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Oils

Algal Oil - High Oleic (Prototheca moriformis)

INCI Prototheca Moriformis Oil. Also: High oleic algal oil, High-oleic algae oil, HO algal oil, High oleic microalgae oil.

Calculate a 100 % Algal Oil - High Oleic (Prototheca moriformis) bar

The saponification value here is derived, not published. No primary document we could use gives one for Algal Oil - High Oleic (Prototheca moriformis), so it is calculated from this record's own fatty-acid composition: chain lengths fix the molar mass, which fixes how much hydroxide a gram of fat consumes. That gives 190.6 mg KOH/g, ±3 %.

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 35 Codex oils where both fields come from the same standard, the method's median error is 0.90 % and its 90th percentile 2.74 %, with no meaningful bias. 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 valuenot published
Derived from composition190.6 ± 3 % mg KOH/g
Used by the calculator190.6 mg KOH/g (derived)
SAP for NaOH0.1359 g/g
Iodine value—
INS (SAP − IV)—
Melting point—
Unsaponifiable matter0.2–0.7 % (typical 0.37)

A bar made of 100 % Algal Oil - High Oleic (Prototheca moriformis)

Hardness 8 below 29–54
Cleansing 0 below 12–22
Conditioning 90 above 44–69
Bubbly lather 0 below 14–46
Creamy lather 7 below 16–48

Conventional qualities summed from the fatty-acid groups; a single-oil bar is a reference point, not a recipe.

Fatty-acid profile

Fatty acidPublished range, %Used
Capric acid C10:0 · saturated 0–0.02 (typical 0.02) 0.0
Lauric acid C12:0 · saturated 0.02–0.03 (typical 0.03) 0.0
Myristic acid C14:0 · saturated 0.37–0.42 (typical 0.39) 0.4
Palmitic acid C16:0 · saturated 3.02–3.87 (typical 3.54) 3.5
Palmitoleic acid C16:1 0.13–0.18 (typical 0.15) 0.2
Stearic acid C18:0 · saturated 3.27–3.99 (typical 3.67) 3.7
Oleic acid C18:1 87.89–88.7 (typical 88.27) 88.3
Linoleic acid C18:2 0.99–1.93 (typical 1.53) 1.5
α-Linolenic acid C18:3 n-3 0.16–0.27 (typical 0.22) 0.2
Arachidic acid C20:0 · saturated 0.25–0.34 (typical 0.28) 0.3
Gadoleic acid C20:1 0.28–1.07 (typical 0.84) 0.8
Behenic acid C22:0 · saturated 0.05–0.07 (typical 0.06) 0.1
Lignoceric acid C24:0 · saturated 0.02–0.05 (typical 0.04) 0.0

Where these numbers come from

TerraVia Holdings, Inc. (now Corbion Biotech), via Burdock Group; published by the US Food and Drug Administration — GRAS Notice (GRN) No. 754: Notification of GRAS Status of High-Oleic Algal Oil (from Prototheca moriformis strain S6697), dated 7 June 2017 · document dated 2017-06-07 · read 2026-09-24

Producer's specification (Table 2, notice page 6 of 51) and three-lot fatty acid composition (Table 3, page 8 of 51), read from the page images of the scanned PDF.

US Food and Drug Administration — Response letter to GRAS Notice No. GRN 000754 (high-oleic algal oil from Prototheca moriformis strain S6697; notifier Corbion Biotech, Inc.) · document dated 2018 · read 2026-09-24

FDA summary: strain S6697 produces approximately 3 % palmitic, 2 % stearic and 90 % oleic acid; FDA had no questions about the GRAS conclusion.

A triglyceride oil made by fermentation: the microalga Prototheca moriformis (strain S6697, 'modified via classical mutagenesis and targeted genetic modification' in the notice's words) grown in culture on sugar; the oil is refined, bleached and deodorised. Figures are the producer's own, from the GRAS notice TerraVia Holdings (now Corbion) filed with the US FDA as GRN 754 (FDA letter of no questions, 2018). Table 3, fatty acid composition, % of total fatty acids (area %), three lots RBD750 / RBD850 / RBD854 / mean: C10:0 0.01 / 0.02 / ND / 0.02; C12:0 0.02 / 0.03 / 0.03 / 0.03; C14:0 0.38 / 0.37 / 0.42 / 0.39; C15:0 0.01 / 0.01 / ND / 0.01; C16:0 3.87 / 3.02 / 3.72 / 3.54; C16:1 0.18 / 0.14 / 0.13 / 0.15; C17:0 0.04 / 0.04 / 0.05 / 0.04; C17:1 ND / 0.03 / 0.05 / 0.04; C18:0 3.73 / 3.99 / 3.27 / 3.67; C18:1 88.70 / 87.89 / 88.22 / 88.27; C18:2 0.99 / 1.68 / 1.93 / 1.53; C18:3 alpha 0.17 / 0.16 / 0.27 / 0.22; C20:0 0.25 / 0.34 / 0.26 / 0.28; C20:1 0.28 / 1.07 / 0.73 / 0.84; C22:0 0.05 / 0.07 / 0.06 / 0.06; C22:1 ND; C24:0 0.02 / 0.05 / 0.04 / 0.04; total identified 98.70 / 98.91 / 99.18 / 99.08. Min/max are the three lots and typical is the printed mean; C15:0, C17:0 and C17:1 have no schema key. Two printed means do not equal the average of the printed lots - C18:3 (lots average 0.20, and the notice's own Table 2 prints 0.20 as the average) and C20:1 (lots average 0.69) - they are transcribed as printed. Table 2 specification (with the three-lot range and average): oleic >= 80 area % (87.89-88.70, avg 88.27), linoleic <= 10 (0.99-1.93, 1.53), alpha-linolenic <= 0.8 (0.16-0.27, 0.20), total saturated fat <= 15 (7.85-8.38, 8.06), free fatty acids <= 0.1 % (0.03), moisture <= 0.1 %, unsaponifiable matter <= 1.0 % (0.20-0.70 %, avg 0.37 %, AOCS Ca 6a-40; stored), peroxide value <= 5 meq/kg, p-anisidine <= 10. The same table also carries the earlier strain S2532 oil of GRN 527 (mean: palmitic 8.11, stearic 1.55, oleic 86.66 %), a different, higher-palmitic product, not merged. NO SAPONIFICATION OR IODINE VALUE appears anywhere in the 139-page notice, so both are null and the build derives the saponification value from the profile. At about 88 % oleic acid its composition sits inside the range CXS 210 sets for high-oleic sunflower seed oil (C18:1 75-90.7 % in the current print). INCI: CosIng's 'Prototheca Moriformis Oil' ('the oil derived from the alga, Prototheca moriformis, grown in culture') names this organism and process; CosIng gives no CAS or EC number for it. Note that the personal-care grade of Corbion's high-oleic algal oil (AlgaPur HSHO, distributed by Lubrizol) is sold under the INCI name Triolein, a separate CosIng entry; that product is a different grade and this record does not describe it.

This record is part of the open ingredient database (ODbL). Found an error or a better primary source? The dataset is on GitHub; corrections with a document link are welcome.