Production Stages

 

•   SCRAPING OF COCONUTS.

          Shown above is an improved coconut scraping machine used for medium or large manufacturing process

•   DRYING OF SCRAPED COCONUT.

• SCRAPED COCONUTS ARE  DRIED  . Moisture of coconuts is removed and oil should be felt  when pressing by finger tip .

• EXTRACTING OF VIRGIN COCONUT  OIL.

        Above method is suitable for domestic extraction of virgin coconut oil.However  more improved machinary   is used for medium and large scale production.

Special Scientific Processes.

There are several scientific processes involved with manufacture of white coconut oil.

DEHYDRATION ; It is the process of removal of moisture from shred coconut .If coconut scrapings are not well or properly dehydrated the oil become rancid .It is done by sending steam through scrapings. The moisture content should be 0.5% maximum.

DOUBLE BOIL METHOD ; Water is filled to the vessel. Then oil is added and temperature is kept at 60 degrees maximum  using a thermometer .Then it is heated for 10-15 minutes .

Scientific Explanation-The moisture particles in the oil sample is evaporated.

LABORATORY TESTINGS- There are 10 lab tests .Some of them are;

1. Moisture Content  Test

2.  FFA Content Value

 FFA content the free fatty acid content .It should be 0.2% maximum. For any oil the free fatty acid content value should be of low value. The fats and oil or the triglycerides are digested in to the simplest form of fatty acid and glycerol. But in virgin coconut fatty acid are found freely. Our stomach can not digest fatty acid and thus digested in small intestine and liver. If the content of fatty acid is high, the acidity in digestive cavity can cause irritations. But in virgin coconut oil the Free Fatty Acid content is very low, thus reducing the above risk.

   3. IV  Value test(Iodine Value Test)

  4.   Refractive Index test.

  For this test special equipment called Spectrophotometer is used. Using this experiment, a gas sample is placed on the device and a light ray is passed through it and refractive index is measured.

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.