in water emulsions. The fat-liquored leather led to an improvement in its mechanical properties such as tensile strength and elongation at break. In addition, a significant enhancement in the texture of the treated leather by the prepared fat-liquors as indicated from the scanning electron microscope (SEM) images was observed.