Ocimum basilicum has been widely used in traditional medicine. Rural communities have used fixed oils for variety purposes since a long time ago. They used for cosmetic applications, fuel, medicine and food. The aim of this study was to characterize the physicochemical properties and fatty acid composition of O. basilicum seed oil. Lipids were determined by continuous extraction in a Soxhlet apparatus for 6 hours using hexane as solvent. The physicochemical properties of the oil were assessed by standard and established methods. The fatty acids composition of the seed oil was determined by GC-MS. The Pale yellow with camphor odor oil extracted from the seed has the following properties: yield, 18.01%; freezing point, -2°C; melting point, 5°C; boiling point, 215°C; refractive index (25°C), 1.48532; iodine value, 108.6 g/100 g of oil; peroxide value, 4.6 meq. O2/kg of oil; free fatty acids, 0.20%; acid value, 4.0 mg of KOH/g of oil; saponification value, 164.2 mg KOH/g of oil; unsaponifiable matter, 1.6; moisture and volatile value, 4.97 (wt%); density, 0.91372 g/cm3; viscosity, 10.29 mm2/s; specific gravity, 0.9210. Fatty acids composition showed that linolenic- (43.92%) was the major fatty acid and followed by linoleic- (32.18%), palmitic- (13.38%), stearic- (6.55%), palmitoleic- (0.78%), arachidic- (0.72%), anteisomargaric- (0.45%), nonadecylic- (0.28%), gondoic- (0.27%), margaric- (0.20%), behenic- (0.17%), heneicosylic- (0.14%), lignoceric- (0.13%) and myristic acid (0.11%). Therefore, recommended that more and advanced investigations should be undertaken for this abundant oil as natural source for many industrial applications, especially, for applications that require acids like linolenic and linoleic.

cinnamon dating from 1000 AD when it was firstly recorded in English due to its important as aroma and as herbs. The aim of this study was to investigate phytochemicals constitutes, chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of commercial samples of Cinnamon verum bark. The essential oil was extracted by hydrodistillation, while the crude extracts were prepared by three different solvents methanol (70%), acetone and aqueous. Phytochemical screening of crude extracts was performed using standard methods. The essential oil was subjected to GC-MS analysis and tested against Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimurium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Eschericchia coli and Candida albicans. The obtained results indicated the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, coumarin, tannins, terpenoids, saponin, glycoside, anthrocyanin and phenolic compounds in the methanolic, aqoueous and acetone extracts of C. verum bark; while the major components of the extracted essential oil of C. verum bark were cinnamaldehyde (85.50%), stigmasterol (3.69%), Cadinene (1.37%), (E)-cinnamaldehyde (1.35%), alpha-amorphene (1.33%), hydrocinnamaldehyde (1.28%), alpha-cubebene (1.25) and ergosterol (1.09%) respectively. The antimicrobial activity result indicated the high activity of the extracted essential oil against all tested microorganisms at high concentration; except in S. typhimurium and C. albicans at concentrations of 25% and 12.5% no activity was noticed. Based in our obtained results the essential oil of C. verum bark had high potential as antimicrobial agent, therefore, recommended for more advanced studies to be conducted on this abundant plant as natural source of antibiotics.

Moringa oleifera is a robust and fast-growing tree considered as one of the most beneficial trees worldwide since almost all parts of it are used as food, medicine, and for industrial purposes. This study aimed to investigate the physicochemical properties and fatty acid composition of M. oleifera seed oil. The oil was extracted by Soxhlet using n-hexane; the physicochemical properties of the seed oil were assessed by standard and established methods, as well, the fatty acid composition of the seed oil was determined by GC-MS. The golden yellow oil with characteristic odor obtained from the seeds had the following physicochemical properties: yield, 42.87%; freezing point, 0 °C; melting point, 21 °C; boiling point, 225 °C; refractive index (25 °C), 1.447; iodine value, 96.6 g/100g of oil; peroxide value, 7.6 meq.O2/kg of oil; free fatty acids, 0.07%; acid value, 1.4 mg of KOH/g of oil; saponification value, 185.2 mg KOH/g of oil; unsaponifiable matter, 3.2; moisture and volatile value, 4.91 (wt.%); density, 0.900 g/cm 3 ; viscosity, 60.99 mm 2 /s; specific gravity, 0.907. The fatty acids composition showed that oleicacid (51.74%) was the major fatty acid and followed by behenic-(10.54%), palmitic-(9.20%), stearic-(8.46%), arachidic-(6.41%), gondic-(4.88%), lignoceric-(3.08%) and palmitoleic acid (2.85%). Therefore, more and advanced research should be undertaken for this abundant source of natural oil for edible oil and possible industrial applications.

Aims: The aims of this study were to investigate the proximate composition of flaxseed; physiochemical properties and antioxidant activity of flaxseed. Study Design: Using standard analytical methods to determine the proximate composition of flaxseed, extraction of flaxseed in different trials under the same conditions using two different solvents and investigating their physicochemical properties and antioxidant activity. Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted in the laboratory of department of applied and industrial chemistry, International University of Africa, University of Medical Sciences and Technology and National Centre for Research, Khartoum – Sudan, during June 2019. Methodology: The prepared sample of flaxseeds was tested for proximate composition and then extracted with petroleum ether and n-hexane. The extracted oil was then subjected to physicochemical analysis, GC-MS analysis and antioxidant activity test. Results: The oil yield of flaxseed was high 21.95% and 28.29% with n-hexane and petroleum ether respectively. The results obtained for proximate composition were: moisture (8.50 ± 0.49%), ash (1.96 ± 0.00%), fiber (20.23 ± 3.47%), protein (21.00 ± 0.74%),fat (43.17 ± 0.99%) and carbohydrate (5.14 ± 2.73%).The physicochemical properties of n-hexane and petroleum ether extracted flaxseed oils were: density (0.92 ± 0.00 g/cm3), refractive index (1.47 ± 0.00 and 1.48 ± 0.01 at 28°C), acid value (0.76 ± 0.10 and 0.75 ± 0.20 mg KOH/g), peroxide value (4.67 ± 1.00 and 2.69 ± 0.55 meq O2/kg), saponification value (185.61 ± 0.56 and 187.83 ± 2.08 mg KOH/g oil), unsaponifiable matter (5.57 ± 0.64 and 2.83 ± 0.23 mg KOH/g oil) and iodine value (97.24 ± 0.86 and 97.44 ± 2.93 g/100 g) respectively. Statistical analysis showed no significant difference between the means of the two data sets of physicochemical properties of flaxseed oils extracted with the two solvents used at 95% confidence level. The GC-MS spectrum of flaxseed oil extracted with n-Hexane revealed presence of 27 fatty acids, the predominant were linoleic acid (46.53%), palmitic acid (18.04%), stearic acid (12.23%), linolenic acid (11.63%) and oleic acid (4.24%). While for petroleum ether extract a total of 28 fatty acids were identified the major were: linolenic acid (42.39%), linoleic acid (26.17%), palmitic acid (12.89%), stearic acid (10.73%) and  methyl erucic (1.24%.). The oils also, showed good antioxidant activity in relation to control; 28 ± 0.09 (DPPH) for n-Hexane extract and 26 ± 0.05 (DPPH) for petroleum ether extract. Conclusion: Based on the results obtained flaxseed and flaxseed oil had good potential for human consumption and can be used for other application.

Herein a background correction method has been utilized for the estimation of ascorbic acid in baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) fruit pulp using direct UV spectrophotometry. The background correction based on catalytic oxidation of the acid by copper (II). EDTA was used to correct the absorption due to copper (II). The absorbance and remained essentially constant at 267 nm at pH range from 6 to 8, with highest absorption at pH 6. The calibration graph was linear up to 20 μg ml -1 of ascorbic acid, correlation coefficient (r = 0.9998) and the molar absorptivity was 1.52 × 10 4 l mol -1 cm -1 . The mean value of ascorbic acid was 237 ± 18 mg/100 g using the proposed method and 250 ± 15 mg/100 g using indophenol official method. The statistical analysis of data revealed no Original Research Article