Blighia unijugata and Luffa cylindrica Seed Oils: Renewable Sources of Energy for Sustainable Development in Rural Africa

Self-sufficiency in energy requirement is critical to the success of any developing economy. Apart from the search for alternatives, there is a need to achieve energy independence, directing much focus on biofuels. Biodiesel is simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics. Oil was extracted from the seeds of Blighia unijugata and Luffa cylindrica, subjected to chemical characterization and biodiesel production. The oil yield from the seed of B. unijugata was 50.82 +/- 1.20% while that of L. cylindrica was 39.10 +/- 0.20%. The biodiesel produced had ester content above 98%. The flash point of the biodiesel from B. unijugata and L. cylindrica was above 120A degrees C while the phosphorus content was also below 1 ppm in both cases. The oxidative stability of B. unijugata was 44.30 A +/- 0.30 h, while that of L. cylindrica was lower than this value due to its high unsaturation. The copper strip corrosion value of the biodiesel was also found to be 1A. This study showed that the high free fatty acid content of B. unijugata and L. cylindrica seed oil can be reduced in a one-step pretreatment of esterification reaction using H2SO4 as catalyst thus reducing the problem of soap formation encountered when using oil with high free fatty acid for the production of biodiesel.