Oils were extracted from dried and crushed velvet-tamarind, physic-nut and nicker-nut seeds by soxhlet. The yields of oils on weight of nut were 17.21+/-2.09, 47.40+/-0.02 and 34.00+/-0.83%, respectively and the oils had black, very light yellow and light brown colours. Velvet-tamarind oil had a low iodine value which confirmed it as a non-drying oil. Physic- and nickernut oils each had an iodine value that placed it as semi-drying oil. The saponification value of velvet-tamarind oil was low, while its free fatty acid and acid values were high. The saponification value of physic nut was medium, while nicker nut was high. The mean molecular masses of these oils were related to their saponification values, which showed the extent of saturation. Good solid soap was prepared from velvet-tamarind oil because of its iodine value. The high free-fatty-acid value of velvet-tamarind oil suggested its use for fatty acid preparation. The iodine values of physic- and nicker-nuts suggested their use for the preparation of high-quality alkyd resins, polish and paint, while physic-nut oil also yielded a commercializable grease. Good liquid soap was made from nicker-nut oil because of its high saponification value. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.