| dc.description.abstract | ABSTRACT
A screenlng procedure utilizing successive
extractions with acetone, cyclohexane and methanol was
applied to 10 Ficus specie~ in order to quantify their
solvent extractables. The species include Ficus benjamina,
F. capensis, F. elastica, F. glumosa, F. ingene, F. ovata
F. sansibarica, F. thonningii and F. volgelii, all of
which are found ln Kenya at different altitudes and
climatic regions. A combined solvent extractionpartitioning
scheme was used to divide the dried, ground
leaves and stems into oil, polyphenolic, hydrocarbon and
sugar-containing fractions, which might be of use as
sources of chemical raw materials and renewable, biomassderived
fuels. The fractions were examined by IR, UVand
NMR spectroscopy, while the xesidues were analysed for
protein and crude fibre content. Bomb calorimetric
..
study was done to determine the heat of combustion of
each fraction. The iodine and saponification numbers,
and saponifiable and unsaponifiable matter of the oil
fractions were estimated by standard titrimetric methods.
The results showed that the amount of extractable
oils varied from one species to the other, being highest
In F.bC_f-1jE..m~na(5.43%) during the dry season and lowe st
in I_'_~_~J)ensis(O.S3~) during the wet season. The oils
have a heat value va ry i ng from 39.S6~IJ/Kg to tl3.74i'vlJ/Kg.
v
The oils also showed reasonably high iodine and
saponification numbers of over 90 and 110 respectively.
The oils also showed reasonably high content of
unsaponifiab1e matter ranging between 23.81% in
F. sansibarica and 37.50% in F. benjamina.
The quantity of the hydrocarbon fraction
extracted varied from 0.21% in F.sycomorus to 3.54% ln
F. benjamina during the dry season, and between 0.22%
and 1.31% in F. ingene and F. vOlge1ii respectively
during the wet season. The heat of combustion of the
hydrocarbon fractions were the highest compared to the
other fractions, rang .i ng from 39.2 6tvIJ /Kg in F. sycomorus
Kj to Sl.Q8~in F." ingene.
The species were found to have considerably high
amounts of po1yphenols compared to other f ract i ons .
.. ,
The amounts were as high as 9.26% in F. volgelii.
A rating scheme applied to the ten species showed
that F. benjamina, F. glumosa and F. volgelii are
candidates for further investigation as potential
mUltipurpose crops.
The E-phenylphenacyl esters of the saturated fatty
acids series ClZ - C22 (lauric, myristic, palmitic,
stearic, arachidic and behenic) were prepared by
Vl
reaction of their potassium salts with p-phenylphenacyl
bromide. The esters were identified by their m.p.,
IR and NMR spectra. High performance liquid chromatography
of the esters on a reverse phase column, with methanol
solvent, gave a straight line when the log of the
r~tention time was plotted against molecular weights.
This analytical method when applied to p-phenylphenacyl
esters made from coconut oil gave peaks which corresponded
to lauric, palmitic, and st~earic acids. When the
method was applied to the F. volgelii oil fraction,
several peaks were observed which did not appear to
correspond to any of the s~aturated acid peaks | en |
