Coconut oil (orcoconut fat) is an edible oil derived from the meat of thecoconut palm fruit.[1][2] Coconut oil is a white solidfat below around 25 °C (77 °F), and a clear thin liquid oil at higher temperatures. Unrefined varieties have a distinct coconut aroma.[2] Coconut oil is used as a food oil, and in industrial applications forcosmetics anddetergent production.[1][2] The oil is rich inmedium-chain fatty acids.[3]
Due to its high levels ofsaturated fat, numerous health authorities recommend limiting its consumption as a food.[2][4][5]
Coconut oil is widely used forcooking and baking due to its high smoke point and distinct flavor.
Coconut oil can be extracted through a wet or dry process.[1] More simply (but perhaps less effectively), oil can be produced by heating the meat via boiling water, the sun or a slow fire.[6]
Traditional (lana) extraction directly fromthe milk in thePhilippines. The process also produceslatik (curds), used as agarnish in Filipino desserts.
The all-wet process usescoconut milk extracted from raw coconut rather than driedcopra. The proteins in the coconut milk create anemulsion of oil and water.[7] The more problematic step is breaking up the emulsion to recover the oil. This used to be done by prolonged boiling, but this produces a discolored oil and is not economical. Modern techniques usecentrifuges and pre-treatments including cold, heat, acids, salts,enzymes,electrolysis, shock waves,steam distillation, or some combination thereof. Despite numerous variations and technologies, wet processing is less viable than dry processing due to a 10–15% lower yield, even taking into account the losses due to spoilage and pests with dry processing. Wet processes also require investment in equipment and energy, incurring high capital and operating costs.[8]
Dry processing requires that the meat be extracted from the shell and dried using fire, sunlight, orkilns to create copra.[9] The copra is pressed or dissolved withsolvents, producing the coconut oil and a high-protein, high-fiber mash. The mash is of poor quality for human consumption and is instead fed toruminants; there is no process to extract protein from the mash.
Proper harvesting of the coconut (the age of a coconut can be 2 to 20 months when picked) makes a significant difference in the efficacy of the oil-making process. Copra made from immature nuts is more difficult to work with and produces an inferior product with lower yields.[10]
Conventional coconut oil processors usehexane as a solvent to extract up to 10% more oil than is produced with justrotary mills andexpellers. They then refine the oil to remove certainfree fatty acids to reduce susceptibility to rancidification. Other processes to increase shelf life include using copra with a moisture content below 6%, keeping the moisture content of the oil below 0.2%, heating the oil to 130–150 °C (266–302 °F) and addingsalt orcitric acid.[11]
Virgin coconut oil (VCO) can be produced from fresh coconut milk, meat, or residue. Producing it from the fresh meat involves either wet-milling or drying the residue, and using ascrew press to extract the oil. VCO can also be extracted from fresh meat by grating and drying it to a moisture content of 10–12%, then using a manual press to extract the oil. Producing it from coconut milk involves grating the coconut and mixing it with water, then squeezing out the oil. The milk can also be fermented for 36–48 hours, the oil removed, and the cream heated to remove any remaining oil. A third option involves using a centrifuge to separate the oil from the other liquids. Coconut oil can also be extracted from the dry residue left over from the production of coconut milk.[11]
A thousand mature coconuts weighing approximately 1,440 kilograms (3,170 pounds)[clarification needed] yield around 170 kg (370 lb) of copra from which around 70 litres (15 imp gal) of coconut oil can be extracted.[12]
Refined, bleached, and deodorized (RBD) oil is usually made from copra and dried coconut kernels, which are pressed in a heatedhydraulic press to extract the oil. This yields practically all the oil present, amounting to more than 60% of the dry weight of the coconut. This crude coconut oil is not suitable for consumption because it contains contaminants and must be refined with further heating and filtering.[13]
Unlike virgin coconut oil, refined coconut oil has no coconut taste or aroma. RBD oil is used for home cooking, commercial food processing, and cosmetic, industrial, and pharmaceutical purposes.
RBD coconut oil can be processed further into partially or fullyhydrogenated oil to increase its melting point. Since virgin and RBD coconut oils melt at 24 °C (75 °F), foods containing coconut oil tend to melt in warm climates. A higher melting point is desirable in these warm climates, so the oil is hydrogenated. The melting point of hydrogenated coconut oil is 36–40 °C (97–104 °F).
In the process of hydrogenation, unsaturated fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids) are combined with hydrogen in a catalytic process to make them more saturated. Coconut oil contains only 6% monounsaturated and 2% polyunsaturated fatty acids. In the partial hydrogenation process, some of these are transformed intotrans fatty acids.[15]
Fractionated coconut oil provides fractions of the whole oil so that its different fatty acids can be separated for specific uses.Lauric acid, a 12-carbon chain fatty acid, is often removed because of its high value for industrial and medical purposes.[16] The fractionation of coconut oil can also be used to isolatecaprylic acid andcapric acid, which aremedium-chain triglycerides, as these are used for medical applications, special diets and cosmetics, sometimes also being used as a carrier oil for fragrances.[17]
The World Health Organization'sCodex Alimentarius guidelines on food, food production, and food safety, published by theFood and Agriculture Organization, includes standards for commercial partners who produce coconut oil for human consumption.[19]
TheAsian and Pacific Coconut Community (APCC), whose 18 members produce about 90 per cent of the coconut sold commercially,[20] has published its standards for virgin coconut oil (VCO), defining virgin coconut oil as obtained from fresh, mature coconut kernels through means that do not "lead to alteration of the oil."[21]
Oil quality and production are dependent upon palm cultivation, which is threatened bycoconut pests, such as theOryctes rhinoceros beetles – especially the Asiatic rhinoceros beetle (O. rhinoceros) – and the red palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus).[22]
In 2020, world production of coconut oil was 2.61 million metric tons (2.88 million short tons), led by thePhilippines andIndonesia accounting together for 60% of the world total.[18]
Coconut oil contains only trace amounts of free fatty acids (about 0.03% by mass).[23] Most of the fatty acids are present in the form of esters. In the following content, the expressions "fatty acids" and "acid" below refer toesters rather thancarboxylic acids. When forming an ester, the coconut oil is usually referred to as "cocoyl" where the "-yl" root denotes the functional group. For example, the sodium cocoylisenthionate is asodium salt of the ester formed by coconut oil andisethionic acid.
The approximate concentration of fatty acids in coconut oil (midpoint of range in source):[citation needed]
Marketing of coconut oil has created the inaccurate belief that it is a "healthy food".[61][62] Instead, studies have found that coconut oil consumption has health effects similar to those of other unhealthy fats, includingbutter,beef fat, andpalm oil.[4][61]
Coconut oil contains a high amount oflauric acid, a saturated fat that raises total blood cholesterol levels by increasing the amounts of bothhigh-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol andlow-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.[4][63][64] Although lauric acid consumption may create a more favorable total blood cholesterol profile, this does not exclude the possibility that persistent consumption of coconut oil may actually increase the risk ofcardiovascular diseases through other mechanisms,[63] particularly via the marked increase in total blood cholesterol induced by lauric acid.[64][65] Because the majority of saturated fat in coconut oil is lauric acid,[64][65] coconut oil may be preferred overpartially hydrogenated vegetable oil when solid fats are used in the diet.[66]
A 2017 review of clinical research by experts associated with the American Heart Association recommended against consumption of coconut oil due to its propensity for increasing blood levels of LDL as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.[4]
Coconut oil is 99% fat, composed mainly of saturated fats (82% of total; table). In a 100 gram reference amount, coconut oil supplies 890calories. Half of the saturated fat content of coconut oil is lauric acid (41.8 grams per 100 grams of total composition), while other significant saturated fats aremyristic acid (16.7g),palmitic acid (8.6g), andcaprylic acid (6.8g).[68]Monounsaturated fats are 6% of total composition, andpolyunsaturated fats are 2% (table). Coconut oil containsphytosterols, whereas there are nomicronutrients in significant content (table).
Coconut oil has a long history inAsia, particularly in tropical regions where the plant is abundant, where it has been used for cooking. It is the oil of choice inSri Lankan cuisine, where it is used for sautéing and frying, in both savoury and sweet dishes. It also plays a prominent role in the cuisines ofThailand andKerala.
Coconut oil was introduced relatively recently to most Western cuisines, and is commonly used in baked goods, pastries, andsautés, having a nut-like quality with some sweetness.[69] It is sometimes used by movie theatre chains to poppopcorn.
Coconut oil has been tested for use as a feedstock forbiodiesel to use as adiesel engine fuel. In this manner, it can be applied to powergenerators and transport using diesel engines. Since straight coconut oil has a highgelling temperature (22–25 °C (72–77 °F)), a highviscosity, and a minimumcombustion chamber temperature of 500 °C (932 °F) (to avoidpolymerization of the fuel), coconut oil typically istransesterified to make biodiesel. Use of B100 (100% biodiesel) is possible only in temperate climates, as the gel point is approximately 10 °C (50 °F). The oil must meet theWeihenstephan standard[70][better source needed] to use pure vegetable oil as a fuel. Moderate to severe damage fromcarbonisation and clogging would occur in an unmodified engine.
The Philippines,Vanuatu,Samoa, and several other tropical island countries use coconut oil as an alternative fuel source to run automobiles, trucks, and buses, and to power generators.[71][better source needed] Biodiesel fuel derived from coconut oil is currently used as a fuel for transport in the Philippines.[72][73] Further research into the potential of coconut oil as a fuel for electricity generation is being carried out in the islands of the Pacific, although to date it appears that it is not useful as a fuel source due to the cost of labour and supply constraints.[74]
Acids derived from coconut oil can be used asherbicides.[77] Before the advent of electrical lighting, coconut oil was the primary oil used for illumination in India and was exported as cochin oil.[78]
Coconut oil is an important base ingredient for the manufacturing of soap. Soap made with coconut oil tends to be hard, though it retains more water than soap made with other oils and thus increases manufacturer yields. It is more soluble in hard water and salt water than other soaps allowing it to lather more easily.[79]
^McGlone OC, Canales A, Carter JV (1986). "Coconut oil extraction by a new enzymatic process".J Food Sci.51 (3):695–697.doi:10.1111/j.1365-2621.1986.tb13914.x.
^"About us". Asian and Pacific Coconut Community. Archived from the original on 29 August 2011. Retrieved9 August 2011.
^"APCC Standards for Virgin Coconut Oil"(PDF). Jakarta, Indonesia: Asian and Pacific Coconut Community. 2003. Archived from the original on 12 August 2011. Retrieved9 August 2011.
^abc"FoodData Central". United States Department of Agriculture. 1 April 2019. All values in this table are from this database unless otherwise cited or when italicized as the simple arithmetic sum of other component columns.
^abcdKatragadda, Harinageswara Rao; Fullana, Andrés; Sidhu, Sukh; Carbonell-Barrachina, Ángel A. (May 2010). "Emissions of volatile aldehydes from heated cooking oils".Food Chemistry.120 (1):59–65.doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2009.09.070.
^"Canola oil, fat composition, 100 g". US National Nutrient Database, Release 28, United States Department of Agriculture. May 2016. Retrieved6 September 2017.
^"Coconut oil, fat composition, 100 g". US National Nutrient Database, Release 28, United States Department of Agriculture. May 2016. Retrieved6 September 2017.
^"Palm oil, fat composition, 100 g". US National Nutrient Database, Release 28, United States Department of Agriculture. May 2016. Retrieved6 September 2017.
^abSpiazzi BF, Duarte AC, Zingano CP, et al. (June 2023)."Coconut oil: an overview of cardiometabolic effects and the public health burden of misinformation".Archives of Endocrinology and Metabolism.67 (6) e000641.doi:10.20945/2359-3997000000641.PMC10660992.PMID37364144.The use of coconut oil as a "healthy" component of the western diet is based on the major spread of misconceptions regarding it. The combination of the established knowledge on the negative effects of saturated fats on cardiovascular health and the lack of evidence from clinical trials showing a benefit from coconut oil intake in cardiovascular and metabolic disease advise against the consumption of this oil as a preferential source of dietary fat.
