Effect of palm kernel oil extraction method on the electrical conductance of Nigerian traditional soaps in alcohols

Abstract

Nigerian traditional soaps were prepared using two commercial samples of palm kernel oil (black and pale-orange oils) that were extracted locally using two different traditional methods. The effect of the oil extraction method on the conductance of soaps in alcohols was then investigated. The conductance of the soaps prepared from the pale-orange oil was higher than that prepared from the black type. The plots of concentration conductance vs. the square root of concentration for methanolic solutions of the pale-orange oil soaps were linear, whereas the plots obtained for the black oil soaps were nonlinear. The plots of log 10 k vs. 1/T were linear for all the soaps in methanol and for potassium soaps in 1-propanol, whereas they were nonlinear for sodium soaps in 1-propanol. The activation energy terms for the soaps prepared from paleorange oil generally decreased with an increase in concentration, whereas the activation energies for the black oil soaps were less sensitive to changes in concentration. These observations suggest that the purity of the palm kernel oil can have a significant effect on the properties and quality of the traditional soaps and that the pale-orange oil was probably purer than the black type.Paper no. S1316 in JSD 7, 81-85 (January 2004).KEY WORDS: Alcoholic solutions, Arrhenius plots, electrical conductance, oil extraction method, palm kernel oil soaps.Nigerian traditional soaps are known to have intrinsic antibacterial action in addition to their excellent foaming properties; they also serve as a medium for preparing local drugs for the treatment of skin diseases (1). However, these soaps have an unattractive black color and undesirable texture resulting from the crudeness of the local preparation method. Previous analyses of the soaps have shown them to contain a very high proportion of free alkali (high pH values), which may render them harmful to the skin. Thus, a series of investigations is now being undertaken on the development of the soaps for industrial and medicinal applications. The properties of the soaps are being investigated in the present series of studies to identify the sources of impurities in the soaps and the effect of such impurities on their properties. The elemental composition of the soaps was first determined using thermal neutron activation analysis techniques, the results of which indicated high concentrations of potassium and sodium in the soaps (2). Our recent investigation (1) of the electrical conductivity of solutions of commercial soaps in alcohols also demonstrated that the purity, texture, and foaming capability of the soaps could easily be improved by using the purification procedures adopted in that work. In that study, the electrical conductance of some other soaps prepared in the laboratory from palm kernel oil was also lower than in the commercial soaps, and metal ions were suggested as the main charge carriers in solution. Viscosity data further confirmed the conductance data (1). Two different methods of extracting palm kernel oil are normally us...

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