Coconut Oil Expeller

Coconut Oil Expeller,Oil Seed Expeller

Coconuts grow in the coastal areas of the tropics and subtropics, 20°N and 20°S of the equator. Major producing countries are: The Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, Mozambique, Tanzania, and the Pacific Islands.

Immature coconut nuts should not be harvested as they contain less oil than mature coconut nuts.

Coconut oil expeller using a low-pressure bridge press

Traditional methods of oil seed expeller usually incorporate the addition of a proportion of seed to the ground oilseed before extraction. The influence of moisture content on the extraction of oil from grated coconut has been examined at NRI in laboratory trials using a hand-operated bridge press. Experimental results showed that at an optimum moisture content of about 10-12%, about 70% of the oil could be extracted at a pressure of about 50 p.s.i. At 100 p.s.i., about 77% of the oil could be recovered. Coconut oil expeller extraction efficiency decreased with increasing particle size.

Preliminary field tests on this method have been undertaken in Tanzania using a 240 mm diameter cage. The main practical problem was how to prepare the dried grated kernel to within the optimum specific moisture range. It was established that the moisture content of grated coconut kernel was reduced to about 3% after 4 h of drying in the sun. Tests indicated that a mixture of wet and dry coconut gratings at a ratio of 19:100 gave a moisture content in the required range.

The entire coconut oil expeller process should be completed in one day. If this is not possible, the oil seed expeller process can be halted after the grated coconut has been dried in the sun for 4 h and before the five coconuts have been grated. The dried, grated coconut must be carefully stored under cover overnight, preferably in sealed plastic bags. The coconut oil expeller process should be continued the following day by grating the five remaining coconuts, adding the freshly grated coconut to the dried grated coconut, and then completing the oil seed expeller process as normal.

Initial results indicate that the oil seed expeller efficiency is about 64%, which is a little lower than that achieved in the laboratory trials. The coconut flavour of the oil from this oil seed expeller process is not as strong as that of oil from the traditional domestic process. However, a consumer survey has shown the oil to be generally acceptable for the preparation of food. The new oil seed expeller process requires neither firewood nor water and avoids the laborious extraction of 'cream' from the grated coconut flesh.

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