Niger Seed Oil
INCI Guizotia Abyssinica Seed Oil. Also: Nigerseed oil, Guizotia abyssinica seed oil, Noug oil, Ramtil oil.
Published values
| Saponification value | 188–193 mg KOH/g |
| Used by the calculator | 190.5 mg KOH/g (midpoint) |
| SAP for NaOH | 0.1358 g/g |
| Iodine value | 110–135 g I₂/100 g |
| INS (SAP − IV) | 68 |
| Melting point | — |
| Unsaponifiable matter | ≤ 1 % |
A bar made of 100 % Niger Seed Oil
Conventional qualities summed from the fatty-acid groups; a single-oil bar is a reference point, not a recipe.
Fatty-acid profile
| Fatty acid | Published range, % | Used | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Myristic acid | C14:0 · saturated | 0.049–0.07 | 0.1 |
| Palmitic acid | C16:0 · saturated | 10.317–10.662 | 10.5 |
| Palmitoleic acid | C16:1 | 0.106–0.155 | 0.1 |
| Stearic acid | C18:0 · saturated | 7.59–8.761 | 8.2 |
| Oleic acid | C18:1 | 5.867–11.479 | 8.7 |
| Linoleic acid | C18:2 | 67.302–74.669 | 71.0 |
| Arachidic acid | C20:0 · saturated | 0.427–0.532 | 0.5 |
| Behenic acid | C22:0 · saturated | 0.577–0.682 | 0.6 |
| Lignoceric acid | C24:0 · saturated | 0.273–0.399 | 0.3 |
Where these numbers come from
Section 2.4 (extraction, derivatisation, GC-MS); Table 1 relative percentages of the identified fatty acids in the five zones.
Page 15: saponification value 188-193, iodine value 110 to 135, unsaponifiable matter not more than 1.0 %, acid value not more than 6.0. Read from the rendered page.
Quoted in notes (location effect).
Quoted in notes as corroboration; the second accession is at https://fatplants.net/plantfadb/datasets?plant_id=11865.
Fatty acids are Table 1 of Makuria et al. 2025 (PLoS ONE 20(1):e0317397, open access): niger seed from five producing zones of Ethiopia (West Wolega, East Wolega, Horo Guduru Wolega, North Gondar, East Gojjam), lipids extracted with chloroform-methanol, FAMEs by GC-MS, mean relative % (n = 2): myristic 0.049-0.070, C16:1 (7-hexadecenoic, n-9) 0.106-0.155, palmitic 10.317-10.662, linoleic 67.302-74.669, oleic 5.438-11.017 plus cis-vaccenic 0.429-0.465 (stored per zone as total C18:1, 5.867-11.479), stearic 7.59-8.761, arachidic 0.427-0.532, behenic 0.577-0.682, lignoceric 0.273-0.399 %. The C16:1 is the n-9 isomer, filed under the schema's single C16:1 key. A COPYING SLIP IN THE TABLE: the North Gondar column prints arachidic 0.064, behenic 0.0176 and lignoceric 0.155, which are exactly that column's myristic, 12-methyltetradecanoic and C16:1 values repeated, so those three are left out of the ranges. Two minor constituents have no key: 12-methyltetradecanoic acid (0.015-0.024 %) and '17-octadecynoic acid' (0.0304 and 0.073 % in two zones). Each zone sums to about 99-100 %. SAPONIFICATION VALUE, IODINE VALUE AND UNSAPONIFIABLE MATTER are the Indian regulatory standard for niger seed oil (FSSAI, Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations 2011, Chapter 2.2, item 2.2.1(13), Version 5 of 1 August 2025, page 15): saponification value 188-193, iodine value 110 to 135, unsaponifiable matter not more than 1.0 %, acid value not more than 6.0, refractive index 1.4665-1.4691 at 40 C (butyro-refractometer 61.0-65.0). The recorded composition implies about 192 mg KOH/g and an iodine value near 131, inside the standard. Corroboration from PlantFAdb: two G. abyssinica accessions ('d libanos' and 'esete') in 'Oil content and fatty acid composition of seeds of Guizotia Cass. (Compositae)' (1997; #11880, #11883), palmitic 9.7-10.0, stearic 7.7-8.0, oleic 5.4-7.0, linoleic 65.7-68.7 %, arachidic 0.5, behenic 0.7-0.8, lignoceric 0.5, erucic 0.4-0.5 %. GROWING LOCATION CAN CHANGE THIS OIL COMPLETELY: 'Effect of location on the fatty acid composition of niger seed oil' (1994, India; #14498, #14499) found 76.7 % linoleic and 7.8 % oleic at Chintapalli but 40.5 % linoleic and 44.5 % oleic at Raichur. FOR SOAP: in its usual form a sunflower-like linoleic oil (67-75 %) with a little more stearic, so soft and quick to oxidise; a high-oleic lot would behave very differently, which is a reason to ask for the certificate. INCI 'Guizotia Abyssinica Seed Oil' is an active CosIng entry without CAS or EC numbers.
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.