Abstract
There is paucity of information on the bioactive chemical compounds present in oil extracted from seeds of Dacroydes edulis. Against the backdrop of the foregoing, this present study was aimed at identifying and quantifying bioactive chemical compounds present in the oil of D. edulis seeds. The research was carried out in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Oil was extracted from seeds of D. edulis, with -hexane being used as extracting solvent. The process of oil extraction was carried out at 60 C. Using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), bioactive compounds present in the oil of D. edulis seeds were identified and quantified. The yield of oil extracted from D. edulis seeds was 40.1%. A total of thirty-two (32) bioactive chemical compounds were detected during the GC-MS analysis. Some of the identified compounds were: Hexadecane, 2,6,10,14-tetramethyl; Octadecane, 3-methyl; Heptadecane, 9-octyl; Tricosane, 2-methyl; Octadecanoic acid; L-Ascorbic acid, Riboflavin, 1,2-Benzenedicarboxylic acid; 2-(5-Thiophen-2-yl-1H-pyrazol-3-yl)-phenol. Of these compounds, L-Ascorbic acid (C24H42O7) was found to have the highest concentration (10.36%) in the oil of D. edulis seeds. Oil from seeds of D. edulis contains bioactive compounds which are of therapeutic and industrial potential.