Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit Seed Oil: Characterization and Uses
Imededdine Arbi Nehdia,*, Hassen Sbihia, Chin Ping Tanb, Saud Ibrahim Al-Resayesa 
a King Saud University, College of Science, Chemistry Department, Riyadh 1145, Saudi Arabia
b Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Universiti Putra
Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
*Presenting author. Tel: + 96614697118; Fax: +9664675992; E-mail address: Imed12002@gmail.com (I. Nehdi)

Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit (coffee bush) is a strictly tropical species that requires warm temperatures for optimal growth. It is drought-tolerant (even during establishment) and can withstand up to 7 months of dry season. L. leucocephala seed oil extracted from shrubs was analyzed to determine it possible uses. The oil content of the seeds was 5.44% and mainly consisted of linoleic acid (51.65%), oleic acid (21.40%), palmitic acid (13.21%) and stearic acid (5.92%). This oil has high vitamin E activity because of its concentration of -tocopherol (175.47 mg/100 g). The weak acid and peroxide values (0.6% and 3.56 meq∙O2/kg oil, respectively) were indicators of the good quality of the oil. L. leucocephala showed high thermal stability (up to 255.47C) and some absorbance in the UV-B and UV-C ranges. The results showed that this new seed oil can be used as an ingredient in cosmetic preparations or pharmaceutical preparations.