xii. a, ■> Parker and Brill: Pare Coconut Oil 89 



Mr. 0. Vyner, of British North Borneo, reports a recently 

 patented method for obtaining oil from fresh coconuts, which 

 involves the use of modern machinery and which he claims can 

 be extended advantageously to a daily capacity of 10,000 nuts. 

 The following is a brief description of the process as outlined in 

 his letter to the Bureau of Science. 



The meat is removed from the shell by means of a small, one man 

 operated machine, with a capacity of 25 nuts per hour. The meat is then 

 carried on an endless chute to roller crushers and then into the grinder where 

 it is rendered into a fine state of division. From the grinder it passes 

 into a large tank called a receiver, where it is thoroughly mixed with a 

 definite quantity of pure water [amount not given]. The mixture is then 

 run into the boiler where it is heated to a certain temperature and the 

 temperature maintained for a period of time [temperature and time control 

 not given]. The boiled material is next allowed to flow over a coarse 

 strainer, the emulsion passing into a container and the pulp transferred to 

 the molder, where the meat- is made into cakes for the final pressing. . The 

 liquid from the molder also flows into the container. The contents of the 

 container are pumped into the evaporator, where they are heated [tem- 

 perature not given] until the oil separates from the rest of the liquid, when 

 it is drawn off as the finished product ready for storage. The pulp from 

 the molder is next subjected to high pressure resulting in the elimination 

 of the water from the "poonac" so formed. 



We were unable to duplicate these results in laboratory prac- 

 tice, probably due to the fact that a complete description of the 

 process was not given. 



We found by repeated trials that freshly grated coconut meat 

 would not give up its oil readily by pressing. When subjected 

 to a pressure of 70 kilograms per square centimeter (1,000 pounds 

 per square inch), over 60 per cent of the total oil remained in 

 the press cake. By treating the meat with water and live steam 

 for a period of three hours before pressing, 80 per cent of the 

 total oil was removed by one pressing. A mechanical agitator 

 used in the above experiment, which beats up and thoroughly stirs 

 the meat and water during the heating, brings more of the oil in 

 contact with the liquid through breaking of the cell walls, so 

 that a greater amount of oil is obtained when the mixture is 

 pressed. The liquid obtained after pressing is a white emulsion, 

 consisting of cellular tissue, oil, and water. Oil prepared from 

 the emulsion by heating over a direct flame as described in the 

 native process is colored and possesses a burnt taste and odor 

 even when small amounts of the emulsion are evaporated. The 

 quality of the oil was not improved by evaporating the water 

 from the emulsion under diminished pressure, since the jellylike 

 mass of cellular tissue and oil remaining must be further heated 

 at a higher temperature completely to coagulate the tissue in 



