Beech Nut Oil
Also: Beechnut oil, European beech seed oil, Fagus sylvatica seed oil.
Calculate a 100 % Beech Nut 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 | 190.8 ± 3 % mg KOH/g |
| Used by the calculator | 190.8 mg KOH/g (derived) |
| SAP for NaOH | 0.1360 g/g |
| Iodine value | — |
| INS (SAP − IV) | — |
| Melting point | — |
| Unsaponifiable matter | — |
A bar made of 100 % Beech Nut 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 | 64.6 g | 90.6 g |
| 1 kg | 129.2 g | 181.3 g |
| 1 lb (454 g) | 58.6 g | 82.2 g |
| 2 lb (907 g) | 117.2 g | 164.5 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 11 : 89
| Fatty acid | Published range, % | Used | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Myristic acid | C14:0 · saturated | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Palmitic acid | C16:0 · saturated | 7.3 | 7.3 |
| Palmitoleic acid | C16:1 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Stearic acid | C18:0 · saturated | 2.8 | 2.8 |
| Oleic acid | C18:1 | 35 | 35.0 |
| Linoleic acid | C18:2 | 40.5 | 40.5 |
| α-Linolenic acid | C18:3 n-3 | 5.2 | 5.2 |
| Arachidic acid | C20:0 · saturated | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| Gadoleic acid | C20:1 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
Where these numbers come from
Table 1 (nut composition), Table 2 (oil quality), Table 3 (fatty acid profile). Canonical page https://www.mdpi.com/1661-3821/4/1/7 returned HTTP 403 to automated requests.
Read and not used (see notes).
Cold-pressed oil of European beech nuts (Fagus sylvatica). Figures: Obranovic, Kraljic, Skevin, Balbino and Tomljanovic 2024 (Nutraceuticals 4:94-103), Table 3 'Fatty acid profile of Fagus sylvatica L. nut oil', % : myristic (C14:0) 0.2, palmitic (C16:0) 7.3, margaric (C17:0) 0.1, stearic (C18:0) 2.8, arachidic (C20:0) 0.6, heneicosylic (C21:0) 0.3, palmitoleic (C16:1) 0.2, oleic (C18:1 n-9) 35.0, gondoic (C20:1 n-9) 7.7, linoleic (C18:2 n-6) 40.5, alpha-linolenic (C18:3) 5.2; SFA 11.4, MUFA 42.9, PUFA 45.7. C17:0 and C21:0 have no key. One oil: nuts gathered in early autumn in Nature Park Zumberak (north-west Croatia), dried at 60 C to below 10 % moisture, pressed in a laboratory screw press (Komet CA/53) below 50 C and filtered; the nuts held 25.35 % water, 13.19 % oil and 19.40 % protein (Table 1). Table 2: free fatty acids 1.74 %, peroxide value 1.86 meq O2/kg. The gondoic acid (C20:1, about 8 %) is unusual among nut oils. NO SAPONIFICATION OR IODINE VALUE is published, so both are null; the build derives the saponification value from the profile. Read and not used: PlantFAdb's only complete-looking Fagus sylvatica entry (#20765, from a 1969 handbook) prints 16:0 12.0, 18:3 2.0, 18:2 38.0, 18:1 57.0 %, which sums to 109 % and cannot be transcribed (a 1977 Russian manual gives the same figures, with 'saturated acids 12.0', for Fagus orientalis); a Turkish analysis of the related Fagus orientalis (8.8 / 3.2 / 30.4 / 48.9 / 6.7 % for 16:0 / 18:0 / 18:1 / 18:2 / 20:1) is a different species. The publisher's own page (mdpi.com) refused automated access, so the article was read in the Internet Archive's capture of that page. CosIng has no INCI name for beech seed or nut oil, so inci is blank.
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