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Isopropanol Fractionation of Coconut Oil into its Olein and Stearin Fractions

Authors(4) :-Sanjukta Kar, Rajib Ghosh, D. K. Bhattacharyya,Minakshi Ghosh

The present study deals with the fractionation of coconut oil by using isopropanol as solvent and characterization of the olein and stearin fractions obtained in terms of melting properties, iodine value, saponification value and fatty acid composition. Coconut oil was fractionated with isopropanol (1:3, 1:4 and 1:5 wt/vol) at three temperatures (20°,15° and 10°C). The yields of oleins and stearins were dependent on the volume of solvent and the temperature of fractionation. Thus, 54 to 25% of oleins and 43 to 71% of stearins could be obtained when crystallized from 15°C to 10°C with the varying volume ratio of solvent (1:5 to 1:3 wt/vol.). The olein fractions displayed a distinct variation in the fatty acid compositions. Both Caprylic acid and Capric acid content increased in olein fractions from original coconut oil whereas decreased in corresponding stearin fractions. From the results, it appears that isopropanol is a good solvent to yield relatively higher amounts of medium chain triglycerides (MCT) which may be important from health and economical point of view. Coconut oil can be fractionated from isopropanol at relatively high temperatures in much less time to produce olein and stearin fractions of specific composition and properties.
Sanjukta Kar, Rajib Ghosh, D. K. Bhattacharyya,Minakshi Ghosh
Fractionation, Isopropanol, Coconut Olein, Coconut Stearin, Medium Chain Triglyceride
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Publication Details
  Published in : Volume 1 | Issue 5 | November-December 2015
  Date of Publication : 2015-12-25
License:  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Page(s) : 83-88
Manuscript Number : IJSRST151517
Publisher : Technoscience Academy
PRINT ISSN : 2395-6011
ONLINE ISSN : 2395-602X
Cite This Article :
Sanjukta Kar, Rajib Ghosh, D. K. Bhattacharyya,Minakshi Ghosh, "Isopropanol Fractionation of Coconut Oil into its Olein and Stearin Fractions", International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology(IJSRST), Print ISSN : 2395-6011, Online ISSN : 2395-602X, Volume 1, Issue 5, pp.83-88, November-December-2015
URL : http://ijsrst.com/IJSRST151517