A Comparative Study of N-Hexane and Ethanol Extraction in Abeere hunteria umbellata Seed Oil for Assessing Mineral Profiles

This study evaluates the mineral profiles of Abeere Hunteria umbellata seed, oil using N-hexane and ethanol as extraction solvents. Abeere, a lesser-known tropical plant, is traditionally used in African medicinal applications but remains underexplored nutritionally. Minerals such as calcium, potassium, sodium, iron, and phosphorus, essential for various physiological functions, were quantified using atomic absorption spectroscopy and other analytical techniques. N-hexane, a non-polar solvent, proved generally more effective in extracting higher concentrations of these minerals compared to ethanol, a polar solvent. The sodium content was significantly higher in N-hexane-extracted oil (128.70 ppm) than in ethanol-extracted oil (104.55 ppm). Similarly, calcium (115.60 ppm vs. 66.45 ppm), potassium (169.40 ppm vs. 93.20 ppm), iron (2.581 ppm vs. 1.627 ppm), and phosphorus (163.91 ppm vs. 93.164 ppm) concentrations were higher in N-hexane-extracted oil. The findings highlight the impact of solvent polarity on extraction efficiency and suggest N-hexane as the preferred solvent for optimizing mineral extraction from Abeere seeds. These insights can guide the development of enhanced extraction techniques for food and nutraceutical applications, addressing nutritional deficiencies and improving dietary quality. This research contributes to the limited literature on Abeere's nutritional potential and supports the use of systematic extraction methods for better nutritional profiling.