How do you get coconut oils out of coconuts?

Answer 1

With changing times, the awareness of virgin coconut oil is increasing. It is slowly becoming major functional food oil. In the next few years, it will witness a dramatic growth in the market.

Virgin coconut oil is extracted from fresh coconut milk obtained from mature kernels of the coconut, by mechanical or natural means. VCO can be consumed in its natural state without any further processing. It is oil that does not undergo chemical refining or bleaching. It mainly comprises of medium chain fatty acids. The important fatty acid in VCO is lauric acid. It constitutes 48% of VCO. It also possesses powerful anti-microbial properties capable of destroying bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites.

Virgin coconut oil is the best possible remedy to treat various skin ailments. It is also the best skincare solution for babies. Since it is free from chemicals, it assures good protection to baby skin.

To produce 1 kg of virgin coconut oil, 7 kg of de-husked coconuts are required, which is roughly around 17 coconuts.

The virgin coconut oil extraction process is as follows:

· De-husking: The husk is removed manually or with the help of a coconut de-husking machine.

· Deshelling: It is done to remove the shell of the coconut.

· Paring: It is done to remove the brown skin of the kernel with the help of a paring machine.

· Blanching: Pared coconuts are dipped in boiling water for few minutes in a blanching tank.

· Draining: It can be done with the help of vibratory screener. This will remove the excess water present in the blanched coconuts.

· Disintegration: Pared coconuts are fed into a disintegrator where pared nuts are cut into small pieces and will be ready for extraction.

· Milk extraction: Shredded coconuts are put into a milk extractor (screw press/ hydraulic press) and coconut milk oozes out of the extractor. Extracted milk is collected in collecting vessels. Extracted coconut milk is then filtered to remove if any solids are present. Residue obtained after extraction is dried in an oven and packed a defatted desiccated coconut.

· Centrifugation: This process is used to separate two immiscible substances. Coconut milk is the natural oil in water emulsion. After centrifugation, oil and skim milk is separated. Coconut oil is separated from coconut milk.

· Filtration: The oil is passed through the filter press and packed in consumer packs. Vacuum drying of virgin coconut oil will remove the moisture present in that. This can be packed as "premium grade VCO".