Moringa Oil
INCI Moringa Oleifera Seed Oil. CAS 93165-54-9; EC 296-941-1, as CosIng gives them. Also: Ben oil, Behen oil, Moringa seed oil, Moringa oleifera seed oil.
Published values
| Saponification value | 190.4–191.2 mg KOH/g |
| Used by the calculator | 190.8 mg KOH/g (midpoint) |
| SAP for NaOH | 0.1360 g/g |
| Iodine value | 67.8–68.5 g I₂/100 g |
| INS (SAP − IV) | 123 |
| Melting point | — |
| Unsaponifiable matter | 0.59–0.65 % |
Soapmaking books print about 0.138 g NaOH per g (median of 2 books), which agrees with ours to within 2 %.
A bar made of 100 % Moringa 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 | 64.6 g(64.5–64.7) | 90.6 g(90.4–90.8) |
| 1 kg | 129.2 g(128.9–129.5) | 181.3 g(180.9–181.6) |
| 1 lb (454 g) | 58.6 g(58.5–58.7) | 82.2 g(82.0–82.4) |
| 2 lb (907 g) | 117.2 g(117.0–117.5) | 164.4 g(164.1–164.8) |
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 18 : 82
| Fatty acid | Published range, % | Used | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Myristic acid | C14:0 · saturated | 0.09–0.72 | 0.4 |
| Palmitic acid | C16:0 · saturated | 5.8–6.5 | 6.2 |
| Palmitoleic acid | C16:1 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| Stearic acid | C18:0 · saturated | 3.9–5.42 | 4.7 |
| Oleic acid | C18:1 | 77.3–79.5 | 78.4 |
| Linoleic acid | C18:2 | 0.3–0.54 | 0.4 |
| α-Linolenic acid | C18:3 n-3 | 1.8–3.46 | 2.6 |
| Arachidic acid | C20:0 · saturated | 0.19–2.3 | 1.2 |
| Behenic acid | C22:0 · saturated | 4.5–7.2 | 5.9 |
Where these numbers come from
Physico-chemical table (IV, SAP, unsaponifiable matter, FFA, PV, RI, density) and fatty-acid composition table for CPMSO and HEMSO.
Fatty-acid table by extraction temperature (merged into ranges); SAP 187-219 and IV 124-168 reported but not adopted (see notes).
Primary source (Ogunsina et al., J. Food Sci. Technol. 2014, 51(3):503-510; Indian 'Jaffna' variety seeds from Erode, Tamil Nadu) compared cold-pressed (CPMSO) and hexane-extracted (HEMSO) oil: iodine value 67.8 and 68.5 g I2/100 g, saponification value 190.4 and 191.2 mg KOH/g, unsaponifiable matter 0.59 and 0.65 %, FFA 3.5-4.0 % oleic, PV 1.0-1.02 meq O2/kg, RI 1.47, density 0.90-0.92 g/mL (25 C). Its fatty-acid table (% , CPMSO / HEMSO): myristic 0.24 / 0.72, palmitic 5.8 / 6.1, palmitoleic 1.2 / 1.2, stearic 3.9 / 4.6, oleic 79.5 / 78.7, linoleic ND, linolenic 2.2 / 1.8, arachidic 2.2 / 2.3, gadoleic ND, behenic 5.1 / 4.5. The fatty-acid ranges above merge these with the additional source Cervera-Chiner et al. 2024 (Foods 13:2733; seeds grown in Valencia, Spain, oil pressed at 70-220 C, 3 replicates): myristic 0.089-0.095, palmitic 5.88-6.50, stearic 4.82-5.42, oleic 77.3-77.8, linoleic 0.3-0.536, linolenic 3.215-3.46, arachidic 0.19-0.225, behenic 6.80-7.20 % (no palmitoleic or C20:1 reported). So linoleic 0.3-0.54 is Spanish data only (ND in the Indian oil), palmitoleic 1.2 is Indian data only, and arachidic spans 0.19 (Spain) to 2.3 (India). The Spanish paper's saponification values (219 +/- 3 at 70 C, 187-199 at 100-220 C) and especially its iodine values (124-168 g I2/100 g with SDs up to +/- 43) are far from the Indian values and implausible for an oil with ~78 % oleic acid, so they are reported here but not merged into the field ranges. Melting point: not reported by either source. INCI name from CosIng.
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.