}X, A, 2 



Pratt: Coconut and its Products 



187 



COCONUT OIL 



Coconut oil is expressed from copra, and is largely employed 

 in the manufacture of soap and edible fats. The latter use 

 demands a high purity oil of light color and bland taste. 

 Products meeting these requirements are made with difficulty 

 from dark-colored or moldy copra, whence the demand for the 

 better grades. 



Copra is a difficult product to ship without deterioration, and 

 is certain to become moldy with the production of free fatty 

 acids during transit unless thoroughly dried. The only logical 

 procedure is to extract the oil at some central point near the 

 source of supply, thus greatly reducing the bulk of the shipment 

 and avoiding loss due to spoilage. The operation of mills for 

 this purpose in the Philippine Islands cannot be too strongly 

 urged, as the economic advantage to the country would be very 

 great. The immense amounts of coconut oil entering commerce 

 and its financial importance may be judged from the following 

 table showing imports to the United Kingdom during a single 

 year. 



Table VI. — Coconut oil imports for 1913. 



From — 



Refined. 



Unrefined. 



Amount. 



Value. 



Amount. 



Value. 



Ceylon 



Tons. 

 216.6 

 18.3 



Pesos. 

 85, 757 

 7,740 



Tons. 



8,552.4 



1,294.7 



4.329.7 



445.1 



15,339.4 



1,122.4 



370.9 



105.0 



Pesos. 



3.183,065 



517,980 



1,596,475 



169,983 



5,627,193 



388, 107 



136,877 



41,089 



India 



Australia ._. 



France . . . 



13,517.2 



10,948.9 



2,897.0 



2,410.6 



79.1 



6, 699, 167 

 4.753,010 

 1,207,757 

 1,094,839 

 32,893 



Germany ._ _. 



Belgium . 



Denmark _^ 



Other countries - 



Total - , . 



30,087.7 



12, 881, 163 



31,559.6 



11,659,769 





The exports of coconut oil from India during the year 1911-12 

 amounted to 8,184,089 liters (2,165,103 gallons) valued at 

 2,626,876 pesos, of which Germany took 2,208,469 liters (584,251 

 gallons) and the United States 1,804,901 liters (477,487 gallons) . 

 The total export for 1912-13 was much less. 



Statistics covering imports of unrefined coconut oil into the 

 United States show the following yearly amount and corre- 

 sponding values (Table VII). 



Long experience in Ceylon is the basis for the general estimate 

 that 40 full-grown coconuts will yield 3.78 liters (1 gallon) 



