Abstract

Determination of the minor components in any botanical source is of great importance in establishing the extract of oil quality and its validity. n-Hexane extracted Sesbania grandiflora seed oil was investigated for its tocopherol and phytosterol contents. Total tocopherol content in seed oil is 258.21 mg/100 g, which shows its great potential as an antioxidant agent while occurrence of phytosterol shows that it have potentially anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic activities. Vegetable oils are the richest dietary source of phytosterols therefore presence of significant amount of sterols followed by maximum percentage of β-sitosterol (74.06 ± 2.61), indicates that it can be utilized as a raw material for the production of steroid hormones and manufacturing cosmetic products. We have also performed proximate analysis such as moisture content, ash value, protein and carbohydrate detections to establish the quality control of seeds.

Key words: Phytosterol, proximate analysis, tocopherol, Sesbania grandiflora Vegetable oil.