Chapter XV 



The Coconut Oil and Desiccated 

 Coconut Industries 



AS we have already seen, copra commands 

 special consideration among coconut pro- 

 ducts by virtue of the oil which it contains, 

 this oil forming the basis of several important 

 industries which are destined to develop enormously. 

 Yet not many years have elapsed since the demand 

 for coconut oil was quite limited, and the supply 

 was more than sufficient to meet the market require- 

 ments. At that time it was principally utilised in 

 the manufacture of toilet soaps, candles, and so 

 on ; it was not considered suitable for edible 

 purposes owing to the fact that no means existed 

 for deleting the coconut flavour from the oil, and 

 because it quickly turned rancid. Efforts were 

 constantly being made to discover some practical 

 and cheap method of deodorisation &nd purifica- 

 tion, and finally these were successful. For in- 

 stance, one French firm of engineers invented a 

 vacuum plant for performing these essential opera- 



