Abstract

The paper reviewed the chemical properties of seed and seed oil of okra. Various published articles on chemical composition of seed and seed oil of okra were reviewed. The reported values of the proximate composition of okra seed ranged from 2.69 to 13.99%, 18.96 to 41.11%, 14.01 to 31.04%, 3.20 to 30.81%, 3.42 to 5.68% and 6.69 to 36.83% for moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre, ash and carbohydrate, respectively. The chemical composition of okra seed oil varied from 3.21 to 12.77meq/Kg, 113.57 to 127.20g/100g, 2.37 to 3.74%, 183.10 to 196.30mg KOH/g, and 4.18 to 35.99mg KOH/g for peroxide value, iodine value, free fatty acid, saponification value and acid value respectively. The fatty acid composition of the seed oil were found to be 0.19 to 0.38%, 21.97 to 30.42%, 0.31 to 0.98%,2.64 to 4.75%, 16.81 to 27.49%, 36.56 to 49.54%, 0.17 to 2.64% and 0.16 to 0.52% for myristic, palmitic, palmitoleic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, linolenic and behenic acids respectively. The review revealed that okra seed has high crude protein, crude fibre, crude fat and carbohydrate contents with appreciable level of other nutrients such as iron, magnesium, manganese, zinc, calcium, copper and phosphorus. The major saturated fatty acids in okra seed oil are palmitic acid and stearic acid while unsaturated fatty acids are linoleic acid and oleic acid. The review indicated that okra seed could be used for fortification/supplementation in food system while okra seed oil which is edible could be useful in food system especially in shortening and margarine industries.

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