Coconut oil was extracted from dried copra processed from
fresh mature nuts by effective expeller extraction procedure and
an average yield of 68-70% was obtained at each trial. Table 2 demonstrates
the physicochemical properties of the extracted coconut
oil. The trace amount of free fatty acid (FFA – 0.1%) and the moisture (0.05%) content showed the stability of the oil for storage.
The saponification value 250 and iodine value 8 of the oil indicate
the presence of higher level of saturated lipids. The lipid composition
of extracted oil exhibit a profile of 95.6% – tri acyl glycerides,
0.57% – di acyl glycerides, 3.4% – polar acyl glycerides, 0.04% phospholipids,
0.02% glycolipids and traces of mono acyl glycerides. The
fatty acid profile of coconut oil exhibits the content of short and
long chain fatty acids with 93% saturated lipids and the remaining
unsaturated. The distribution of short chain fatty acids of Lauric
(47.2%), Myristic (19.42%), Caprylic (8.21%) and Capric (5.59%)
acids indicate the uniqueness of coconut oil compared with other
vegetable oils.