Abstract

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The quality assessment of palm oil samples from four (4) locations across Benue State, Nigeria was conducted. From the analysis carried out, the free fatty acid value of Makurdi, Otukpo, Naka, and Ugbokolo oil samples were; 2.2 %, 2.5 %, 1.8 % and 4.1 % respectively. Apart from the Ugbokolo oil sample, the rest have acid values within the stipulated range. The iodine values were respectively 46.3 mg/L, 48.4 mg/L, 47.1 mg/L and 444.8 mg/L for Makurdi, Otukpo, Naka and Ugbokolo. Apart from Ugbokolo sample, the rest samples indicated that the oils contained the right proportion of fatty acids. The saponification values were; 191.5 mg/g, 197.4 mg/g 204.2 mg/g and 206.6 mg/g for Makurdi, Otukpo, Naka and Ugbokolo towns respectively. Makurdi sample fell short of the stipulated range which may be due to the high amount of unsaponifiable. Ugbokolo sample was slightly higher than the stipulated range indicating that it has lower amount of unsaponifiable matter. While Otukpo and Naka samples gave good values The peroxide values were; 5.6 mg/kg, 11.7 mg/kg, 6.9 mg/kg and 9.1mg/kg for Makurdi, Otukpo, Naka and Ugbokolo samples respectively. Apart from the oil obtained from Otukpo, the rest gave good results. The slightly higher value of Otukpo sample indicates that the oil is susceptible to oxidation. The moisture content of Makurdi sample was obtained as 0.0 %, 4.5 % for Otukpo sample, 5.0 % for Naka sample and 2.6 % for Ugbokolo sample. Apart from Makurdi, the rest were higher than the stipulated values. The value of the Makurdi sample clearly indicates that there was no dissolved water.

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