Investigation the effect of different solvents on the oil extraction of castor beans (Ricinus communis L.)

Castor oil identified as a potential resource for different pharmaceutical, chemical and industrial utilization due to its physiochemical properties, which attracted the attention of many researchers. In this study, the influence of various solvents such as methanol, acetone and n-hexane on the yield of castor oil extraction was investigated. For this purpose, Soxhlet extraction method was used to generate oil from castor been (Ricinus communis L.). After determining the solvent with high yield of oil extraction, further evaluation was conducted on the best solvent. The result demonstrated that castor seeds contain a high oil percentage and the mixture of methanol-acetone solvents (ratio equal to 2) with the yield of 50.96%, has a high strength to extract the oil. Furthermore, the physiochemical properties and fatty acid structure of castor oil were analyzed

Keywords:

Castor oil seed , Solvent extraction , physicochemical properties , Ricinus communis