Proximate Analysis of Proton Seed Oil

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Croton is an extensive flowering plant genus in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, established by Carl Linnaeus in 1737. The plants of this genus were described and introduced to Europeans by George Eberhard Rumphius. The common names for this genus are rush foil and croton, but the latter also refers to Codiaeum variegatum. The generic name comes from the Greek κροτον (kroton), which means "tick" and refers to the shape of the seeds of certain species (Gledhill, 2008).
1.0 DESCRIPTION OF CROTON SEED
Croton seeds are commonly known as Turk 's Cap (Yoruba; Awororoso, Igbo; Ogwuaki or Aki Ozura) thought to originate from Malaysia. The croton plant is a tropical evergreen plant widely distributed in southern part of Nigeria. The seeds are of a dull cinnamon-brown colour and oblong outline; they are about 12 mm. in length, and resemble castor seeds in size and shape, though, they are rather more angular in transverse section, the ventral and dorsal surfaces being separated by a prominent line. The kernel is yellowish and oily, and consists of a large endosperm enclosing papery cotyledons and a small radicle. The kernel is oily in nature and has an unpleasant acidic taste. The seeds have no marked odour (chestofbooks.com).

A labelled diagram of the croton seed (Croton penduliflorus) is shown below. Fig. 1.0 Labelled diagram of the internal structure of croton seed
1.1 ASSESSMENT OF THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF CROTON SEED OIL EXTRACT
Croton seeds contain about 50 per cent of fixed oil which possesses violent cathartic and vesicant properties due to a resinous constituent and croton-resin (Dunstan, 1895). The seeds also contain the toxic albumoses; croton-globulin and croton-albumin, which together are also known as crotin, and resemble ricin. Croton oil is brownish yellow and slightly fluorescent. The oil is less dense than water and insoluble in water. It consists of a mixture of esters (the glycerides

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