VAIDYA, DEVINASHARMA, ANSHIKA2017-09-062017-09-062017http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810030527ABSTRACT The present study entitled “Utilization of wild apricot oil for the development of cosmetic products” was conducted in the Department of Food Science and Technology, Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh during the year 2016-2017. Wild apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) is the stone fruit mainly grown in the temperate regions of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand. Locally it is known as Chulli and Khurmani and sold as fresh and part of the produce is dried or processed in to pulp for making various products such as squashes, appetizers and jams. The remaining part of the fruit is stone, which is a good source of oil. Apricot oil was extracted from the kernels as per the standard procedure and further the oil and the remaining shell were analyzed for the quality characteristics for their suitability for the development of cosmetic products. Apricot oil with low acid value, rich in vitamin E, high saponification value and shell powder (767 microns) with good oil absorption capacity were selected as the base material for the optimization of formulations of apricot massage oil, massage cream, soap and scrub. Cosmetic product were developed by different concentration of oil and all these developed products along with the reference products (commercial product, procured from the market) were analyzed for their quality characteristics and sensory qualities. The massage oil containing 10 per cent of oil and 90 per cent of decocted herbs (T2), massage cream containing 10 per cent of oil (T2) and 15 per cent of oil (T3), soap containing 70 per cent of oil (T3) and scrub containing 10 per cent of apricot shell powder with massage cream having 10 per cent of oil as a base material (T2) were found better as per the BIS standards and were comparable with the reference products. The best treatments along with the reference products were evaluated for the storage studies of six months and it was concluded that there was non-significant changes. Formulated products were observed to have good stability and longer shelf life as under accelerated stability testing. Henceforth, apricot oil and shell powder can be utilized for the development of cosmetic products and it can be a boon and new source of income for the apricot growers in cosmetic industries.ennullThesis