ABSTRACT
African breadfruit seeds were subjected to three processing methods—parboiling, cooking and toasting, and the raw was used as control. The purpose of this research was to extract the oil from the seed and to determine the effect of processing on the oil for physicochemical properties and volatile fatty acid profile. Physicochemical properties showed that the colour of the oil varied from golden yellow to brownish yellow with specific gravity varying between 0.802 g/cm3 and 0.813 g/cm3. Percentage yield of oil was 6.14% for raw extract, 6.62% for parboiled extract, 7.56% for toasted extract, and 5.01% for cooked extract. Acid, peroxide and saponification value for oil extracted from the raw seed varied with the processed samples value. The Volatile Fatty Acid (VFA), also known as Short Chain Fatty Acid (SCFA) found inherent in varying concentration, were formic, acetic, propionic, isobutyric, butyric, isovaleric, valeric, isocarproic, hexanoic and heptanoic acid. Overall results prove that heat results in increases in the VFA concentration of the processed oil.