Open Journal of Applied Sciences, 2021, 11, 264-272 https://www.scirp.org/journal/ojapps ISSN Online: 2165-3925 ISSN Print: 2165-3917 DOI: 10.4236/ojapps.2021.113019 Mar. 15, 2021 264 Open Journal of Applied Sciences Attempt to Polymerize Cucurbita pepo Oil by Temperature Action and Photolysis Aristide H. W. Nakavoua 1* , Louis Okotaka Ebale 2 , Bertin Mikolo 3 , Vincent Verney 4 , Gilles Figuérédo 5 1 Laboratory of Chemistry of Natural Substances (IRSEN), Brazzaville, Congo 2 Laboratory of Mechanics, Energetics and Engineering, Unesco Chair in Engineering Sciences Ecole Nationale Supérieure Polytechnique, Marien Ngouabi University, Brazzaville, Congo 3 Marien Ngouabi University, National Polytechnic High School (ENSP), Laboratory for the Valorisation of Agri-Resources, Brazzaville, Congo 4 Institute of Chemistry of Clermont-Ferrand (ICCF), UMR 6296 Team Design of Polymers and Macromolecules Scientist Set Cézeaux24 Avenue des Landais, Clermont Ferrand, France 5 LEXVA Analytical, 460 rue du Montant, 63540 Romagnat, France or Henri Mondor Street Biopole Clermont-Limagne 63360 Saint Beauzire, Clermont Ferrand, France Abstract The study of the polymerization of a vegetable oil has a double interest; in- dustrial but especially food. Industrial because polymers based on vegetable oil are in line with sustainable development; food because an oil which poly- merizes easily is a danger for human consumption. Three situations of Cu- curbita pepo oil polymerization are carried out in the course of time, the fac- tor retained being temperature. A monitoring of the evolution of the enthalpy by temperature variation by the DSC method allows to report the polymeri- zation of this oil. It happens that a polymerization is triggered in the oil ma- trix but it seems to fade very quickly, this behavior is general because after sweeping a temperature range of 80˚C; 100˚C and 150˚C adding different amounts of Irgacure: the Cucurbita pepo oil resists polymerization through its antioxidant compounds. However, a photolysis of this oil carried out over 8 days shows that it effectively polymerizes after 144 hours, which proves the great capacity of antioxidant compounds to protect this oil. The analyses car- ried out at 25˚C aim to simulate the behavior of the oil at room temperature. The results reveal good resistance to both thermochemical and photochemi- cal polymerization, which opens up great prospects for its development in the food industry and in nutrition. Keywords Cucurbitea pepo, DSC, Polymerization, Antioxidants, Irgacure and Photolysis How to cite this paper: Nakavoua, A.H.W., Ebale, L.O., Mikolo, B., Verney, V. and Figuérédo, G. (2021) Attempt to Poly- merize Cucurbita pepo Oil by Temperature Action and Photolysis. Open Journal of Applied Sciences, 11, 264-272. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojapps.2021.113019 Received: January 10, 2021 Accepted: March 12, 2021 Published: March 15, 2021 Copyright © 2021 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access