OF THE COCOANUT DURING GERMINATION 337 



and could be almost entirely .saponified, ilammcrbacher * in the 

 saponification of 25 grams of the pure oil obtained the following 

 results : 



Fatty acids convertible into insoluble lead salts, 

 Fatty acids convertible into soluble lead salts, 

 Glycerin, 



Total, 25.2366 100.946 



The excess in weight of products is explained by the addition 

 of hydroxyl groups in the cleavage of the triglycerides. Konig 

 had previously found the glycerin content of cocoa-fat to be 2.08 

 per cent. Hammerbacher therefore concludes : " It follows from 

 these results that this v^egetable fat consists in greatest part oi free 

 fatty acid." 



That there is some error in this conclusion, however, is evident 

 from the results of later work. Benedikt f reports the glycerin 

 content of cocoa-oil to be 1 3.3-14.5 per cent. Crossley and Le 

 Suer found that the content o{ free fatty acid in terms of oleic acid 

 varied between 2.50 and 8,86 per cent.;}: 



Stellwaag || studied the fat extracted from cocoa cakes. This 

 oil was rancid, of course. He found the quantity o{ free fatty 

 acid to be only 9.84 per cent. The fat from the ether, extract 

 melted at 23° C. The saponification figure was 244.4. The 

 extract contained 81.14 per cent, of neutral fat. The amount of 

 unsaponifiable matter was o. 5 i per cent. The molecular weight 

 of the fatty acids was given as 207.^ 



Studied through the oleo refractometer of Amagat and Jean, 

 cocoa-oil is found to rotate to the left like an animal fat.** 



The composition of cocoa-oil as determined by Konig ft 's : 



c. H. o. 



74.15 per cent. 11-73 P^"" '^^"t- 14.12 per cent. 



* Hammerbacher : Landwirtschaftlichen Versuchs-Stationen, etc., 18:472. 1875. 



I Benedikt und Zsigmondy : Chemiker Zeitung, 9 : 975. 1885. 



% Crossley and Le Suer. Quoted by Hopkins : Oil-Chemists' Handbook, 38, table 

 iv. 1900. 



II Stellwaag : Landwirtschaftlichen Versuchs-Stationen, etc., 37 : 135. 1S90. 



\ See also Konig, Menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel, etc., 2 : 389. 1893. 

 ** Blyth : Foods, Their Composition and Analysis, 359. 1896. 

 tt Konig : loc, cit., 2 : 3S5. See also, Brandes, I'harmaceutisches Centralblatt, 

 751- 1838. 



