Coconut oil

Coconut oil, or copra oil, is an edible oil extracted from the kernel or meat of mature coconuts harvested from the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera).

Cooking oil is typically a liquid at room temperature, although some oils that contain saturated fat, such as coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil are solid.

Coconut oil, or copra oil, is an edible oil extracted from the kernel or meat of mature coconuts harvested from the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera).

Mature, ripe coconuts can be used as edible seeds, or processed for oil and plant milk from the flesh, charcoal from the hard shell, and coir from the fibrous husk.

Because of its high saturated fat content, it is slow to oxidize and, thus, resistant to rancidification, lasting up to six months at 24 °C (75 °F) without spoiling.

Certain vegetable products have high saturated fat content, such as coconut oil and palm kernel oil.

Dry processing requires that the meat be extracted from the shell and dried using fire, sunlight, or kilns to create copra.

Coconut oil is extracted from copra, making it an important agricultural commodity for many coconut-producing countries.

The all-wet process uses coconut milk extracted from raw coconut rather than dried copra.

The opacity and rich taste of coconut milk is due to its high oil content, most of which is saturated fat.

The fractionation of coconut oil can also be used to isolate caprylic acid and capric acid, which are medium-chain triglycerides, as these are used for medical applications, special diets and cosmetics, sometimes also being used as a carrier oil for fragrances.

Capric acid occurs naturally in coconut oil (about 10%) and palm kernel oil (about 4%), otherwise it is uncommon in typical seed oils.

The fractionation of coconut oil can also be used to isolate caprylic acid and capric acid, which are medium-chain triglycerides, as these are used for medical applications, special diets and cosmetics, sometimes also being used as a carrier oil for fragrances. 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 are myristic acid (16.7 grams), palmitic acid (8.6 grams), and caprylic acid (6.8 grams).

Its compounds are found naturally in the milk of various mammals, and as a minor constituent of coconut oil and palm kernel oil.

Lauric acid, a 12-carbon chain fatty acid, is often removed because of its high value for industrial and medical purposes. 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 are myristic acid (16.7 grams), palmitic acid (8.6 grams), and caprylic acid (6.8 grams).

Lauric acid, as a component of triglycerides, comprises about half of the fatty-acid content in coconut milk, coconut oil, laurel oil, and palm kernel oil (not to be confused with palm oil), Otherwise, it is relatively uncommon.

The fractionation of coconut oil can also be used to isolate caprylic acid and capric acid, which are medium-chain triglycerides, as these are used for medical applications, special diets and cosmetics, sometimes also being used as a carrier oil for fragrances.

Rich food sources for commercial extraction of MCTs include palm kernel oil and coconut oil.

Instead, studies have found that coconut oil consumption has health effects similar to those of other unhealthy fats, including butter, beef fat and palm oil.

It is not to be confused with palm kernel oil derived from the kernel of the same fruit or coconut oil derived from the kernel of the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera).

Coconut oil makes up around 2.5% of the world vegetable oil production.

Such oils include the major cooking oils – soybean, rapeseed, canola, sunflower, safflower, peanut, cottonseed, etc. Tropical oils, such as coconut, palm, and rice bran oils, are particularly valued in Asian cultures for high-temperature cooking, because of their unusually high flash points.

They then refine the oil to remove certain free fatty acids to reduce susceptibility to rancidification.

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 are myristic acid (16.7 grams), palmitic acid (8.6 grams), and caprylic acid (6.8 grams).

Besides nutmeg, myristic acid is also found in palm kernel oil, coconut oil, butterfat, 8–14% of bovine milk, and 8.6% of breast milk as well as being a minor component of many other animal fats.

Fractionated coconut oil provides fractions of the whole oil so that its different fatty acids can be separated for specific uses.

Fractionation is also used for culinary purposes, as coconut oil, palm oil, and palm kernel oil are fractionated to produce oils of different viscosities, that may be used for different purposes.

Coconut oil (and derivatives, such as coconut fatty acid) are used as raw materials in the manufacture of surfactants such as cocamidopropyl betaine, cocamide MEA, and cocamide DEA.

Cocamidopropyl betaine (CAPB) is a mixture of closely related organic compounds derived from coconut oil and dimethylaminopropylamine.

Coconut oil contains phytosterols, whereas there are no micronutrients in significant content (table).

Coconut oil (and derivatives, such as coconut fatty acid) are used as raw materials in the manufacture of surfactants such as cocamidopropyl betaine, cocamide MEA, and cocamide DEA.

Cocamide DEA, or cocamide diethanolamine, is a diethanolamide made by reacting the mixture of fatty acids from coconut oils with diethanolamine.

Coconut oil (and derivatives, such as coconut fatty acid) are used as raw materials in the manufacture of surfactants such as cocamidopropyl betaine, cocamide MEA, and cocamide DEA.

It is a mixture of fatty acid amides which is produced from the fatty acids in coconut oil when reacted with ethanolamine.

Used by movie theatre chains to pop popcorn, coconut oil adds considerable saturated fat and calories to the snackfood while enhancing flavor, possibly a factor increasing further consumption of high-calorie snackfoods, energy balance, and weight gain.

The movie theaters surveyed used coconut oil to pop the corn, and then topped it with butter or margarine.

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.

Agriculture employs two-thirds of the labour force and furnishes 90% of exports, featuring coconut cream, coconut oil, noni (juice of the nonu fruit, as it is known in Samoan), and copra.

Coconut oil has been tested for use as an engine lubricant and as a transformer oil.

Researchers are experimenting with vegetable-based formulations, using coconut oil for instance.

In 2003 a World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) expert consultation report concluded: "intake of saturated fatty acids is directly related to cardiovascular risk. The traditional target is to restrict the intake of saturated fatty acids to less than 10%, of daily energy intake and lessthan 7% for high-risk groups. If populations are consuming less than10%, they should not increase that level of intake. Within these limits,intake of foods rich in myristic and palmitic acids should be replaced byfats with a lower content of these particular fatty acids. In developingcountries, however, where energy intake for some population groupsmay be inadequate, energy expenditure is high and body fat stores arelow (BMI

Because of its high saturated fat content, it is slow to oxidize and, thus, resistant to rancidification, lasting up to six months at 24 °C (75 °F) without spoiling.

Due to its high levels of saturated fat, the World Health Organization, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, United States Food and Drug Administration, American Heart Association, American Dietetic Association, British National Health Service, British Nutrition Foundation, and Dietitians of Canada advise that coconut oil consumption should be limited or avoided.