56 The Philippine Journal of Science im 



kets of Great Britain, France, Holland, and the United States. 

 There are but three modern coconut oil mills in operation in 

 the Philippine Islands. These, together with the native mills, 

 exported oil to the value of 5,641,003 pesos 5 in 1915. 8 



It is surprising to note that Philippine copra is quoted the 

 lowest on the world's market. By calculating the value of Ceylon 

 copra exported from 1908 to 1911 and comparing the figures with 

 the value received for Philippine copra during the same period, it 

 is found that the annual difference between what the Philippine 

 Islands received and what they should have received in 1911 7 is 

 more than 4,000,00 pesos and for the previous five years is more 

 than 15,000,000 pesos. 



The reason for the low price is found in the poor quality of 

 copra produced. Some attention has been paid of late years to 

 the improvement of the quality, but concerning the cause of 

 this inferiority only a little published data is available. Oil ob- 

 tained from the usual Philippine copra is discolored and rancid 

 and contains free fatty acids varying from 5 to 20 per cent 

 (oleic acid). These conditions favor even further deterioration 

 of the oil. 8 The quality of the oil depends primarily upon the 

 condition of the copra at the time it is milled, and poorly pre- 

 pared copra deteriorates rapidly with loss of oil and impairment 

 of its quality. The poor quality of the copra is due to insufficient 

 drying and unclean methods used in its production. It is the 

 purpose of this paper to bring out analytical and botanical data 

 relative to losses in copra and oil due to the faulty production of 

 copra and to suggest means for improvement. Unless coconut 

 meat is dried, immediately after opening the nuts, to a moisture 

 content of approximately 6 per cent, it is attacked by various 

 microorganisms, which causes a loss in oil content. The extent 

 of the loss depends upon the length of time the meat retains 

 sufficient moisture for mold growth. 



It was determined by experiment and observation that molds 

 grow most luxuriantly upon copra with a moisture content of 

 10 per cent or greater, which, as shown in Table I, is common in 

 commercial copra. 



8 One peso Philippine currency equals 100 centavos, equals 50 cents 

 United States currency. 



"Annual Rep. P. I. Bur. Customs (1915), 17, 18. 

 'Pratt, D. S., This Journal, Sec. A (1914), 9, 186. 

 "Walker, H. S., This Journal (1906), 1, 141. 



