Rapeseed Oil - Low Erucic Acid (Canola Oil)
INCI Canola Oil. Saponified with NaOH it is listed as Sodium Canolate, with KOH as Potassium Canolate. CAS 120962-03-0, as CosIng gives it. Also: Canola oil, Low erucic acid rapeseed oil, LEAR oil, Low erucic acid colza oil.
Published values
| Saponification value | 182–193 mg KOH/g |
| Used by the calculator | 187.5 mg KOH/g (midpoint) |
| SAP for NaOH | 0.1337 g/g |
| Iodine value | 105–126 g I₂/100 g |
| INS (SAP − IV) | 72 |
| Melting point | — |
| Unsaponifiable matter | ≤ 2 % |
Soapmaking books print about 0.133 g NaOH per g (median of 4 books), which agrees with ours to within 2 %. Some books print 0.123-0.124 g NaOH per g for canola oil. That is the figure for old high-erucic rapeseed oil; canola was bred to replace it, and its lighter fatty acids put it at 182-193 mg KOH/g in the Codex standard, so we use 187.5 (0.134), as the other books do.
A bar made of 100 % Rapeseed Oil - Low Erucic Acid
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 | 63.5 g(61.6–65.4) | 89.1 g(86.5–91.7) |
| 1 kg | 127.0 g(123.3–130.7) | 178.1 g(172.9–183.4) |
| 1 lb (454 g) | 57.6 g(55.9–59.3) | 80.8 g(78.4–83.2) |
| 2 lb (907 g) | 115.2 g(111.8–118.6) | 161.6 g(156.9–166.3) |
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 8 : 92
| Fatty acid | Published range, % | Used | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Myristic acid | C14:0 · saturated | 0–0.2 | 0.1 |
| Palmitic acid | C16:0 · saturated | 2.5–7 | 4.8 |
| Palmitoleic acid | C16:1 | 0–0.6 | 0.3 |
| Stearic acid | C18:0 · saturated | 0.8–3 | 1.9 |
| Oleic acid | C18:1 | 51–70 | 60.5 |
| Linoleic acid | C18:2 | 15–30 | 22.5 |
| α-Linolenic acid | C18:3 n-3 | 5–14 | 9.5 |
| Arachidic acid | C20:0 · saturated | 0.2–1.2 | 0.7 |
| Gadoleic acid | C20:1 | 0.1–4.3 | 2.2 |
| Behenic acid | C22:0 · saturated | 0–0.6 | 0.3 |
| Erucic acid | C22:1 | 0–2 | 1.0 |
| Lignoceric acid | C24:0 · saturated | 0–0.3 | 0.2 |
Recipes that use it
- Budget lard and canola bar 25 % of the oils
- Indigo and annatto funnel pour bar 25 % of the oils
- Tomato and charcoal swirl bar 25 % of the oils
- White tea faux funnel pour bar 20 % of the oils
- Egg yolk feather swirl bar 17 % of the oils
- Supermarket oils bar 15 % of the oils
- Five-layer blue ombre bar 10 % of the oils
Guides that discuss it
- Antioxidants and chelators: keeping soap from going off
- Dreaded orange spots (DOS) and rancid soap
- SAP values: what they measure and why tables disagree
- Soap from used cooking oil: how much lye, and how to clean the oil
- The 25er-Rezept: Germany's four-oil beginner soap, with or without palm
- The soaping oils: what each one brings to a bar
Compared with other oils
Where these numbers come from
Verbatim mirror of the FAO file CXS_210e.pdf; the official FAO link was Cloudflare-gated at retrieval. Table 1 (Section 3.1) = mandatory GLC fatty-acid ranges, % of total fatty acids, ND = not detectable (<=0.05%). Table 2 (Appendix 'Other quality and composition factors') gives saponification value, iodine value (Wijs) and unsaponifiable matter of CRUDE oils; the Appendix is explicitly ADVISORY (a product not meeting it may still conform). This print predates the 2021-2025 amendments; the 2024 additions (avocado, camellia seed, sacha inchi, high-oleic soya bean) are not included.
Fatty acids from CXS 210 Table 1 (mandatory GLC ranges, % of total fatty acids; 'ND' = not detectable, <=0.05%, entries that are ND-only are omitted; C17:0, C17:1, C20:2, C22:2 and C24:1 columns omitted because they are outside the acids this database records). The saponification value, the iodine value and the unsaponifiable share from Appendix Table 2 (crude oils; ADVISORY, not mandatory; unsaponifiable converted from g/kg). No 'typical' values are printed in the standard, so none are given. Must not contain more than 2 % erucic acid (Section 3.1). Appendix: Crismer value 67-70; brassicasterol > 5 % of total sterols. Ph. Eur. 12 refined rapeseed oil (Heess sheet): palmitic 2.5-6.0, stearic max 3.0, oleic 50.0-67.0, linoleic 16.0-30.0, linolenic 6.0-14.0, eicosenoic max 5.0, erucic max 2.0 %; unsaponifiable max 1.5 %.
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.