Abstract
Crude oil from nata de coco scrapings was extracted using the modified Cruz-Bernardo process and oil refining was done by alkaline method. Chemical properties of the refined oil revealed that the differences in the sources of coconut, extraction method and refinement process do not affect the properties of oil as evidenced by the values obtained which fall within the acceptable established constants for coconut oil from fresh coconuts. Storage stability studies of the extracted crude oil at ambient room temperature for six-and-a-half months showed that oil stored in colored containers and treated with.035% α-tocopherol was significantly less prone to hydrolytic rancidity as compared with the untreated samples. However, crude oil from nata de coco cream has significantly higher free fatty acid values when compared with oil samples from fresh coconuts. Utilization of refined oil from nata de coco cream for deep-frying of plain prawn crackers showed in no significant difference the over-all quality of the samples deep-fried in two commercial brands of coconut oil.
