Ahiflower Oil (Buglossoides Seed Oil)
INCI Buglossoides Arvensis Seed Oil. Also: Buglossoides arvensis seed oil, Refined Buglossoides oil, Corn gromwell seed oil.
Calculate a 100 % Ahiflower Oil bar
That is stoichiometry on a measured composition rather than a guess, and it is about as well determined as a published figure: checked against the 36 Codex oils where both fields come from the same standard, the method's median error is 0.84 % and its 90th percentile 2.44 %, and it runs slightly high, by 0.55 % on average. The formula page shows the working. If you have a certificate of analysis for your lot, enter its measured value in the calculator and this estimate is set aside.
Published values
| Saponification value | not published |
| Derived from composition | 193.2 ± 3 % mg KOH/g |
| Used by the calculator | 193.2 mg KOH/g (derived) |
| SAP for NaOH | 0.1377 g/g |
| Iodine value | 210–250 g I₂/100 g |
| INS (SAP − IV) | -37 |
| Melting point | — |
| Unsaponifiable matter | 0.28–0.73 % |
A bar made of 100 % Ahiflower Oil
Conventional qualities summed from the fatty-acid groups; a single-oil bar is a reference point, not a recipe.
How much lye
| Oil | NaOH | KOH |
|---|---|---|
| 500 g | 65.4 g | 91.8 g |
| 1 kg | 130.8 g | 183.5 g |
| 1 lb (454 g) | 59.3 g | 83.3 g |
| 2 lb (907 g) | 118.7 g | 166.5 g |
For this oil alone at 5 % superfat, with pure sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or pure potassium hydroxide (KOH); in brackets, across the published range of its saponification value. KOH is usually sold at 90 %: divide by 0.9. For a whole recipe, open the calculator.
Fatty-acid profile
Saturated : unsaturated 7 : 93
| Fatty acid | Published range, % | Used | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palmitic acid | C16:0 · saturated | 5.2–5.3 (typical 5.2) | 5.2 |
| Palmitoleic acid | C16:1 | 0–0.1 (typical 0.1) | 0.1 |
| Stearic acid | C18:0 · saturated | 1.8–1.9 (typical 1.8) | 1.8 |
| Oleic acid | C18:1 | 7.5–7.6 (typical 7.6) | 7.6 |
| Linoleic acid | C18:2 | 12.7 | 12.7 |
| α-Linolenic acid | C18:3 n-3 | 42–45 (typical 43.8) | 43.8 |
| γ-Linolenic acid | C18:3 n-6 | 5–6.4 (typical 6.3) | 6.3 |
| Stearidonic acid | C18:4 n-3 | 18–21 (typical 20.3) | 20.3 |
| Gadoleic acid | C20:1 | 0.7–0.8 (typical 0.8) | 0.8 |
| Erucic acid | C22:1 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
Where these numbers come from
Table 2 (analytical data from three batches) and Table 3 (batch analysis of fatty acid composition). The EFSA-hosted copies (efsa.europa.eu, efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com) returned HTTP 403; the BfR file is the same EFSA Journal PDF (adopted 5 February 2015).
Linked from https://www.ahiflower.com/our-products/ahiflower-seed-oil. 'Typical values provided. Please inquire for official specifications.' Source of the iodine value and of the wider ALA/SDA/GLA bands.
Minimum ALA, SDA and linoleic contents; unsaponifiable not more than 2 %.
Table 1 read and not used (see notes).
STEARIDONIC ACID (C18:4 n-3) is a fifth of this oil and is stored under its own key, separately from alpha-linolenic and gamma-linolenic acid. Fatty acids: EFSA NDA Panel opinion on refined Buglossoides oil (EFSA Journal 2015;13(2):4029), Table 3, batch analysis of three production batches, % of total fatty acids (GLC, AOCS Ce 1h-05), batches NZ00053 / NZ00056 / NZ00058 / mean: alpha-linolenic (C18:3 n-3) 44 / 44 / 43.5 / 43.8; stearidonic (C18:4 n-3) 20.5 / 19.7 / 20.8 / 20.3; linoleic (C18:2 n-6) 12.7 / 12.7 / 12.7 / 12.7; oleic (C18:1 n-9) 7.6 / 7.6 / 7.5 / 7.6; gamma-linolenic (C18:3 n-6) 6.4 / 6.2 / 6.3 / 6.3; palmitic 5.2 / 5.3 / 5.2 / 5.2; stearic 1.8 / 1.9 / 1.8 / 1.8; gondoic (C20:1 n-9) 0.7 / 0.8 / 0.8 / 0.8; erucic (C22:1 n-9) 0.2 in all; lignoceric (C24:0) < 0.1 in all (omitted); palmitoleic 0.1 / 0 / 0.1 / 0.1; nervonic acid (C24:1 n-9) 0.1 / 0 / 0 / 0 (not recorded here, omitted). The panel states these acids cover more than 98 % of the fatty acids. NZ00053 and NZ00056 were cold-pressed, NZ00058 hexane-extracted. The PDF's table columns extract out of order in plain-text mode, so the rows were re-read with word coordinates. The typicals are the EFSA means; the min/max merge those batches with the producer's technical data (Natures Crops International, 'Typical values provided'): alpha-linolenic 42-45 %, stearidonic 18-21 %, gamma-linolenic 5-6 %, iodine value 210-250 cg/g (stored as g I2/100 g, which is the same unit), refractive index (20 C) 1.465-1.475, peroxide value 5 max, acid value 0.6 max; the sheet names the INCI 'Buglossoides arvensis (Ahiflower) Seed Oil'. Unsaponifiable matter 0.28 / 0.43 / 0.73 % in the three EFSA batches (Table 2, AOCS Ca 6a-40); EFSA Table 2 also gives acid value 0.22 / 0.12 / 0.34 mg KOH/g and peroxide value 2.03 / 1.55 / 1.22 meq O2/kg. EU specification (Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/1290, Annex I): alpha-linolenic not less than 35 %, stearidonic not less than 15 %, linoleic not less than 8 % of total fatty acids, trans not more than 2 %, unsaponifiable not more than 2 %, pyrrolizidine alkaloids not detectable (limit 4 ug/kg). NO SAPONIFICATION VALUE is printed in the EFSA opinion, the EU decision or the producer's data, so the saponification value is blank and the build derives one from the profile (all C18, so close to an ordinary seed oil). Read and not used: Segre, Bisinotto & Castro 2026 (Lipids 61:417, Table 1) analysed an Ahiflower batch at palmitic 11.75, stearic 7.58, oleic 10.17 %, but their soybean control in the same table reads 19.92 % palmitic, well outside Codex's 8.0-13.5 for soya bean oil, so that laboratory's saturated-acid figures are not relied on.
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