The Coconut Oil Production Process

Through a pressing and fermentaion process, useful coconut oil can be extracted from coconut meat.

The oil extracted from the fruit of coconut palms is used in soaps, lotions, sun block, beauty products and in cooking. This oil can be produced with machinery or manually at home.

Copra

The first step in creating coconut oil is to dry the coconut using either sunlight or a kiln and chemicals. Copra, the meat of a coconut after the drying process, is the basis for coconut oil production.

Extraction

To extract the oil from the copra, the coconut meat must be chopped and pressed. Some methods utilize chemicals for the extraction step as well, but it can be done manually or mechanically. The chips of copra are heated and then pressed again to extract any remaining oil.

Fermentation

After the copra has been pressed, the resulting oils are combined with water and allowed to ferment for 24 hours, which produces three layers: a protein layer on top, the desirable coconut oil in the middle, and the water at the bottom. Through this process, five tons of copra yields approximately three tons of coconut oil.

References

• The Coconut Diet: How is Coconut Oil Produced?
• Coconut Developing Board: Processing Technology
• Organic Facts: Manufacturing Organic Coconut Oil

Resources

• Free Patents Online: Process for the Production of Coconut Oil