Flaxseed Oil (Linseed Oil)
INCI Linum Usitatissimum Seed Oil. CAS 8001-26-1; EC 232-278-6, as CosIng gives them. Also: Linseed oil, Linum usitatissimum seed oil.
Published values
| Saponification value | 185–197 mg KOH/g |
| Used by the calculator | 191.0 mg KOH/g (midpoint) |
| SAP for NaOH | 0.1362 g/g |
| Iodine value | 170–211 g I₂/100 g |
| INS (SAP − IV) | 1 |
| Melting point | — |
| Unsaponifiable matter | ≤ 2 % |
Soapmaking books print about 0.136 g NaOH per g (median of 5 books), which agrees with ours to within 2 %.
A bar made of 100 % Flaxseed 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 | 64.7 g(62.6–66.7) | 90.7 g(87.9–93.6) |
| 1 kg | 129.4 g(125.3–133.4) | 181.5 g(175.8–187.2) |
| 1 lb (454 g) | 58.7 g(56.8–60.5) | 82.3 g(79.7–84.9) |
| 2 lb (907 g) | 117.3 g(113.7–121.0) | 164.6 g(159.4–169.8) |
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 10 : 90
| Fatty acid | Published range, % | Used | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lauric acid | C12:0 · saturated | 0–0.3 | 0.2 |
| Myristic acid | C14:0 · saturated | 0–0.2 | 0.1 |
| Palmitic acid | C16:0 · saturated | 4–11.3 (typical 5.1) | 5.1 |
| Palmitoleic acid | C16:1 | 0–0.5 | 0.3 |
| Stearic acid | C18:0 · saturated | 2–8 (typical 3.5) | 3.5 |
| Oleic acid | C18:1 | 9.8–36 (typical 18.6) | 18.6 |
| Linoleic acid | C18:2 | 8.3–30 (typical 15.2) | 15.2 |
| α-Linolenic acid | C18:3 n-3 | 43.8–70 (typical 56.6) | 56.6 |
| Arachidic acid | C20:0 · saturated | 0–1 | 0.5 |
| Gadoleic acid | C20:1 | 0–1.2 | 0.6 |
| Behenic acid | C22:0 · saturated | 0–0.5 | 0.3 |
| Erucic acid | C22:1 | 0–1.2 | 0.6 |
| Lignoceric acid | C24:0 · saturated | 0–0.3 | 0.2 |
Recipes that use it
- Linseed soft soap 100 % of the 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.
The source of the typical fatty acids. Table 2, relative fatty acid composition of the oil (%), 2024 / 2023 / 2014-2023 mean: palmitic 5.0 / 5.0 / 5.1, stearic 3.2 / 3.4 / 3.5, oleic 18.2 / 19.2 / 18.6, linoleic 15.2 / 15.4 / 15.2, alpha-linolenic 57.2 / 55.8 / 56.6. Table 1: mean iodine value 192.0 / 189.3 / 190.5 (calculated from the fatty acid composition); free fatty acids 0.2 %. Harvest Sample Program; fatty acids measured on composite samples. The ten-year mean is used.
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. The typical values for the five main acids are the Canadian Grain Commission's ten-year mean (2014-2023) for the western Canadian crop, brown flaxseed graded No. 1 CW: palmitic 5.1, stearic 3.5, oleic 18.6, linoleic 15.2, alpha-linolenic 56.6 % of the oil's fatty acids (sum 99.0 %); the same report gives the crop's mean iodine value as 190.5, the midpoint of the Codex band. Until 2026-09-26 the record had no typicals, so the calculator used the midpoints of the Codex ranges, which are compliance limits wide enough (oleic 9.8-36, linoleic 8.3-30, linolenic 43.8-70) that together they summed to 114.2 % and made the soap-quality figures computed from the profile read high; the saponification value, which is published, was not affected. The minor acids keep the Codex ranges. Flaxseed (linseed) oil was added to CXS 210 in the 2019 revision. Ph. Eur. 12 'Linseed oil, virgin' (Heess sheet): iodine value 160-200, saponification value 188-195, unsaponifiable max 1.5 %, palmitic 3.0-8.0, palmitoleic max 1.0, stearic 2.0-8.0, oleic 11.0-35.0, linoleic 11.0-24.0, linolenic 35.0-65.0, arachidic max 1.0 %.
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.