– Understanding the traditional pro-
cesses by which seed oil is extracted from under-uti-
lized plants provides an opportunity to improve the
quality of local products and make them more com-
petitive on the market. Goal – The objective of this
study was to characterize the traditional extraction
processes of Carapa procera seed oil in Burkina Faso
and assess their effectiveness. Methods – A yield bal-
ance of the quantity of raw material, water and fuel
wood used in the extraction was determined, and the
duration of the extraction processes assessed, among
10 extractors from three villages in the Kénédougou
province of Burkina Faso. The proximate composition
of seeds and the quality of the extracted oil were de-
termined using AOAC and AOCS methods in compar-
ison to traditional processing method. Results – The
study highlighted two traditional extraction pro-
cesses, which mainly differ in the use of (i) ash for
seed conservation, and (ii) plant mucilage for the
improvement of oil yield. The oil extraction yields
varied between 27.75 ± 2.45% and 37.58 ± 7.54% but
ϐ
Ǥ ǡ ϐ
lower than those obtained using the AOAC method
of oil extraction (t = -9.54; p
local knowledge, oil quality, extraction yield