Process.

There are several methods of production of virgin coconut oil .They are ;

·          

C  COLD PRESS METHOD

·       CENTRIFUGAL  SYSTEM

·   FERMENTATION SYSTEM

Virgin coconut oil can be manufactured at room temperature.

COLD PRESS METHOD

1.       Coconuts are selected .The factors concerned in selecting coconut is the age of coconut. Coconuts should be 3 weeks older after plucking.

2.     The coconuts are husked ,scraped  or shred in to tiny particles.When scraping , only the kernel should be shred and the bran should not be added.

3.    Then the coconuts are dried for 1- 2 hours.For this, dryers can be used .For small scale industries , sun drying can be done for domestic purpose and also dehydration should be done as soon as possible. If not  Salmonella develops on folds , colour changesand begin to sting.If they are dried up to suitable extent , if a coconut particle is pressed from finger tips, oil should  be released.

4.     Then the moisture of coconut scrapings is reduced to 8-10% by placing 3 hours in dryer or in sun and moisture meter is used for measuring the moisture while an oven can be used for domestic industry.

5.    Press the dried coconut oil using the machines ( a modified string hopper mould can also be used.)

6.    Filter the coconut oil.Still the coconut oil is having colour and is yellowish due to suspension of protein.For filtering

·          Filter paper

·         Blotting paper(according to size of coconut folds can be used)

·         a clean cloth        are  suitable.                                                                                                                                                       

* Advantages of Cold Press Method is 300ml of virgin coconut oil can be obtained from 1kg of coconut.

* Cold Press Method is also beneficial as it has no high moisture content like fermented oil and doesn’t become rancid early.