Abstract

Kenyan tea (Camellia sinensis) is widely grown for its leaves and is commercialized as black tea. Product diversification and value addition is currently an area of great interest. This study provides data on the physico-chemical properties of Kenyan tea seed oil from selected clones of tea seeds to ascertain its potential applications. Soxhlet extraction using hexane was employed to obtain tea seed oil followed by chemical analysis to assess its properties. Oil yield, iodine value, saponification value, peroxide value, free fatty acids, total polyphenols and antioxidant activity were determined. The oil yields ranged between 16 to 25% w/w. Iodine value was in the range of 86 to 91 g I₂/100 g, peroxide value < 3.5 meq O₂/kg, saponification value between 182 to 187 mg KOH/g, free fatty acid < 1.5% oleic acid, total polyphenols 0.036 to 0.043 mg/L gallic acid and antioxidant activity of between 14 to 21% 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity. Tea seed oil is stable and can be a potential source of natural antioxidants.

Key words: Tea seed oil, iodine value, saponification value, peroxide value, free fatty acids, total polyphenols, antioxidant activity.