Network for the Valorization of Plant Materials (VPMA)

Rubber seed oil (Nigeria)
(92-1003)

Principal investigators: 
Dr. Ikpendu C. Ononogbu: University of Nigeria, Nsukka (Nigeria)
E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]
Dr. Y. J. Owusu-Ansah (Deceased), POS Pilot Plant Corp., Saskatoon (Canada) 

In Nigeria, the Rubber Seed Oil (Nigeria) Project aimed at processing rubber seed oil into a drying oil suitable for use in paint manufacture in Nigeria, as an alternative raw material to linseed oil which is imported. The project had also to evaluate the possibilities of producing emulsifiers from the hydrolytic fractions of the oil. Women's cooperatives and rural communities, as well as small industries, were to benefit from the developed technology for the production of oil and from the manufacture of drying oil and emulsifiers. The project carried out various extraction procedures (solvent extraction, screw press,partial press/solvent and enzyme assisted mechanical pressing) and determined the fatty acids composition of the oil. The project could produce an emulsifier from the oil which gave stable emulsions while the alkyd resins obtained had good drying properties and gave high quality oil paints and varnishes. Workshops were held to introduce the local farmers and entrepreneurs to the technology of rubberseed oil production and utilization. At the same time the project tried to create awareness and to focus attention on the various industrial uses of rubber seed oil. An indigenous company has been selected as the centre for technological transfer of the processes.