Stability of Coconut Oil in Food Products
C.W. FRITSCH, V.E. WEISS and R.H. ANDERSON,
General Mills, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55427
ABSTRACT
The active o x y g e n m e t h o d ( A O M ) stability of
refined c o c o n u t oil is generally 250 hr; h o w e v e r ,
samples w i t h as low a stability as 30 h r have b e e n
o b t a i n e d . The a d d i t i o n of BHA, BHT a n d citrate
increased the AOM s t a b i l i t y to a b o u t 3 5 0 h r even
t h o u g h the initial s t a b i l i t y was 30 or 2 5 0 hr. R e f i n e d
c o c o n u t oil samples w h i c h h y d r o l y z e d f r o m 2 to 10
times as rapidly as n o r m a l oils have b e e n e n c o u n -
tered. Such samples are u n d e s i r a b l e for f o o d p r o d u c -
t i o n as s o a p y off-flavors m a y be p r o d u c e d . The rate
of h y d r o l y s i s of c o c o n u t oil samples was e v a l u a t e d b y
a simple l a b o r a t o r y test. C o c o n u t oil free f a t t y acids
p r o d u c e d a s o a p y off-flavor at a l o w e r level in sweet
f o o d s t h a n in salty ones. Soapy off-flavors were
p r o d u c e d in a l o w m o i s t u r e f o o d c o n t a i n i n g c o c o n u t
oil b y t h e lipase activity o f c i n n a m o n .
INTRODUCTION
C o c o n u t oil is used for t h e p r o d u c t i o n of a n u m b e r of
f o o d p r o d u c t s because it h a s a relatively sharp m e l t i n g
p o i n t , a b l a n d flavor a n d is e x t r e m e l y r e s i s t a n t to oxida-
t i o n . T h e l a t t e r is usually true, h o w e v e r , a few samples w i t h
a low s t a b i l i t y have b e e n received. The effect of antioxi-
dants o n samples with low s t a b i l i t y was investigated.
One d i s a d v a n t a g e o f t h e use of c o c o n u t oil in f o o d
p r o d u c t s is t h e possible d e v e l o p m e n t of a s o a p y flavor due
to the free f a t t y acids ( F F A ) p r o d u c e d b y hydrolysis. When
h i g h e r t h a n n o r m a l F F A were o b t a i n e d , t h e cause was
initially a t t r i b u t e d to i m p r o p e r processing or storage of t h e
food product. Subsequent investigations showed that the
rate o f h y d r o l y s i s o f r e f i n e d c o c o n u t oil m a y vary
c o n s i d e r a b l y . A test p r o c e d u r e was e s t a b l i s h e d t o m e a s u r e
the rate of hydrolysis. A s o a p y flavor d u e t o h i g h F F A was
also s h o w n to be p r o d u c e d b y t h e lipase activity on t h e
c o c o n u t oil in a l o w m o i s t u r e f o o d p r o d u c t d u r i n g storage.
E X P E R I M E N T A L PROCEDURES
T h e o x i d a t i v e s t a b i l i t y of c o c o n u t oils was d e t e r m i n e d
by t h e active o x y g e n m e t h o d (AOM).
To evaluate the oil samples for t h e i r rate o f h y d r o l y s i s ,
t h e f o l l o w i n g p r o c e d u r e was used, First the initial F F A
c o n t e n t of t h e oil was d e t e r m i n e d . T h e n 2 ml o f distilled
w a t e r a n d 28.2 g of oil were placed i n t o 2 oz s a m p l e jars
( a b o u t 4 c m diam a n d 7 c m high) w h i c h were loosely
c a p p e d a n d a u t o c l a v e d at 15 psi ( 2 5 0 F) for 16 hr. A f t e r
TABLE I
Variations in Active O x y g e n Method Stability o f
Coconut Oils and the Effect o f the Addition o f Antioxidants
Samples
A B C Effect of Initial Free Fatty Acid
Iodine value 9.8 8.4 9.3
Per cent free fatty acids .04 .03 .02
AOM when received 255 hr 30 hr 82 hr
AOM, treatment I a 272 hr 68 hr 188 hr
AOM, treatment 2 362 hr 238 hr ---
AOM, treatment 3 374 hr 340 hr 370 hr
aTreatments: 1 - 3 0 0 ppm m o n o g l y c e r i d e citrate added; 2 - 1 0 0
ppm each o f BHA and BHT added; 3 - 3 0 0 ppm m o n o g l y c e r i d e
citrate and 100 ppm each BHT and BHA added.
392
t h e jars h a d cooled, t h e F F A c o n t e n t was r e d e t e r m i n e d
using t h e t o t a l c o n t e n t of t h e jar. The ratio o f t h e F F A
after a u t o c l a v i n g over t h e initial F F A was calculated for
each oil sample. G o o d a g r e e m e n t was o b t a i n e d w h e n the
same samples were r u n b y t h r e e d i f f e r e n t laboratories.
W h e n c o m m e r c i a l c o c o n u t oil samples were a u t o c l a v e d
w i t h o u t t h e a d d i t i o n of water, h y d r o l y s i s t o t h e same
degree o c c u r r e d w i t h m o s t samples, b u t the a d d i t i o n of t h e
2 ml of w a t e r i m p r o v e d t h e r e p r o d u c i b i l i t y . The a d d i t i o n of
10 ml or m o r e of w a t e r r e d u c e d t h e e x t e n t of h y d r o l y s i s in
some samples w h i c h h a d a high rate o f hydrolysis.
RESULTS A N D DISCUSSION
Variations in the Rate of Oxidation
Most freshly r e f i n e d c o c o n u t oil samples have a n AOM
stability of 180 to 250 h r ; h o w e v e r , samples w i t h a stability
as low as 30 hr have b e e n receive'd. When BHA, BHT a n d
m o n o g l y c e r i d e citrate were a d d e d to c o c o n u t oils, t h e AOM
stability of all samples, irrespective o f t h e i r initial stability,
were a b o u t 3 5 0 h r a s s h o w n in Table I. The a d d i t i o n of
m o n o g l y c e r i d e c i t r a t e to oil samples w i t h high stabilities
did n o t p r o d u c e a significant change, b u t it i m p r o v e d t h e
stability of t h e samples w i t h l o w initial stabilities. The
a d d i t i o n of BHA a n d BHT to a c o c o n u t oil sample with a
low stability r e s u l t e d in a m u c h greater i m p r o v e m e n t t h a n
w h e n a d d e d t o a sample w i t h a h i g h initial stability.
These results suggested t h a t t h e high resistance t o
o x i d a t i o n of c o c o n u t oil m i g h t n o t be e n t i r e l y due t o its
l o w u n s a t u r a t i o n b u t due t o t h e p r e s e n c e of n a t u r a l
a n t i o x i d a n t s in varying a m o u n t s . S e m i q u a n t i t a t i v e gas
liquid c h r o m a t o g r a p h y analysis s h o w e d n o difference in
a m o u n t s of t o c o p h e r o l s in the c o c o n u t oils w i t h l o w a n d
high stabilities. T h e w a l t et al. ( 5 ) h a v e r e p o r t e d d e t e c t i n g
p h e n o l s o t h e r t h a n t o c o p h e r o l s in a m o u n t s u p to 100 p p m
in c o c o n u t oil samples. To o b t a i n an oil w i t h n o n a t u r a l
a n t i o x i d a n t s , t w o m i x t u r e s of t h e f a t t y acid e t h y l esters
s i m u l a t i n g t h e c o m p o s i t i o n of c o c o n u t oil were prepared.
The u n s a t u r a t i o n in the first m i x t u r e (iodine value of 7.9)
was o b t a i n e d b y the use of e t h y l oleate. The s e c o n d
m i x t u r e c o n t a i n e d 1.5% e t h y l l i n o l e a t e a n d 5% e t h y l oleate
(iodine value of 7.4). The AOM s t a b i l i t y o f these m i x t u r e s
were 48 a n d 28 hr, respectively. When 100 p p m each BHA
a n d BHT were a d d e d , t h e stability was increased to 4 1 0 a n d
148 hr. With t h e a d d i t i o n of t h e a n t i o x i d a n t s a n d 3 0 0 p p m
of m o n o g l y c e r i d e citrate, t h e AOM stability of b o t h
samples e x c e e d e d 500 hr.
Variations in the Rate of Hydrolysis
A freshly r e f i n e d c o c o n u t oil sample, w h i c h m e t all
established s p e c i f i c a t i o n s b u t w h i c h was s u s p e c t e d to be t h e
cause o f an off-flavor in t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f a f o o d p r o d u c t ,
TABLE II
Content on Rate o f Hydrolysis o f Coconut Oil
Free fatty acids, % Ratio
o f heated/initial
Samples Initial Heated free fatty acids
M as received ,03 .26 8.7
M plus oleic acid .09 .66 7.4
X as received .03 .09 3.0
X plus oleic acid .09 .26 2.9
AUGUST, 1971 FRITSCH, ET AL: COCONUT OIL STABILITY
was evaluated in the laboratory by deep fat frying of a low
moisture snack. After 5 hr of frying at 360 F, the FFA
content of this coconut oil sample was 0.43%. Normal
coconut oil samples under the same conditions produced a
F F A content of only 0.11%.
The amount of F F A produced under milk hydrolysis
conditions is greatly influenced by the initial F F A content
of an oil; hence such a F F A value is not a direct measure of
the rate of hydrolysis of an oil. This was illustrated with the
hydrolysis test using coconut oil samples to which fatty
acids had been added to change the initial F F A content as
shown in Table II. The ratios of the F F A content after
autoclaving, divided by the initial F F A content were of the
same magnitude for the same sample with different initial
F F A levels; however, the ratios differed considerably for
the two samples shown in Table I I - a b o u t three for Sample
X and eight for Sample M. Ratios in the two to four range
were obtained for most commercial coconut oil samples. A
few samples of commercial coconut oils had higher hy-
drolysis ratios. One sample had a ratio of 30.
It was found that samples with a high hydrolysis ratio
showed a more rapid increase in F F A not only when used
in a food process but also during the storage of the oil.
Coconut oil samples with initial F F A contents of 0.03% but
hydrolysis ratios of 3, 11 and 30 had F F A levels of 0.03%,
0.09% and 0.20%, respectively, after six months storage in
glass jars at 50 F.
Noble et al. (4) and Buziassy and Nawar (1) have
reported that the rate of hydrolysis of triglycerides was
more selective in favor of the shorter chain and unsaturated
fatty acids. To determine if a small increase in the shorter
chain or longer chain fatty acids affected the hydrolysis
ratio, the hydrolysis test was carried out with coconut oil
samples to which 5% tricaproin, trioctanoin or tripalmatin
had been added. These changes in the fatty acid composi-
tion had no effect on the rate of hydrolysis. Neither was
the hydrolysis ratio influenced by the addition of 0.25% to
13% of monolein or monostearin, or 0.25% of oxystearins.
The addition of less than 30 mg of sodium laurate per
100 g of coconut oil (29 ppm Na) had no effect on the
hydrolysis ratio. At higher levels the rate of hydrolysis was
significantly increased. This increase was greater than that
obtained by the addition of equal molar amounts of lauric
acid. The presence of soaps was not the reason for the
higher rates of hydrolysis in the commercial coconut oil
samples. The highest level of sodium found by atomic
absorption in any of these samples was 2 ppm.
393
Deterioration Due to Lipase Activity
Halbert and Weeden (3) and Gross ( 2 ) h a v e reported
lipase activity in spices and seasonings. Such lipase activity
can cause stability problems in food products containing
coconut oil. A snack product with a moisture content of
3% which had been fried in coconut oil and was dusted
with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon had a good initial
flavor. After six weeks of storage at 100 F, the product was
rated unacceptable due to a soapy flavor. The free fatty
acid content of the oil extracted from the product was
0.13% initially, 0.79% after 6 weeks storage at 100 F,
0.91% after 8 weeks and 1.49% after l 0 weeks.
To determine if the acid formation was due to lipase
activity of the cinnamon, 1.4 g of cinnamon was mixed
with 28 g of both coconut oil and light mineral oil. The
F F A content of the coconut oil-cinnamon mixture was
0.06% initially and 1.27% after four weeks storage at 57 C.
For the cinnamon and mineral oil mixture the F F A were
0.03% initially, and 0.06% after storage.
Coconut Oil FFA Off-Flavor
The amount of coconut oil FFA required to produce a
"so ap y " flavor in a food product was found to vary with
the type of product and the sensitivity of the individual to
this type of off-flavor. In a sweet candy product containing
30% coconut oil, 14 out of 30 tasters rated the product
unacceptable when the oil had a F F A content of 0.25%.
When the F F A level was increased to 0.4%, all but one
taster judged the product unacceptable due to a " s oa py"
flavor. In contrast, a salty snack containing 30% coconut oil
with a F F A content of 0.4% was rated unacceptable by
only three of 30 tasters. When the F F A of the oil in the
snack was 0.6%, 23 out of 30 tasters rated the product
unacceptable. Three tasters of the laboratory panel were
much more sensitive to coconut oil F F A than the other
tasters.
REFERENCES
1. Buziassy,C., and W.W. Nawar, J. Food Sci. 33:305-307 (1968).
2. Gross, A.F., 1969 IFT Meeting Abstracts, Paper 114.
3. Halbert, E., and D.G. Weeden, Nature 212:1603-1604 (1966).
4. Noble, A.C., C. Buziassy and W.W. Nawar, Lipids 2:435-436
(1967).
5. Thewalt, K., A. Pastura and G. Renckhoff, Fette Seifen
Anstrichm. 71:85-88 (1969).
[ Received September 26, 1970]