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Oils

Blackcurrant Seed Oil

Also: Black currant seed oil, Ribes nigrum seed oil.

Calculate a 100 % Blackcurrant Seed Oil bar

The saponification value here is derived, not published. No primary document we could use gives one for Blackcurrant Seed Oil, 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 192.5 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 composition192.5 ± 3 % mg KOH/g
Used by the calculator192.5 mg KOH/g (derived)
SAP for NaOH0.1373 g/g
Iodine value139–142.9 g I₂/100 g
INS (SAP − IV)52
Melting point
Unsaponifiable matter

A bar made of 100 % Blackcurrant Seed Oil

Hardness 8 below 29–54
Cleansing 0 below 12–22
Conditioning 102 above 44–69
Bubbly lather 0 below 14–46
Creamy lather 8 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
Palmitic acid C16:0 · saturated 6.44 6.4
Stearic acid C18:0 · saturated 1.53 1.5
Oleic acid C18:1 16.48 16.5
Linoleic acid C18:2 48.36–53.53 50.9
α-Linolenic acid C18:3 n-3 10–19 14.5
γ-Linolenic acid C18:3 n-6 11–24 17.5
Stearidonic acid C18:4 n-3 2–4 3.0

Where these numbers come from

Materials (MDPI) via PubMed CentralKuranska M., Malewska E., Barczewski M., et al. Turning Fruit Seed Oils into High-Performance Open-Cell Polyurethane Foams: A Green Route to Petrochemical Polyol-Free Insulation. Materials 2025, 18(23), 5387 (doi 10.3390/ma18235387) · document dated 2025 · read 2026-09-20

Blackcurrant seed oil (O_BC): iodine value 142.9 g I2/100 g, density, viscosity, Mn/Mw, fatty-acid summary (C18:2 53.53, C18:3n-3 15.30, C18:3n-6 13.51 %).

International Journal of Molecular Sciences (MDPI) via PubMed CentralKieltyka-Dadasiewicz A., et al. Physicochemical Properties of Berry Seeds Recovered from Pomace and Their Potential Applications in Food and Cosmetic Industries. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 27(1), 41 (doi 10.3390/ijms27010041) · document dated 2025 · read 2026-09-20

Table 6 blackcurrant seed fatty acids (palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, GLA, stearidonic).

Materials (MDPI) via PubMed CentralMalewska E., Kuranska M., Tenczynska M., Prociak A. Application of Modified Seed Oils of Selected Fruits in the Synthesis of Polyurethane Thermal Insulating Materials. Materials 2024, 17(1), 158 (doi 10.3390/ma17010158) · document dated 2023-12-28 · read 2026-09-20

Table 2: blackcurrant seed oil iodine value 139 g I2/100 g (cold-pressed, OlVita, Poland).

Acta Horticulturae (ISHS)Ruiz del Castillo M.L., Dobson G., Brennan R.M., Gordon S.L. Fatty acid composition in seeds of blackcurrant genotypes. Acta Hortic. 2002, 585, 531-533 (doi 10.17660/ActaHortic.2002.585.86) · document dated 2002 · read 2026-09-20

Abstract: 36 genotypes, GLA 11-24 %, alpha-linolenic 10-19 %, stearidonic 2-4 %.

Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (ACS), abstract via Europe PMCBakowska-Barczak A.M., Schieber A., Kolodziejczyk P. Characterization of Canadian black currant (Ribes nigrum L.) seed oils and residues. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2009, 57(24), 11528-11536 (doi 10.1021/jf902161k) · document dated 2009 · read 2026-09-20

Abstract: oil content 27-33 %, GLA 11-17 % by cultivar, tocopherols and phytosterols.

GAMMA-LINOLENIC (C18:3 n-6) and STEARIDONIC (C18:4 n-3) acids are characteristic of this oil and are stored under their own keys 'gammaLinolenic' and 'stearidonic', separately from alpha-linolenic: GLA 11-24 % (three genotypes 22-24 %) and stearidonic 2-4 % across 36 genotypes (Ruiz del Castillo et al. 2002, Acta Hortic. 585, abstract), GLA 11-17 % across Canadian cultivars ('Ben Conan' 11 % to 'Ben Tirran' 17 %; Bakowska-Barczak et al. 2009, J. Agric. Food Chem. 57:11528, abstract via Europe PMC; oil content 27-33 %), GLA 13.51 % (Kuranska et al. 2025) and 23.15 % with stearidonic 1.85 % (Kieltyka-Dadasiewicz et al. 2025). Field attribution: iodineValue 139-142.9 g I2/100 g is from two Polish polyurethane papers on the same commercial cold-pressed oil (Ol'Vita, Myslakow, Poland): Kuranska et al. 2025 (Materials 18:5387; IV 142.9, density 0.93 g/cm3, viscosity 45.7 mPa s, Mn 770 g/mol; profile SFA 9.67, MUFA 7.42, PUFA 82.91 %, C18:2 53.53, C18:3n-3 15.30, C18:3n-6 13.51 %) and Malewska et al. 2023 (Materials 17:158; IV 139, viscosity 72 mPa s, Mn 822). Linoleic 48.36-53.53 merges Kieltyka-Dadasiewicz et al. 2025 (Int. J. Mol. Sci. 27:41; seeds from Polish fruit-processing pomace, Table 6: linoleic 48.36, GLA 23.15, alpha-linolenic 0.01, stearidonic 1.85, oleic 16.48, palmitic 6.44, stearic 1.53 %) with Kuranska; palmitic, stearic and oleic 'typical' values are Kieltyka-Dadasiewicz single values (Kuranska prints only the MUFA total 7.42 %). Alpha-linolenic ('linolenic') 10-19 % is the 36-genotype range from Ruiz del Castillo et al. 2002, consistent with Kuranska's 15.30 %; the 0.01 % alpha-linolenic printed by Kieltyka-Dadasiewicz (alongside an unusually high 23.15 % GLA) is inconsistent with every other source and was not merged into the range. Saponification value: NULL - no allowed document opened prints one (the Materials papers, the IJMS paper, the ISHS and JAFC abstracts and the Bakowska-Barczak abstract do not report it; supplier/reseller pages were excluded by the clean-room rule). Unsaponifiable matter and melting point: not reported. INCI not verified on CosIng or a producer TDS, so left null.

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.