Canarium schweinfurthii Engl. (Burseraceae) is a wild treefound mostly in Africa, which produces fruit similar to olives and which is barely used. On a dry matter basis, the fruit pulp from C6te d'Ivoire {the Ivory Coast} was found to contain 5.6% protein, 30-50% fat, 8.2% starch, 11.8% cellulose and 8.3% ash (the highest mineral elements being potassium, 1.2% and calcium, 0.4%}. The melting and solidification points of the extracted fat (44.5°C and 35.2°C, respectively) are higher than those of all the commercial and other Canarium-spedes oils. This oil shows low iodine, peroxide and carotene values (36, 17 meq-g and 2 mg, respectively}. The fatty acid composition of the oil revealed a high content of oleic (89.4%) or stearic 167.7-84.0%) acids in the liquid, semi-solid and solid forms of the oil. Consequently, the content of these two acids is much higher in Canarium schweinfurthii oil than in any other vegetable oil. The three forms {liquid, semi-liquid and solid} of the oil depend on the maturity of the fruit and these stages will be investigated further in future work.

The ancestral palmyrah palm (Borassus aethiopum Mart.) produces in the V-Baoulé region of Côte d'Ivoire, sweet and fragrant fruits in large numbers. Most of these spoil in the bush when ripe. The present work was to develop an efficient process for the extraction of juice from these fruits using a pectinase (Pectinex Ultra SP-L) at different concentrations (0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 mg/kg), temperatures (25 degrees C, 35 degrees C and 45 degrees C), and for different times (30, 60, 90 and 120 min). Some physico-chemical characteristics of the juice were determined in order to evaluate the quality of the product. Treatment at 45 degrees C for 120 min at an enzyme concentration of 0.6 mg/kg was selected for highest juice yield (73.14%). The colour parameters L; a; b) fluctuated in intensity between batches of rehydrated material. Juice consistency was found to be stable at 45 degrees C at the enzyme concentrations used. There was a slight variation in pH among the different treatments. In general, the yield and quality of the juice obtained were affected by treatment temperature, enzyme concentration and maceration time.

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