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Oils

Macaúba Pulp Oil

Also: Macauba pulp oil, Macauba mesocarp oil, Bocaiuva pulp oil, Macaw palm pulp oil, Acrocomia aculeata pulp oil.

Calculate a 100 % Macaúba Pulp Oil bar

Published values

Saponification value210.5 mg KOH/g
Used by the calculator210.5 mg KOH/g (typical)
SAP for NaOH0.1501 g/g
Iodine value75.43 g I₂/100 g
INS (SAP − IV)135
Melting point—
Unsaponifiable matter—

A bar made of 100 % Macaúba Pulp Oil

Hardness 23 below 29–54
Cleansing 1 below 12–22
Conditioning 74 above 44–69
Bubbly lather 1 below 14–46
Creamy lather 22 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 0.09–0.45 0.3
Capric acid C10:0 · saturated 0.03–0.27 0.2
Lauric acid C12:0 · saturated 0.09–1.97 1.0
Myristic acid C14:0 · saturated 0.03–0.45 0.2
Palmitic acid C16:0 · saturated 10.1–27.77 18.9
Palmitoleic acid C16:1 0.6–6.9 3.8
Stearic acid C18:0 · saturated 0.5–5.92 3.2
Oleic acid C18:1 50–70 60.0
Linoleic acid C18:2 5.1–20 12.6
α-Linolenic acid C18:3 n-3 0.8–3.09 1.9
Arachidic acid C20:0 · saturated ≤ 0.5 0.5
Gadoleic acid C20:1 ≤ 0.3 0.3

Where these numbers come from

Sociedade Brasileira de Fruticultura (Revista Brasileira de Fruticultura), open access via SciELO Brazil — Antoniassi R, Freitas SC, Silva TS, Santiago MCPA, Wilhelm AE, Junqueira NTV. 'Impact of genotype on fatty acid profile, oil content and nutritional value of the sweet fruits of Acrocomia aculeata.' Rev. Bras. Frutic. 42(6):e-796 (2020). DOI 10.1590/0100-29452020796. · document dated 2020 · read 2026-09-24

Table 3 (fatty-acid profile of pulp oil, incl. the Antoniassi et al. 2013 range column). Read from word coordinates.

Instituto de Tecnologia de Alimentos, ITAL (Brazilian Journal of Food Technology) — Hiane PA, Ramos Filho MM, Ramos MIL, Macedo MLR. 'Oleo da polpa e amendoa de bocaiuva, Acrocomia aculeata (Jacq.) Lodd. Caracterizacao e composicao em acidos graxos.' Braz. J. Food Technol. 8(3):256-259 (2005). · document dated 2005 · read 2026-09-24

Pulp columns of Table 1 (saponification 210.50, iodine 75.43) and Table 2 (fatty acids). Read from word coordinates.

Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (Ciencia Rural), open access via SciELO Brazil — Trentini CP, Oliveira DM, Zanette CM, Silva C. 'Low-pressure solvent extraction of oil from macauba (Acrocomia aculeata) pulp: characterization of oil and defatted meal.' Cienc. Rural 46(4):725-731 (2016). DOI 10.1590/0103-8478cr20150740. · document dated 2016-04 · read 2026-09-24

Table 2 (fatty acids by extraction solvent). Read from word coordinates.

The orange, high-oleic oil of the fruit pulp (mesocarp); the kernel gives a separate lauric oil. Fatty-acid ranges start from Antoniassi et al. 2020 (Rev. Bras. Frutic. 42(6):e-796; Embrapa), Table 3: the range for Brazilian genotypes from Antoniassi et al. (2013) printed in the table's fourth column - C14:0 0.03-0.18, C16:0 10.1-25.3, C16:1 0.6-6.9, C18:0 0.5-5.5, C18:1 50-70, C18:2 7.2-20, C20:0 0-0.2, C18:3 0.8-2.1, C20:1 0.02-0.22 - and the three sweet genotypes measured there, Mac 1 and Mac 3: C14:0 0.4/0.1, C15:0 0.05/nq, C16:0 22.1/22.8, C16:1 2.4/5.0, C17:0 0.07/nq, C17:1 0.1/0-0.1, C18:0 1.9/1.1, C18:1 58.1/62.5, C18:2 12.4/7.5, C20:0 0.2/0-0.1, C18:3 1.6/0.8, C20:1 0-0.3/nq. Mac 2 (C18:1 36.4, C18:2 35.0, C18:3 7.1) is a high-linoleic genotype the authors single out as unusual; it is left out of the ranges. In that paper C18:1 is 'the sum of C18:1 cis-9 and C18:1 cis-11', so here 'oleic' includes vaccenic acid. The ranges are widened by two directly measured oils: Hiane et al. 2005 (Braz. J. Food Technol. 8(3):256-259), fresh-pulp oil from Mato Grosso do Sul, Table 2 (re-read from word coordinates): C8:0 0.45, C10:0 0.27, C12:0 1.97, C14:0 0.45, C16:0 15.96, C16:1 1.01, C18:0 5.92, C18:1 65.87, C18:2 5.10, C18:3 2.52, C20:0 0.50; and Trentini, Oliveira, Zanette & Silva 2016 (Ciencia Rural 46(4):725-731), fruits from Cariri, Ceara, low-pressure solvent extraction with ethyl acetate/n-hexane/isopropanol, Table 2: C8:0 0.27/0.13/0.09, C10:0 0.04/0.06/0.03, C12:0 0.09/0.11/0.11, C14:0 0.22/0.18/0.18, C16:0 27.77/27.39/27.24, C18:0 1.81/1.80/2.48, C18:1 61.03/61.15/60.17, C18:2 5.79/6.34/5.72, C18:3 2.96/2.81/3.09 (palmitoleic not reported). Saponification value 210.50 mg KOH/g (4 % KOH, back-titrated with HCl) and iodine value 75.43 (Wijs) are Hiane et al. Table 1 for the fresh-pulp oil, with acidity 0.83 % as oleic, refractive index 1.4609 (40 C) and peroxide 2.09 meq/kg. The saponification value is about 8 % above what Hiane's own composition implies (about 195) and above Antoniassi's composition-calculated 195-197 for Mac 1-3; that is inside this dataset's 12 % tolerance, so it is kept as the published value, but it is the figure to question first - if it is high, the lye is high by the same share for the macauba part of a recipe. Antoniassi's calculated iodine values are 78 (Mac 1) and 74 (Mac 3), consistent with Hiane's 75.43. Carotenes in the mesocarp oil: 30-240 mg/kg (Antoniassi 2020). Also consistent, not merged: Sant'Ana et al. 2023 (Nutrients 15(5):1252): palmitic 22.84, palmitoleic 5.93, stearic 1.23, oleic 49.32, linoleic 19.63, linolenic 1.05. No CosIng entry was found for the pulp oil (the kernel oil has one).

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.