Summary
Analyses and comparisons of a number of representative samples have shown that acidulated coconut oil soapstock may have an iodine value as much as 100% greater than that of the corresponding refined oil without any contamination being involved. Exactly what the spread between any given soapstock and oil will be apparently depends on the free fatty acid content of the original crude oil and the relative efficiency of the refining process. It was found that, for coconut soapstocks produced by standard laboratory refining tests, the relation between free fatty acid content and iodine value spread can be represented by the formula I.V. Spread=9.5–759 FFA. The efficiency of the refining process affects results insofar as it reduces the entrainment of neutral oil. Removing all of the neutral oil from four laboratory-produced soapstocks prior to acidulation raised the iodine value approximately two units in all cases.
The practical significance of these results is obvious. A refiner processing high grade crude coconut oil of 9.5, iodine value by a highly efficient refining procedure cannot be expected to produce an acidulated soapstock of less than about 18.0 in iodine value. With higher free fatty acid crude oil and less efficient refining procedures lower iodine values are possible, but since soapstock is of minor economic value compared to refined oil, the trend will always be toward better grade crude oils and more efficient refining processes.
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Kuber, S.R., Newby, W.H. Iodine values of acidulated coconut oil soapstock. J Am Oil Chem Soc 30, 246–249 (1953). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02638324
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02638324