ABSTRACT

Phytochemicals are chemical compounds produced by plants, generally to help them thrive or thwart competitors, predators, or pathogens. These chemicals are produced by plants through primary or secondary metabolism (Breslin A,2017) . 

These work was done to determining the presence of phytochemicals such as Tannins, Saponin, Alkaloids, Anthraquinone, Phlobatannins, Flavonoids and  Cardiac Glycosides (e.g Steroidal Ring or Terpenoids and cardenolide) from oil extracted from moringa oleifera and neem seeds and leaves. The extraction was done at varying temperature of 70 oC,60 oC,50 oC,40 oC and 30oC respectively , agitation speed of 30 rpm,60 rpm,90 rpm,120 rpm and 150rpm, concentration of 1.0, 1.25, 1.67, 2.50 and 5.00 ml of nhexane/ml of water respectively and contact time of 24hrs, 48 hrs, 72 hrs, 96 hrs and 120 hrs. Each parameters showed  direct variation effect on the yield of oil for each seed samples where an increase in each parameters caused a direct increase in the yield. The phytochemicals present in each oil sample were obtained qualitatively and as such saponin, steroid and flavonoid were found to be present in all then samples whereas tannin was found present in only the leaf of moringa and seed of neem, Alkaloid was found in neem seeds alone and Phlobatannins was absent in all the samples. 

It was concluded from results obtained that moringa seed has a higher oil yield compared to neem seed and the leaves of each sample produced no oil.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Title page i

Letter of transmittal ii

Certification iii

Dedication iv

Acknowledgment v

Abstract vi

Table of content vii

List of Tables x

List of Figures xi  

CHAPTER ONE 1

1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY 1

1.2 PHYTOCHEMICALS 2

1.2.1 ACTIVITY OF PHYTOCHEMICALS 2

1.3 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM 3

1.4 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 3

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY 4

1.6  SCOPE OF STUDY 4

1.7  ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF MORINGA OLEIFERA AND NEEM 4

1.8 LIMITATIONS 5

CHAPTER TWO 6

2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.2 PHYTOCHEMICALS 7

2.2.1 Definition 8

2.2.2  History of uses 8

2.2.3 Functions 9

2.2.4 Consumer and industry guidance 9

2.2.5 Effects of food processing 10

2.2.6 Types of Phytochemicals 11

2.3 MORINGA OLEIFERA 13

2.3.1 Botanical description, distribution, and production 14

2.3.2 Phytochemical composition 15

2.3.3  Cultivation 17

2.3.4 Production area 18

2.3.5 Soil preparations 19

2.3.6  Oil 19

2.3.7  USES OF MORINGA 19

2.4  NEEM 19

2.4.1 DESCRIPTION 20

2.4.2 Ecology 20

2.4.3 Weed status 20

2.4.4 USES 21

CHAPTER THREE 24

3.0 EXPERIMENTAL MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT 24

3.1 MATERIALS 24

3.1.1  APPARATUS 24

3.2 METHODS 25

3.2.1 Sample collection and preparation 25

3.2.2 Seed Preparation 25

3.2.3 Extraction of oil 25

3.3 PHYTOCHEMICAL TESTS 26

3.3.1 Test for Tannins 26

3.3.2 Test for Saponin 27

3.3.3 Test for Alkaloids 27

3.3.4 Anthraquinone Determination 27

3.3.5 Test for Phlobatannins 27

3.3.6 Test for Flavonoids 28

3.3.7 Salkowski Test for Cardiac Glycosides (Steroidal Ring or Terpenoids) 28

3.1 FOURIERS TRANSFORM INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY ANALYSIS 28

CHAPTER FOUR 29

4.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 29

4.1 RESULTS 29

4.1.1 Determination of moisture content of seeds 29

4.2 YIELD OF OIL FROM SAMPLE OF SEED AND LEAF FOR BOTH MORINGA AND NEEM 30

4.3 PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS (QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE) 31

4.4  Fouriers Transform Infrared Spectroscopy 32

4.5 GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF YIELD OF OIL FROM SAMPLE OF SEED AND LEAF FOR BOTH MORINGA AND NEEM 36

4.6 Functional group analysis of Moringa Oleifera (Moringaceae) by FTIR spectrum 38

4.7 DISCUSSION 40

CHAPTER FIVE 42

5.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 42

5.1 CONCLUSION 42

5.1 RECOMMENDATION 43

References 44