Oils were extracted from dried seeds of African star apple, horse eye bean and African pear by soxhlet. The yields of the oils were 25.00+/-0.5%, 23.00+/-0.65% and 27.28+/-0.82%, respectively. The star apple oil was deep red; horse eye bean and African pear had similar light yellow colours. The saponification value of the African star apple was low, that of African pear was medium while that of horse eye bean was high. Iodine values of both horse eye bean and African pear were high, while that of the African star apple was very low. The free fatty acid and acid values of the star apple suggested that fatty acids could be prepared from it. The acid and free fatty acid contents of African pear showed that the oil would not need purification, while the horse eye bean would need little purification. The iodine values of the oils suggested the African star apple be used for the preparation of solid soap; African pear and horse eye bean used for the preparation of resin, paint polish, wood varnish and skin cream. The horse eye bean was also a constituent of liquid soap while the African pear was used in grease. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.