458 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 



Analysis of Fat from Sierra Leone Kombo Seeds. 



Of the Meliacese there is Carapa Guineensis (C. procera, D.C.), 

 which yields the Carapa oil. The nuts are roughly tetrahedral in shape, 

 having a rough reddish-brown shell enclosing one large kernel covered 

 with a pale-brown papery skin. Good kernels yield about 57 per cent, 

 of oil by extraction with solvents and 46-7 per cent, by pressure 

 (27 per cent, on cold and 22 per cent, on heating) ; it is of a pale- 

 yellow colour and has a bitter taste. The commercial value of the 

 oil was stated in 1907 to be £20 10s. per ton according to the valuations 

 made by the Imperial Institute/ and from the same authority 

 we find the Carapa cake is of a very low manurial value, and 

 is only stated to be worth about £2 per ton. Some dark-coloured 

 kernels were bought in 1909 at £11 5s. per ton, and light kernels at 

 £11 10s. per ton. According to the Imperial Institute the results 

 were as follows : 



Colonial Report, 88, Oil Seeds, Fats and Waxes, Imperial Institute, 1914. 



