1.0: INTRODUCTION

Soap may be defined as a chemical compound or mixture of chemical compounds

resulting from the interaction of fatty acids or fatty glycerides with a metal radical or organic

base (Kirk-Othman, 1963). Soaps are mainly used as surfactants for washing, bathing, and

cleaning, but they are also used in textile spinning and are important components of lubricants.

Soaps for cleansing are obtained by treating vegetable or animal oils and fats with a strongly

alkaline solution. Fats and oils are composed of triglycerides; three molecules of fatty acids are

attached to a single molecule of glycerol (Cavitch and Miller, 1994).

The alkaline solution, which is often called lye (although the term "lye soap" refers almost

exclusively to soaps made with sodium hydroxide), brings about a chemical reaction known as

saponification. The metals commonly used in soap making are sodium and potassium, which

produce water-soluble soaps that are used for laundry and cleaning purposes (Kuntom et al.,

1994). The qualities of soap are usually determined by the amount and composition of the

component fatty acids in the starting oil.

Blends of oils can be used in both the hot and cold soap production methods. Vegetable oil

blends could be obtained by mixing different vegetable oils such as the mixture of coconut oil,

palm kernel oil, groundnut oil and shea butter in different proportions (Kuntom et al., 1996) and

soaps of desirable quality can be produced by blending butyrospermum parkii fruit oil, tallow

and sesamum indicum seed oil.

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The quality of soap produced is usually comparable to the quality of commercially available

soaps. This research work involves using various blends of Butyrospermum parkii fruit oil,

tallow and Sesamum indicum seed oil for the production of various soaps reported.

1.1 Statements of Research Problem

There is heavy dependence on palm oil as source of fatty acids for the production of soaps by

soap producers. Exploring other type of oils/fats would go a long way in reducing this total

dependence on palm oil. Blending various vegetable oils of different qualities could go a long

way in the production of quality soaps for laundry, bathing and general cleaning purpose.

1.2 Aim and Objectives

The aim of this research work is to study the quality of soap produced from blended oils. The

specific objectives of this work are to:

I.         Blend oil/fats from Butyrospermum parkii fruit oil, tallow and Sesamum indicum seed oil;

II.         determine the physicochemical parameters of the blended fat/oils;

III.         produce soaps from the individual blends (saponification) and

IV.         determine the quality parameters of the produced soap.

1.3       Justification

Two major sources of oil for soap making are available in nature, which includes vegetable oil

(from plants) and Tallow (animal fat). Vegetable oil has a unique quality of being able to form

lather water but its short coming is its inability to harden properly. Animal fat on the other hand

harden properly but does not readily form lather. Hence the need to blend two or more of these

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