Marula Oil
INCI Sclerocarya Birrea Seed Oil. Also: Marula kernel oil, Marula seed oil, Morula oil, Sclerocarya birrea seed oil, Sclerocarya birrea subsp. caffra kernel oil.
Published values
| Saponification value | 178.6–196 mg KOH/g |
| Used by the calculator | 187.3 mg KOH/g (midpoint) |
| SAP for NaOH | 0.1335 g/g |
| Iodine value | 70–76 g I₂/100 g |
| INS (SAP − IV) | 114 |
| Melting point | — |
| Unsaponifiable matter | — |
One soapmaking book prints 0.135 g NaOH per g, which agrees with ours to within 2 %.
A bar made of 100 % Marula 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 | 63.4 g(60.5–66.4) | 89.0 g(84.8–93.1) |
| 1 kg | 126.8 g(121.0–132.7) | 177.9 g(169.7–186.2) |
| 1 lb (454 g) | 57.5 g(54.9–60.2) | 80.7 g(77.0–84.5) |
| 2 lb (907 g) | 115.1 g(109.7–120.4) | 161.4 g(153.9–168.9) |
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 20 : 80
| Fatty acid | Published range, % | Used | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Myristic acid | C14:0 · saturated | ≤ 0.15 | 0.2 |
| Palmitic acid | C16:0 · saturated | 11.61 | 11.6 |
| Palmitoleic acid | C16:1 | ≤ 0.15 | 0.2 |
| Stearic acid | C18:0 · saturated | 7.63 | 7.6 |
| Oleic acid | C18:1 | 73–75.31 | 74.2 |
| Linoleic acid | C18:2 | 3–8 | 5.5 |
| α-Linolenic acid | C18:3 n-3 | ≤ 0.01 | 0.0 |
| Arachidic acid | C20:0 · saturated | 0.57 | 0.6 |
| Gadoleic acid | C20:1 | 0.36 | 0.4 |
Where these numbers come from
Table 2 FAME profile in mg/g plus text statements (~73 % oleic, ~8 % linoleic, ~7 % saturated); no SAP/IV.
Abstract only: saponification value 178.6 mg KOH/g, oleic acid 73.6 %, viscosity 41 mm2/s.
Specification PDF: INCI, CAS/EINECS, iodine value 70-76, saponification index 188-196, fatty-acid specification; undated.
Field attribution: (a) Bvenura & Kambizi 2024 (Molecules 29:3815; cold-pressed kernel oil from at least 20 Sclerocarya birrea subsp. caffra trees, Bubi district, Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe) is the primary source for the fatty-acid picture but prints its FAME table (Table 2) in mg/g rather than %: oleic 521.61, palmitic 81.072, linoleic 55.54, stearic 42.45, arachidic 3.46, alpha-linolenic 1.37, cis-11-eicosenoic 1.37, palmitoleic 0.994, heptadecanoic 0.877, lignoceric 0.863, behenic 0.794, myristic 0.354, lauric 0.181, tricosanoic 0.082, pentadecanoic 0.076, henicosanoic 0.008 mg/g; the text states oleic is 'approximately 73 %', linoleic 'about 8 %' and saturated acids 'about 7 %' of total fatty acids, which supply the oleic min (73) and linoleic max (8) above (mg/g values were not converted to %). It reports no SAP, IV, unsaponifiable matter or melting point. (b) Ejilah, Lukman & Bello 2012 (Int. J. Agric. Biol. Eng. 5(3):59-67, Nigeria; abstract only) print a saponification value of 178.6 mg KOH/g (SAP min) and oleic acid 73.6 %, viscosity 41 mm2/s. (c) The Aurum Africa GmbH 'Data sheet and specifications of Aurum Africa marula oil' (supplier/importer specification for cold-pressed, organic Namibian oil; not a peer-reviewed source) gives INCI 'Sclerocarya Birrea seed oil', CAS 68956-68-3, EINECS 273-313-5, specific gravity 0.91 g/mL, acid value < 5 mg KOH/g, peroxide value < 5 meq O2/kg, iodine value 70-76 g/100 g (the the iodine value range), saponification index 188-196 mg KOH/g (SAP max), and a fatty-acid specification: myristic < 0.15, palmitic 11.61, palmitoleic < 0.15, stearic 7.63, oleic 75.31, linoleic 3-7, alpha-linolenic < 0.01, arachidic 0.57, eicosenoic (C20:1) 0.36 % (source of palmitic, stearic, arachidic, gadoleic 'typical', the myristic/palmitoleic/linolenic maxima, oleic max 75.31 and linoleic min 3). The INCI above is therefore taken from that supplier data sheet and was NOT verified on CosIng (CosIng could not be queried). The Zimbabwe characterisation by Journal of Food Technology in Africa 5(4):126-128 (2000, AJOL) could not be read (its PDF is an image-only scan and the abstract page returned no text), so its values are not used. Unsaponifiable matter and melting point: not printed in any document opened.
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.