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Fatty acids

Ricinoleic Acid (technical, castor oil fatty acids)

INCI Ricinoleic Acid. Saponified with NaOH it is listed as Sodium Ricinoleate, with KOH as Potassium Ricinoleate. Also: 12-Hydroxy-cis-9-octadecenoic acid, Castor oil fatty acids, Technical ricinoleic acid.

Calculate a 100 % Ricinoleic Acid (technical, castor oil fatty acids) bar

Published values

Saponification value185–190 mg KOH/g
Used by the calculator187.5 mg KOH/g (midpoint)
SAP for NaOH0.1337 g/g
Iodine value85–90 g I₂/100 g
INS (SAP − IV)100
Melting point
Unsaponifiable matter

A bar made of 100 % Ricinoleic Acid (technical, castor oil fatty acids)

Hardness 0 below 29–54
Cleansing 0 below 12–22
Conditioning 86 above 44–69
Bubbly lather 86 above 14–46
Creamy lather 86 above 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
Ricinoleic acid C18:1-OH 84–88 86.0

Where these numbers come from

Traquisa (Transformaciones Quimicas Industriales, S.A., Barbera del Valles, Spain - castor-oil derivatives producer)Technical Data Sheet - Fatty acids, Castor oil / Technical Ricinoleic Acid (May 2026) · document dated 2026-05-01 · read 2026-09-20

Specifications/Value table on page 1: specific gravity, viscosity, acid value, ricinoleic acid content, iodine index, Gardner colour, hydroxyl value, saponification value, formula, CAS/EINECS. TDS dated 'May 2026' (day unknown; documentDate uses the first of the month).

Producer TDS (Traquisa, May 2026) for technical ricinoleic acid obtained by saponification/splitting of refined castor oil (CAS 61789-44-4, 'Fatty acids, castor oil'): acid value 165 mg KOH/g (printed as a single limit; theoretical for pure ricinoleic acid, MW 298, is ~188), saponification value 185-190 mg KOH/g, iodine index (Wijs) 85-90, hydroxyl value 150-160 mg KOH/g, ricinoleic acid content 84-88 %, specific gravity 25 C 0.939-0.940, Gardner colour 3, liquid oil. The TDS states the product contains no linolenic acid; the remaining 12-16 % (mainly oleic/linoleic/saturates typical of castor fatty acids) is not itemised, so only ricinoleic is mapped. Free fatty acid: neutralises rather than saponifies; for lye calculation the SAP (185-190) is the relevant figure. The TDS gives 'INCI name: Ricinoleic acid'. Values were read from the PDF with pdftotext in raw reading order; the layout-mode extraction shifts the value column by one row, so the raw-order pairing (acid value 165, ricinoleic 84-88, iodine 85-90, hydroxyl 150-160, saponification 185-190) is the one used here.

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.