Physicochemical Properties, Fatty Acid Composition and Antimicrobial Potential of Turk’s Cap (Croton penduliflorus) Seed Oil

Physicochemical properties, fatty acid composition and antimicrobial potential of Croton penduliflorus seed oils were investigated using standard methods. Physicochemical properties of whole and dehulled seed oils were; colour (dull cinnamon- brown colour and cinnamon- brown colour), specific gravity (0.79 and 0.80), refractive index (1.46 and 1.46), acid value (14.5 and 23.6) mgKOH/g, free fatty acid (7.3 and 11.7) as oleic acid, peroxide value (1.14 and 1.60) meq/kg, iodine value (96.20 and 88.32) mg/g, saponification value (162.69 and 169.70) mg/g, and unsaponifiable matter (0.97 and 1.43) % respectively. The fatty acid compositions of whole and dehulled seed oils respectively were; stearic (2.9 and 4.8) %, myristic (0.3 and 0.7) %, palmitic (25.2 and 26.1) %, oleic (36.4 and 37.2) %, linoleic (25.4 and 27.5) %, linolenic (0.2 and 0.3) % and arachidic acid (0.1 and 0.2) %. The fatty acid of whole and dehulled seeds contain high amount of nutritionally valuable unsaturated fatty acids especially in dehulled seed oil. The oils exhibited high antimicrobial properties which suggest their application in controlling or treatment of various bacterial and fungal infections.