An overview of papaya seed oil extraction methods

Papaya seeds account for about 20% of the total fresh fruit weight. The seeds are generally discarded as agricultural waste products during fruit processing despite being edible. The seeds contain high levels of lipid and thus can be a new source of edible oil. Numerous technologies have been used for extraction of crude oil from papaya seeds. Papaya seed oil is composed mostly of unsaturated fatty acids with oleic acid being the major one. The oil also contains lipophilic phytochemicals such as tocopherols, phytosterols and carotenoids. Further investigations are necessary to validate the functional properties of papaya seed oil produced from different extraction techniques.