Jounal of Agricultural Engineering Vol 1(2)

April, 2012, Chiangmai, Thailand

AME 02
Study and design manufacture of virgin coconut oil by centrifuge method
Supamas Panpanya Siwalak Pathaveerat,
1 Department

of agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kasetsart University

(Kamphaeng Saen Campus), Thailand 73140
Center of excellent for agricultural and food machinery Kasetsart University
(Kamphaeng Saen Campus), Thailand 73140
*Corresponding Author: Tel: 034-351896, Fax: 034-351896, E-mail: october_94@hotmail.com

Abstract
In this study, the potential of centrifugation method in emulsion breaking of coconut milk emulsion. The
conventional methods to produce Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) by using fermentation and cold pressing need longer
time to break these emulsions. Coconut milk from the local market was used as samples for the study. The
centrifuge speed was varied from 6000 to 9000 rpm and the centrifugation time was varied from 120 to 150
min and temperatures controlled at 40, 45 and 50 C respectively. The present research found that,
centrifugation method can enhance the breaking of coconut milk emulsion in a very short time compared to the
conventional methods. This method provides higher yields, quicker and less expensive.
Keywords: centrifugation, emulsion, fermentation, Virgin Coconut Oil
emulsion extracted from the endosperm of mature
coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) [6] Coconut milk contains
1. introduction
about 54% moisture, 35% fat and11% solid non-fat
Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) has been part of [7-8] The coconut oil has been well characterized,
peoples diet in the tropical countries of Asia. The fruit while amino acid composition and nutritional value of
of the coconut is the most commercially useful the coconut protein have been studied by some
component of the coconut. In the more classical researchers.
method the emulsion is centrifuged to produce a fat
Centrifugation is common operations for
layer and a clear serum. The protein content of the separating fine particles. In biotechnological
serum is determined and the difference between the
separations, for instance, these particles can be cell
serum and the protein content of the original emulsion
debris and organelles,
or
large
is calculated to yield the amount of protein associated
macromolecules, such as DNA and proteins.
with the fat droplets (Dickinson & Hong, 1994).Virgin
Centrifugation is a process that involves the use of
coconut oil can be produced directly from the fresh
the centrifugal force for the sedimentation of mixtures
coconut meat, or from coconut milk, or from coconut
with a centrifuge. More-dense components of the
milk residue. Coconut milk is the natural oil-in-water
mixture migrate away from the axis of the centrifuge,
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while less-dense components of the mixture migrate

towards the axis.Centrifugation produces a
centripetal force that can be many hundreds or
thousands of times the force of gravity, thus speeding
up the process considerably. The greater the number
of revolutions per minute (RPM), the greater the force
of gravity. A centrifuge is a device for separating
particles from a solution according to their size,
shape, density, viscosity of the medium and rotor
speed.
2. materials and method
2.1 materials
Fresh and mature coconuts is used between the
ages of 12-13 months old from a coconut plantation,
which is a coconut fully grown and de-husk, the husk
should be turning brown, does not have a haustorium
because the oil content of the kernel starts to decline
once the haustorium is formed and the quality
deteriorates as the haustorium grows bigger. 2.2
Preparation and procedure coconut milk
The mature coconuts were subjected to
deshelling, paring and removal of water.The white
coconut kernel was disintegrated using rotary wedge
cutter (Krauss Maffei, Germany) and passed through
cloth filters before experiments.
2.3 method
The four bottles filled with 200 ml of coconut milk
each, it placed inside a high speed centrifuge (Model:
RD-20 III, TOMY, Japan) with rotor used is No 9
10000 R.P.M. and centrifuged for different speeds
ranging from 6000 to 9000 rpm (the angular velocities
of the rotor ranging from

628.32 to 942.48 rad sec) [1] and different times

ranging from 120 to 165 min and temperatures
controlled at 40, 45 and 50 C respectively.
2.4 Physico-chemical properties
The coconut oil obtained by combination of
treatments was evaluated for moisture (analysis
determine of VCO by referring standard procedure
AOCS ca 28-38) [], refractive index, iodine value,
colour, saponification value according to standard
methods
2.5 Determination of the acid value and peroxide
value
Acid value and peroxide value of the oil
samples were determined by the reported methods of
Kirk and Sawyer, 1991. 2.6 Determination of fatty acid
composition
Methylation of fatty acids was carried out by the
method of Garcs and Mancha (1993). Determination
of fatty acid profile was carried out using a HP 4890
serics II gas chromatograph equipped with column
HP-20M injector and flame ionisation detector (FID)
The injector and detector temperatures were 250 C.
The sample (1L) was injected into the GC system.
The oven temperature program of 160 C (5 min),
160-210 C at 50 C/min and 210 C (10 min) was
used.
3 Results and discussion
In the experiments test, the potential of
centrifugation method in emulsion breaking of
coconut milk. The results centrifuged speeds ranging

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April, 2012, Chiangmai, Thailand

from 6000 to 9000 rpm, times ranging from 120 to 165

min and temperatures controlled at 40,
45 and 50 C respectively. The highest yield of
VCO was obtained at 9000 rpm, 150 min and 50
C, where the VCO yield is 34.45% (fig 1)

Fig. 1: Total of VCO yield (%) under different

centrifugation speed and Time (min) at temperature
50 C.
3.1 Effect of centrifugation speed on VCO yield.
The VCO yield has been studied for different
centrifuge speed, namely 6000, 7000, 8000 and 9000
rpm, at temperature 40, 50 and 60 C of different time.
The highest yield of VCO was obtained at 9000 rpm
to all temperature on experiment shown in the fig.2.
The higher centrifuge speed, gives higher yield of
VCO. This observation is explained by the fact that
increasing the centrifuge speed results in increasing
the rate of sedimentation and consequently increases
the separation of two immiscible liquid of the emulsion.
(Abdvrahman H. Nour et al., 2009)

Fig.2: VCO yield (%) with effect of centrifugation

speed at different temperature.
Fig.2, When increased the centrifuge speed
results in an increase in the VCO yield, because
emulsion breaking of coconut milk. 3.2 Effect of
centrifugation time on VCO yield.
The different times of centrifugation process
were used 120, 135, 150 and 165 min at 9000 rpm
for different temperatures. The highest yield of VCO
is found at 150 min (fig.3). The longer time, it gives
higher yield of VCO.

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April, 2012, Chiangmai, Thailand

Fig 3: Total of VCO yield (%) under different

centrifugation time(min) and temperature at 9000
rpm
3.3 Effect of centrifugation temperature on VCO yield.
The results centrifuged temperatures controlled at 40,
45 and 50 C and centrifuged speeds ranging from
6000 to 9000 rpm at 150 min (fig.4). Centrifuge
generates heat by centrifugal rotation. The VCO yield
was found to increase with an increase in
temperature. The maximum oil yield of 34.47% was
observed at 50 C, due to denaturation of heat labile
proteins during heating. Proteins in coconut milk play
an important role on the stability of the emulsion and
heating the coconut milk at higher temperature
causes protein denaturation ([2]

Fig 4: Total of VCO yield (%) under different

centrifugation temperature and speed (rpm) at 150
min.
3.4 Quality Characteristics
The VCO produced by using the different
speed, centrifugation time and temperature had some

differences in quality properties of the VCO (Table 1).

Experimental results compare to Pacific Coconut
Community (APCC) Standards for VCO.
Table 1. Quality Characteristics of VCO (%)
Essential
Experimental
APCC
Composition
results
Standards
Relative
0.916
0.915 - 0.920
density
Moisture %
0.37
0.1 - 0.5
wt. max.
Iodine value
iodine/100 g
0.33 g
0.2 - 0.5 g
oil
Saponification
9.55 mg
4.1 - 11.00 mg
Value
Acid Value
0.44 mg
0.5 mg
max.
Moisture Content is another parameter that
will determine the quality of the VCO samples. The
MC of the commercial VCO ranged from 0.10 to 0.5%
with VCO sample of 0.37%. Moisture is one of the
most important parameters for oil quality.
3.5 Fatty Acid Composition
Analysis of fatty acid composition was done
by gas chromatography (GC) is shown in Table 2.
Lauric acid (C12) is the major fatty acid in VCO
showed 47.16 %, Caprylic (C8) and Capric (C10)
showed 8.75 % and 5.7 % respectively.

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work when compared to other methods reported in

literature.
5. Acknowledgement
This research was funded by Research and
Development Institute Kasetsart University.
Table 2. Fatty acids composition.
Coconut oil
APCC
Fatty acids
Experimental standards
(%)
(%)
C8:0 (caprylic)
8.75 0.65
5.010
C10:0 (capric)
5.7 0.37
4.55.8
C12:0 (lauric)
47.8 1.51
4353
C14:0 (myristic)
20.11 1.8
16.021
C16:0 (palmitic)
7.1 0.9
7.510
C18:0 (stearic) 2.1 0.23
2.010
C18:1 (oleic)
6.9 1.55 5.010
C18:2 (linoleic) 0.5 0.69
1.02.5
From the table it is observed that most
predominant fatty acids are medium chain. [3-5] The
health benefits of coconut oil are mainly from the
medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs). These MCFAs
are similar to that of human milk and have
corresponding nutraceutical benefits.

4. Conclusions
The results of this study, centrifugal method
can be an effective tool to break
(destabilize) oil-in-water coconut milk emulsions. Very
high yield of 34.47% oil was obtained in the present

6. References
6.1 Article in Journals
[1]
Nour, Az., et al.(2009). Demulsification of
virgin coconut oil by centrifugation method.
International Journal of Chemical Technology, vol. 1,
no. 2, p. 59-64.
[2]
Peamprasart, T., Chiewchan, N. (2006).
Effect of fat content and preheat treatment on the
apparent viscosity of coconut milk after
homogenization. Journal of Food Engineering 77,
653658.
[3]
Raghavarao, K.S.M.S., Raghavendra, S.N.,
Rastogi, N.K. (2008). Potential of coconut Dietary
fiber. Indian Coconut Journal 6, 27. [4]
Raghavendra, S.N., Rastogi, N.K., Raghavarao,
K.S.M.S., Tharanathan, R.N. (2004). Dietary fiber
from coconut residue: effects of different treatments
and particle size on the hydration properties.
European
Food Research
and
Technology
218,563567.
[5] Raghavendra, S.N., Ramachandra Swamy,
S.R., Rastogi, N.K., Raghavarao, K.S.M.S., Kumar,
Sourav, Tharanathan, R.N. (2006) Grinding
characteristics and hydration properties of coconut
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residue: a source of dietary fiber. Journal of Food

Engineering 72, 281286.
[6]
Seow, C.C., Gwee, C.N. (1997). Review,
coconut milk: chemistry and technology. International
Journal of Science and Technology 32, 189201.
[7]
Simuang, J., Chiewchan, N., Tansakul, A.
(2004). Effect of fat content and temperature on the
apparent viscosity of coconut milk. Journal of Food
Engineering 64, 193197.
[8]
Tansakul, A., Chaisawang, P. (2006).
Thermo physical properties of coconut milk. Journal
of Food Engineering 73, 276280.
6.2 Books
[1]
AOAC (1990). Official Methods of Analysis,
15th ed. Association of Official Analytical Chemists,
Washington, DC, USA.
[2]
AOAC (2000). Official Method of Analysis,
17th ed. Association of Official Analytical Chemists,
Washington, DC, USA.
[3]
AOCS (1998). Official Methods and
Recommended Practices of American Oil Chemists
Society, fifth ed. AOCS Press Champaign, IL, USA.
[4] APCC (1994). International Codes and Standard
for Aqueous Coconut Products, 2nd 6.3 Web-Based
Articles
[1] Nutiva. Coconut oil processing chart. [Online]
(2010) Available from internet g
httpg//www.nutiva/graphics/misc/coco_oil_process_
chart.pdf
[2] Nutiva. Coconut oil processing chart. [Online]
(2010) Available from internet g

httpg//www.nutiva/graphics/misc/coco_oil_process_
chart.pdf

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