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Oils

Cohune Oil

INCI Orbignya Cohune Seed Oil. Also: Cohune kernel oil, Cohune nut oil, Attalea cohune kernel oil, Orbignya cohune seed oil, Manaca palm oil.

Calculate a 100 % Cohune Oil bar

Published values

Saponification value241.2 mg KOH/g
Used by the calculator241.2 mg KOH/g (typical)
SAP for NaOH0.1719 g/g
Iodine value18.9 g I₂/100 g
INS (SAP − IV)222
Melting point—
Unsaponifiable matter—

A bar made of 100 % Cohune Oil

Hardness 76 above 29–54
Cleansing 64 above 12–22
Conditioning 12 below 44–69
Bubbly lather 64 above 14–46
Creamy lather 12 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
Caprylic acid C8:0 · saturated 4–8 6.0
Capric acid C10:0 · saturated 5.9–7 6.5
Lauric acid C12:0 · saturated 42.4–50.8 46.6
Myristic acid C14:0 · saturated 16–18.7 17.4
Palmitic acid C16:0 · saturated 8.3–9.5 8.9
Stearic acid C18:0 · saturated 2.1–3.2 2.7
Oleic acid C18:1 5.6–14.9 10.3
Linoleic acid C18:2 0–3.6 1.8

Where these numbers come from

PlantFAdb (Michigan State University), based on the Seed Oil Fatty Acids (SOFA) database of the Max Rubner-Institut — PlantFAdb datasets for Attalea cohune (plant 14271) · read 2026-09-24

Datasets #15190/#15191 (SOFA TAB_008357 / TAB_009872): kernel oil composition, iodine value and saponification value.

PlantFAdb (Michigan State University), based on the Seed Oil Fatty Acids (SOFA) database of the Max Rubner-Institut — PlantFAdb datasets for Attalea cohune (plant 11576) · read 2026-09-24

Datasets #20788 (1969) and #22053 (1916).

PlantFAdb (Michigan State University), based on the Seed Oil Fatty Acids (SOFA) database of the Max Rubner-Institut — PlantFAdb datasets for Orbignya cohune (plant 12322) · read 2026-09-24

Dataset #15466 (1979) and oil content #19149 (1962).

A lauric kernel oil from the Central American cohune palm, in composition close to babassu (same genus). No modern journal paper with a full analysis could be opened, so the record rests on PlantFAdb's transcriptions of four older sources: Attalea cohune (plant 11576): 'Fette und Lipoide (Lipids)' (Springer, 1969; SOFA TAB_003197): C6:0 0.0, C8:0 7.5, C10:0 6.5, C12:0 46.5, C14:0 16.0, C16:0 9.5, C18:2 1.0, C18:1 10.0, C18:0 3.0; 'Some new oil-seeds derived from American palms' (1916; TAB_003194): C8:0 8.0, C10:0 7.0, C12:0 46.0, C14:0 16.0, C16:0 9.0, C18:2 1.0, C18:1 10.0, C18:0 3.0. Attalea cohune (plant 14271; TAB_008357 and TAB_009872, kernel oil, oil content 65.8 %, remarks 'vide Orbygnia cohune' and 'Nigeria', publication listed as 'Development of Tucum pulp oil fractions for possible edible and industrial use' (1988)): iodine value 18.9, saponification value 241.2, C8:0 4.0, C10:0 6.0, C12:0 42.4, C14:0 18.7, C16:0 8.3, C18:2 3.6, C18:1 14.9, C18:0 2.1. Orbignya cohune (plant 12322): 'Seed lipids of the palm family' (1979; TAB_006540): C8:0 7.0, C10:0 5.9, C12:0 50.8, C14:0 18.4, C16:0 9.0, C18:2 0.0, C18:1 5.6, C18:0 3.2; oil content 52.2 % ('Analyses of seed samples from 113 plant families', 1962). The only saponification/iodine pair comes from the 1988 entry, whose metadata suggest the cohune figures were quoted in a paper about another palm; the pair agrees with its own composition (which implies about 238 mg KOH/g and about 19 g I2/100 g), so it is used, with that caveat. PlantFAdb labels every value 'GLC-Area-%', including the 1916 figures, which must predate gas chromatography. The ranges are min/max over the four compositions; no typical is given.

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.