A Novel Extraction Method and Some Physicochemical Properties of Extractives of Irvingia Gabonensis Seeds

The plant Irvingia gabonensis contains lipids and polymer extractives that can be a good source of excipients for oral pharmaceutical formulations. These constituents are usually extracted fromthe seeds with the aid of either organic solvents or enzymes. The purpose of this paper was to describe a novel, simpler, cheaper, and safer method for the simultaneous extraction of lipids and gum from I. gabonensis. A 100.0 g of seeds of I. gabonensis in 200 mLdeionized water was heated at 78 °C in the presence of 2.0 g sodium Chloride for 1 h, and the mixture was allowed to stand for the lipids to be separated and removed by filtration. The samples were air dried at 25-30 °C. The liquid fraction was centrifuged at 3445 rpm for 30 min, and the supernatant portion containing the gum wasfreeze dried. The samples were investigated fortheirtrue, bulk, and tapped densities as well as particle size and particle size distributions. The rheological, and near infrared absorption spectra as well as thermal behaviorofthe samples were also studied. The lipid and the polymeric components of I. gabonensis seeds were successfully extracted simultaneously. The true densities ofthe fatty and gum components were, respectively, 1.000 and 1.544 g/cm3. The melting point ofthe fat was 40 °C and Tg ofthe gum was 232 °C. These values were similar to those described in the literature for the components using the traditional method, demonstrating the effectiveness and efficiency of this simple novel method.