MCT coconut oil concept - coconuts, butter and oil on wood background

TBC Ingredients ApS

From coconut to ingredients

While there are some large plantations with integrated operations, copra remains primarily a smallholder crop. The major producing countries are the Philippines, Indonesia and India.

Copra production begins with the coconut plantations. Coconut trees are generally spaced 9 m (30 ft) apart, allowing a density of 100-160 coconut trees per hectare.

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Coconut products

Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO)

RBD coconut oil

Hydrogenated coconut oil

Crude coconut oil

Coconut concentrate (creamed coconut) 60% ± 5% fat

Coconut milk 17-19% fat (aseptic)

Coconut cream 24-26% fat (aseptic)

Coconut milk powder +60% fat

Desiccated coconut, high fat

Creamed Coconut +60% fat

Desiccated coconut comes as plain and roasted in different grades

From coconut to ingredients continued…

Cocos nuciferais a large palm, growing up to 30 meters tall, with pinnate leaves 4–6 meters long, and pinnate 60–90 cm long; old leaves break away cleanly, leaving the trunk smooth. Coconuts are generally classified into two general types: tall and dwarf. On very fertile land a tall coconut palm tree can yield up to 80 fruits per year, but more often yields less than 30 mainly due to poor cultural practices. In recent years, improvements in cultivation practices and breeding has produced coconut trees that can yield more.

Botanically the coconut fruit is a drupe, not a true nut.

Like other fruits it has three layers; exocarp, mesocarp and endocarp. The exocarp and mesocarp make up the husk of the coconut. Coconuts sold in the shops of non-tropical countries often have had the exocarp (outermost layer) removed. The mesocarp is composed of fibers called coir which have many traditional and commercial uses. The shell has three germination pores or eyes that are clearly visible on its outside surface once the husk is removed.

A full-sized coconut weighs about 1.4 kilograms. It takes around 6000 full-grown coconuts to produce a tonne of copra.

Desiccated coconut, plain – in the grades: Fine, medium, threads and chips.

Coconut flakes white. Top view. Texture and background.

Fresh coconut flakes background. Top view. closeup.

Detail of dried shaved coconut flakes. From above.

The shell

Shell of the seed

Layers of the coconut fruit

(1) Exocarp / Epicarp
(2) Mesocarp
(3) Endocarp
(4) Endosperm
(5) Embryo

Within the shell is a single seed. When the seed germinates, the root of its embryo pushes out through one of the eyes of the shell. The outermost layer of the seed, the testa, adheres to the inside of the shell. In a mature coconut, a thick albuminousendosperm adheres to the inside of the testa. This endosperm or meat is the white and fleshy edible part of the coconut. Although coconut meat contains less fat than many oilseeds and seeds such as almonds, it is noted for its high amount of medium-chain saturated fat. About 90% of the fat found in coconut meat is saturated, a proportion exceeding that of foods such as lard, butter and tallow. There has been some debate as to whether or not the saturated fat in coconuts is healthier than other forms of saturated fat.

Coconut

Process

Like most nut meats, coconut meat contains less sugar and more protein than popular fruits such as bananas, apples and oranges. It is relatively high in minerals such as iron, phosphorus and zinc.

The endosperm surrounds a hollow interior space, filled with air and often a liquid referred to as coconut water (distinct from coconut milk). Immature coconuts are more likely to contain coconut water and less meat. They are often sold with a small portion of the husk cut away to allow access to the coconut water. Young coconuts used for coconut water are called tender coconuts. The water of a tender coconut is liquid endosperm. It is sweet (mild) with an aerated feel when cut fresh. Depending on its size a tender coconut contains 300 to 1,000 ml of coconut water.

The meat in a green young coconut is softer and more gelatinous than that in a mature coconut – so much so that it is sometimes known as coconut jelly. When the coconut has ripened and the outer husk has turned brown, a few months later, it will fall from the palm of its own accord. At that time the endosperm has thickened and hardened, while the coconut water has become somewhat bitter.

When the coconut fruit is still green, the husk is very hard, but green coconuts only fall if they have been attacked by molds or other blights.

By the time the coconut naturally falls, the husk has become brown, the coir has become drier and softer,

and the coconut is less likely to cause damage when it drops, although there have been instances of coconuts falling from palms and injuring people, and claims of some fatalities.

On the same inflorescence, the palm produces both the female and male flowers. The female flower is much larger than the male flower. Flowering occurs continuously. Coconut palms are believed to be largely cross-pollinated, although some dwarf varieties are self-pollinating.

The liquor can now be cooled and molded into blocks known as unsweetened baking chocolate (bitter chocolate). It can be shipped in solid form for further processing elsewhere in the world.

Chocolate liquor contains roughly 53 percent cocoa butter (fat), about 17 percent carbohydrates, 11 percent protein, 6 percent tannins, and 1.5 percent theobromine.

Production
Copra has traditionally been grated and ground then boiled in water to extract coconut oil. Nowadays, the process of coconut oil extraction is done by crushing copra to produce coconut oil (70%); the by-product is known as copra cake or copra meal (30%).
Once the oil is extracted, the remaining coconut cake is 18-25% protein but contains so much dietary fiber it can not be eaten in large quantities by humans. Instead it is normally fed to ruminants.

Making

Copra

Making copra – removing the shell, breaking up, drying – is usually done where the coconut palms grow. Copra can be made by smoke drying, sun drying, or kiln drying. Sun drying requires little more than racks and sufficient sunlight. Halved nuts are drained of water, and left with the meat facing the sky. They can be washed to remove mold-creating contaminants.

After two days the meat can be removed from the shell with ease, and the drying process is complete after three to five more days (up to seven total).

Sun drying is often combined with kiln drying, eight hours of exposure to sunlight means the time spent in a kiln can be reduced by a day and the hot air the shells are exposed to in the kiln is more easily able to remove the remaining moisture.

This process can also be reversed, partially drying the copra in the kiln and finishing the process with sunlight. There are advantages and disadvantages to both – starting with sun drying requires careful inspection to avoid contamination with mold while starting with kiln-drying can harden the meat and prevent it from drying out completely in the sun. In India, small but whole coconuts can be dried over the course of eight months to a year, and the meat inside removed and sold as a whole ball.

Asian worker, coconut, copra, material, Mekong Delta

Meat prepared in this fashion is sweet, soft, oily and is cream-colored instead of being white. Coconut meat can be dried using direct heat and smoke from a fire, using simple racks to suspend the coconut over the fire. The smoke residue can help preserve the half-dried meat but the process overall suffers from unpredictable results and the risk of fires.

Oil

Coconut oil

Coconut oil is an edible oil extracted from the kernel or meat of matured coconut harvested from the coconut palm. Throughout the tropical world, it has provided the primary source of fat in the diets of millions of people for generations. It has various applications in food, medicine, and industry. Coconut oil is very heat-stable, which makes it suited to methods of cooking at high temperatures like frying. Because of its stability, it is slow to oxidize and, thus, resistant to rancidity, lasting up to two years due to high saturated fat content. Numerous governmental agencies and medical organizations recommend against the consumption of significant amounts of coconut oil due to the high saturated fat content.

Coconut oil can be extracted through “dry” or “wet” processing. Dry processing requires the meat to be extracted from the shell and dried using fire, sunlight, or kilns to create copra. The copra is pressed or dissolved with solvents, producing the coconut oil and a high-protein, high-fiber mash. The mash is of poor quality for human consumption and is instead fed to ruminants; there is no process to extract the protein from the mash. The preparation and storage of copra often occurs in unhygienic conditions, which results in a poor-quality oil that requires refining before consumption. A considerable portion of the oil extracted from copra is lost due to spoilage, due to consumption by insects and rodents, and during the extraction process.

All-wet process involves raw coconut rather than dried copra, using the protein in the coconut to create an emulsion of the oil and water. The more problematic step is breaking up the emulsion to recover the oil. This used to be done through lengthy boiling, but this produces a discolored oil and is not economical. Modern techniques use centrifuges and various pre-treatments including cold, heat, acids, salts, enzymes, electrolysis, shock waves, or some combination of them. Despite numerous variations and technologies, wet processing is less viable than dry processing due to a 10-15% lower yield, even compared to the losses due to spoilage and pests with dry processing. Wet processes also require an expensive investment of equipment and energy, incurring high capital and operating costs.

harvesting

Proper harvesting

Proper harvesting of the coconut (the age of a coconut can be 2 to 20 months when picked) makes a significant difference in the efficacy of the oil-making process and the use of a centrifuge process makes the best final extracted product. Copra made from immature nuts is more difficult to work with and produces an inferior product with lower yields.

Conventional coconut oil uses hexane to extract up to 10% more oil than just using rotary mills and expellers. The oil is then refined to remove certain free fatty acids, in order to reduce susceptibility rancidification. Other processes to increase shelf life include using copra with a moisture content below 6%, keeping the moisture content of the oil below 0.2%, heating the oil to 130–150 °C and adding salt or citric acid. Virgin coconut oil (VCO) can be produced from fresh coconut meat, milk or residue.

Producing it from the fresh meat involves removing the shell and washing, then either wet-milling or drying the residue and using a screw press to extract the oil. VCO can also be extracted from fresh meat by grating and drying it to a moisture content of 10-12%, then using a manual press to extract the oil. Producing it from coconut milk involves grating the coconut and mixing it with water, then squeezing out the oil. The milk can also be fermented for 36-48 hours, the oil removed, and the cream heated to remove any remaining oil. A third option involves using a centrifuge to separate the oil from the other liquids. Coconut oil can also be extracted from the dry residue left over from the production of coconut milk.

A thousand mature coconuts weighing approximately 8,500 kilograms yields around 170 kilograms of copra from which around 70 liters of coconut oil can be extracted.

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RBD

Man Climbing Cocos branch harvester harvests coconut palm tree trunk. Ceylon Coconut plantation Industry. Coconut trees in Sri Lanka

RBD “refined, bleached, and deodorized.” oil is usually made from copra.
The dried copra is placed in a powerful hydraulic press with added heat, and the oil is extracted. This yields up practically all the oil present, amounting to more than 60% of the dry weight of the coconut. This “crude” coconut oil is not suitable for consumption because it contains contaminants and must be refined with further heating and filtering.
Another method for extraction of a “high-quality” coconut oil involves the enzymatic action of alpha-amylase, polygalacturonases, and proteases on diluted coconut paste.
Unlike virgin coconut oil, refined coconut oil has no coconut taste or aroma. RBD oil is used for home cooking, commercial food processing, and cosmetic, industrial, and pharmaceutical purposes.

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Hydrogenation

RBD coconut oil can be processed further into partially or fully hydrogenated oil to increase its melting point. Since virgin and RBD coconut oils melt at 24 °C, foods containing coconut oil melt in warm climates. A higher melting point is desirable in these warm climates, so the oil is hydrogenated. The melting point of hydrogenated coconut oil is 36–40 °C.
In the process of hydrogenation, unsaturated fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids) are combined with hydrogen in a catalytic process to make them more saturated. Coconut oil contains only 6% monounsaturated and 2% polyunsaturated fatty acids. In this process, some of these are transformed into trans fatty acids.
If hydrogenation is taken to completion (i.e., the oil is “fully hydrogenated”), there are no trans fats remaining. There are no “natural” cis fats, either. Only partial hydrogenation produces trans fats.

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Fractionation

Coconut plantation in the north coast of Bahia, in the northeastern region of Brazil

Fractionated coconut oil is a fraction of the whole oil, in which the different medium-chain fatty acids are separated for specific uses. Lauric acid, a 12-carbon chain fatty acid, is often removed because of its high value for industrial and medical purposes. Fractionated coconut oil may also be referred to as caprylic/capric triglyceride oil or medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil because it is primarily the medium-chain caprylic (8 carbons) and capric (10 carbons) acids that make up the bulk of the oil. MCT oil is most frequently used for medical applications and special diets.

Coconut is a commonly used ingredient in a variety of food recipes. The white, fleshy part of coconut fruit is used to prepare various delicious dishes such as coconut ice cream, coconut cake, coconut cookies, coconut pie and several other recipes. It is also used to make gravy for a number of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. Coconut milk is obtained by processing a grated coconut. It can be used to prepare a variety of mouth-watering preparations. However, fresh coconut is perishable and may not be available every time, when required. In that case, desiccated coconut is a very good alternative. It is finely grated, dried, unsweetened form of coconut. Desiccated coconut is obtained by drying shredded or ground coconut kernel. It is used as a substitute to raw grated coconut in confectioneries, different desserts such as puddings, cookies, cakes, pastries, and other food preparations.

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Desiccated Coconut

Desiccated coconut is used commonly in various industries like confectionery and bakery products, frozen foods, food service and consumer products. Desiccated coconut is a coconut product that is prepared and preserved by removing the natural moisture in the coconut fruit. Desiccated coconut usually contains about 3% of moisture. Desiccated coconut is produced from the white part of fresh, mature coconut kernel. The white part is disintegrated or shredded into desired sizes such as flakes, granules, chips or shreds. Then it is dried in hot air at 50-55 degree centigrade. It is available in toasted, sweetened or sweetened toasted forms. It also comes in two variations such as low fat (maximum 50% fat) and high fat (minimum 60% fat).