DETERMINATION OF QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE FATTY ACID COMPOSITION OF Parkia biglobbossa SEED OIL USING TWO DIFFERENT ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES

Gas chromatography (GC) and high resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic techniques were used to determine the qualitative and quantitative fatty acid composition of Parkia biglobbossa seed oil. The results obtained from GC, 13C NMR and 1H NMR methods were compared using statistical analysis of one way analysis of variance and there was no significant difference in all the percentages obtained for both saturated and unsaturated fatty acid (P> 0.05). The result showed that 1H NMR, 13C NMR and GC techniques could be used for determination of the saturated and unsaturated fatty acid composition of P. biglobbossa. NMR may therefore be more suitable because it is reliable, less time consuming and not laborious compared to other classical methods.