METHODS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF PURE COCONUT OIL ' 

 By Harrison 0. Parker and Harvey C. Brill 



(From the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Bureau of Science, 

 Manila) 



The production of copra has always been the most convenient 

 means of handling coconut, since it eliminates the shells and husks 

 from transportation charges and the cost of installation and 

 operation of oil mills. Little attention, particularly in the Phil- 

 ippines, is paid by the producers to the quality of the copra con- 

 cerned in its relationship to the oil and press cake obtainable. 

 This laboratory has been considering the possibilities of obtain- 

 ing pure oil direct from the fresh coconuts, thereby eliminating 

 the necessity of turning the nuts into copra with its attendant 

 deterioration, loss of oil, and the refinement of a product which 

 might be originally prepared in a pure condition. 



A crude method of obtaining oil from fresh coconuts as prac- 

 ticed in the provinces is as follows. The nuts are husked by 

 breaking on the sharp point of a plowshare, halved with bolos, 

 and the meat is removed and grated in one operation by means 

 of a steel burr driven with pedal attachment. The same operator 

 holds the half nut and drives the burr. The grated meat is 

 transferred to the caua, or steaming kettle, where it is mixed with 

 one half its volume of water and steamed for from two to four 

 hours by the application of direct heat from burning shells and 

 husks. The steamed meat is then placed in rattan bags, which 

 are suspended in a perpendicular position between two heavy 

 pieces of wood, and pressure is applied by means of a wooden 

 vice screw. The gata, or white emulsion of oil, water, and 

 cellular tissue obtained, is returned to a second caua, where the 

 water is evaporated and the cellular tissue coagulated into a 

 brown mass. This cellular tissue, of high protein content, is 

 used by the Filipinos as a food. The oil is ladeled into earthen- 

 ware vessels, and the small solid particles remaining are allowed 

 to settle out. No filtering* process is resorted to. The oil so 

 obtained is used locally for edible purposes. The press cake is 

 shaken through a bamboo basket in order to disintegrate it and 



1 Received for publication February, 1917. 



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