Virgin coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease an 8- by 4-inch loaf pan with extra-virgin coconut oil or olive oil. 

Various quality parameters have been proposed in order to establish the quality of coconut oil. Asian Pacific Coconut Conmumity (APCC) and Codex Alimentarius have established the values of quality eontrol parameters in physical, chemical and microbiological aspects of coconut oil. Quality parameters established by Codex Alimentarius for eoconut oil are acid value or free fatty aeid percentage (none), peroxide value (< 15 meq/kg oil), iodine value (6.3-10.6) and volatile matter percentage at 105°C (0.2%). APCC standards of quality parameters for virgin coconut oil are given in the Table 1. 

As the fatty acid composition of coconut oil is independent of the method of extraction, it can be assumed that any health effect purely connected to the fat content may not vary with the type of coconut oil. However, non-lipid components of coconut oil significantly vary with the method of extraction. As most of these minor compounds are polar in nature, then-solubility in coconut oil is higher at high temperatures. Therefore, coconut oil prepared by boiling coconut milk contains higher amounts of phenolic antioxidants compared to other coconut oils. Virgin coconut oil produced under cold conditions can also retain thermally unstable non-lipid matter such as vitamins, some phenolic compounds and several other compounds such as sterols. Copra oil contains lower amount of important non-lipid compounds. Therefore, coconut oil prepared by wet extraction under cold or hot conditions seem to confer better beneficial health effects compared to copra oil. 

Arlee, R., Suanphairoch, S., Pakdeechanuan, P., (2013). Differences in chemical components and antioxidant-related substances in virgin coconut oil from coconut hybrids and their parents. Inti. Food Res. J. 20(5), 2103-2109. 

Nevin, K. G., Rajamohan, T., (2004). Beneficial effects of virgin coconut oil on lipid parameters and in vitro LDL oxidation. Clin. Biochem. 37, 830-835. 

Siddalingaswamy, M., Rayaorth, A., Khanum, F., (2011). Anti-diabetic effects of cold and hot extracted virgin coconut oil. J. Diabetes Mellitus 1, 118-123. 

Virgin coconut oil is obtained from the mature kernel of the coconut by mechanical or physical means with or without the application of minimal heat (Dia et al., 2005). Coconut oil contains about 90% saturated fats. The oil contains predominantly triglycerides with 86.5% saturated fatty acids, 5.8% monounsaturated fatty acids and 1.8% polyunsaturated fatty acids (Gunstone 2011 Hui 1996 Marina et al., 2009). 

Raw coconut oil (or virgin coconut oil) is colorless at or above 30°C and it is white when in its solid form, being an unctuous mass. Coconut oil melts at 25°Cand becomes solid below this temperature. The typical smell of coconut oil is that of coconuts (if not refined, bleached and deodorized). Coconut oil is insoluble in water at room temperature (APCC 2006 Gunstone 2011). 

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