Oil seed medicinals

Dr.A.P.Gandhi
Principal Scientist(Biochemistry) Soybean Processing and Utilization Center Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering Bhopal-462038(MP)

Several oil seed materials are isolated from refining by products. Oil seed medicinals are either available as drugs or as dietary supplements. They are also being used as functional foods. These functional foods are created by incorporating the biologically active components in to food or by using agronomic, genetic engineering or other techniques to over express or introduce these compounds in to plants. They are having potential to fight against mal nutrition. Oil seeds are among the world therauptics. Flax and sesame were both used by the ancients for treating certain ailments. In general the oil seeds are either crushed mechanically or through solvent extraction for getting the crude oil. This crude oil is later degummed, deacidified, decolorized and deodorized in order to produce clear, stable, pale, odorless and bland tasting oil. In this refining process greater than 95% of the phosphotides, sterol glycerides, free fatty acids, carotenoids and approximately 32-65% of the sterols, tocopherols and tochotrinols are removed. The de odorization temperature largely controls the degree of removal of the latter three classes of compounds. Deodorized distillate is the principal raw material providing vitamin E and sterols used in phatamaceutical industries. Oil seed refining by products are there by fractionated to provide the active ingredients for a variety of drugs, dietary supplements and increasingly functional foods. The major oil seed medicinals are: Vitamin E Ricinoleic acid Psosphotidyl choline Phosphotidyl serine Linolenic acid Beta carotene Beta sitosterol Gama oryzanol Coenzyme Q 10 Vitamin K1 Vitamin K2 Oil refining Process indicating the type of medicinals that are stripped at different stages: Either mechanical or solvent extraction is used for oil recovery. This is the pressed and crude oil immediately after extraction. During degumming with saturate steam and deacidification with 2N NaOH at 75oC for 20 minutes gums are precipitated which ultimately give phosphotides, sterols and FFA.The total quantity may be 3.5 kg. Decolonization is done with clay at 90oC for 20 minutes which yields carotenoides.

Steaming for 20 minutes removes the odors of the oil and leads to the preparation of deodorized oil. The deodorized distillate contains sterols and tocopherols. The quantity may be 0.5 kg. Finally the refined oil is obtained and will be about 96 kgs. About four kilos of other medicinals as stated are obtained.

The different by products of refining process as stated above are used in treating a number of human ailments. The details are given as under: Active medicinal compound Usage in humans Phosphotidyl choline Phosphotidyl serine Gama linolenic acid Beta carotene Beta sitosterol Gama oryzanol Tocopherols.vitamin E Coenzyme Q 10 Vitamin K Mild forms of hypercholesterolemia, toxic nutritive lepatic lesions and chronic hepatitis. Primary and secondary symptoms of fresemile and semile cognitive determinations. Cyclical and no cyclical mastalagia (breast pain). Treatment of vitamin A deficiency. Hypercholesterolemia, prostrate hyper plasia. Hypercholesterolemia, menopausal disorders, irritable bowl syndromes, Vitamin E deficiency. Congestive heart failures. Coagulation dis order, decrease in bone mass. osteoporosis

Now there is an increasing demand for these oil seed medicinal due to increased awareness among the consumers about the active ingredients of the oil seeds having therauptic values. Organic farming and organically grown foods and products also lead to the popularization naturally available medicinal compounds from the agricultural products and by products.