Blackcurrant Seed Oil
INCI Ribes Nigrum Seed Oil. CAS 68606-81-5, 97676-19-2; EC 271-749-0, as CosIng gives them. Also: Black currant seed oil, Ribes nigrum seed oil.
Calculate a 100 % Blackcurrant Seed 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 | 192.6 ± 3 % mg KOH/g |
| Used by the calculator | 192.6 mg KOH/g (derived) |
| SAP for NaOH | 0.1373 g/g |
| Iodine value | 139–142.9 g I₂/100 g |
| INS (SAP − IV) | 52 |
| Melting point | — |
| Unsaponifiable matter | — |
One soapmaking book prints 0.134 g NaOH per g. Why book figures and ours can differ.
A bar made of 100 % Blackcurrant Seed 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 | 65.2 g | 91.5 g |
| 1 kg | 130.5 g | 183.0 g |
| 1 lb (454 g) | 59.2 g | 83.0 g |
| 2 lb (907 g) | 118.3 g | 166.0 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 | 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
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 %).
Table 6 blackcurrant seed fatty acids (palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, GLA, stearidonic).
Table 2: blackcurrant seed oil iodine value 139 g I2/100 g (cold-pressed, OlVita, Poland).
Abstract: 36 genotypes, GLA 11-24 %, alpha-linolenic 10-19 %, stearidonic 2-4 %.
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: the iodine value 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 name from CosIng.
This record is part of the open ingredient database (ODbL), which you can download as CSV or JSON. Found an error or a better primary source? Corrections with a link to the document are welcome at support@soapformulator.com.