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Oils

Tamarind Seed Oil

Also: Tamarind kernel oil, Tamarindus indica seed oil.

Calculate a 100 % Tamarind Seed Oil bar

The saponification value here is derived, not published. No primary document we could use gives one for Tamarind Seed Oil, so it is calculated from this record's own fatty-acid composition: chain lengths fix the molar mass, which fixes how much hydroxide a gram of fat consumes. That gives 188.5 mg KOH/g, ±3 %.

That is stoichiometry on a measured composition rather than a guess, and it is about as well determined as a published figure: checked against the 35 Codex oils where both fields come from the same standard, the method's median error is 0.90 % and its 90th percentile 2.74 %, with no meaningful bias. The formula page shows the working. If you have a certificate of analysis for your lot, enter its measured value in the calculator and this estimate is set aside.

Published values

Saponification valuenot published
Derived from composition188.5 ± 3 % mg KOH/g
Used by the calculator188.5 mg KOH/g (derived)
SAP for NaOH0.1344 g/g
Iodine value—
INS (SAP − IV)—
Melting point—
Unsaponifiable matter2.5–3.9 %

A bar made of 100 % Tamarind Seed Oil

Hardness 24 below 29–54
Cleansing 0 below 12–22
Conditioning 65 44–69
Bubbly lather 0 below 14–46
Creamy lather 24 16–48

Conventional qualities summed from the fatty-acid groups; a single-oil bar is a reference point, not a recipe.

This record is disputed. Published analyses of tamarind seed oil describe two different oils. Most (India 1969-1979, Madagascar 1983, Pakistan 2022) find a linoleic-rich oil, 42-62 % linoleic acid with 4-11 % lignoceric acid, and that is what the figures here show. Two others (an Indian kernel-meal extract from 1977 and a Mexican oil from 2019) find a lignoceric-rich oil with only 5-8 % linoleic and about 20 % lignoceric acid; the Mexican oil measured a saponification value of about 175, while the linoleic-rich profile here implies about 188. If your oil is the lignoceric-rich kind, the calculator's figure would over-lye it by roughly 7 %. Ask the supplier for a fatty-acid analysis before using tamarind seed oil as a large share of a recipe.

Fatty-acid profile

Fatty acidPublished range, %Used
Lauric acid C12:0 · saturated 0–0.3 0.2
Myristic acid C14:0 · saturated 0–0.2 (typical 0.2) 0.2
Palmitic acid C16:0 · saturated 8.7–17.4 (typical 17.4) 17.4
Stearic acid C18:0 · saturated 2.22–6.7 (typical 6.7) 6.7
Oleic acid C18:1 14.52–19.6 (typical 19.5) 19.5
Linoleic acid C18:2 42.4–61.51 (typical 42.4) 42.4
α-Linolenic acid C18:3 n-3 0–5.6 2.8
γ-Linolenic acid C18:3 n-6 0.1 0.1
Arachidic acid C20:0 · saturated 1.5–9 (typical 2.8) 2.8
Gadoleic acid C20:1 0.9 0.9
Behenic acid C22:0 · saturated 3.7–4 (typical 4) 4.0
Lignoceric acid C24:0 · saturated 4–10.8 (typical 5.5) 5.5

Where these numbers come from

PlantFAdb, Michigan State University (fatplants.net), based on the SOFA database of the Max Rubner-Institut; Ohlrogge J. et al. (2018) PlantFAdb, The Plant Journal 96:1299-1308 — PlantFAdb datasets for Tamarindus indica (plant 10328): #12075 'Fatty acid and sterol compositions of malagasy tamarind kernel oils' (1983, SOFA TAB_007849), #21960 (1969, TAB_007845), #10561 (1979, TAB_007846), #22305 (1977, TAB_007847), #22306 (1977, TAB_007850) · document dated 1983 · read 2026-09-24

GLC area-% fatty acids. #12075 supplies the typicals; #21960, #10561 and #22305 the ranges; #22306 is the lignoceric-rich outlier cited in disputed. Other datasets on the page (1977 partial profile summing to 86.5 %, 2006 Nigeria with iodine value 37.5 and palmitic 27.4 %, 2010 Rajasthan in weight-%) are not used.

MDPI (Molecules), open access via PubMed Central — Sajjad N., Orfali R., Perveen S., et al. Biodiesel Production from Alkali-Catalyzed Transesterification of Tamarindus indica Seed Oil and Optimization of Process Conditions. Molecules 2022, 27(10):3230 (doi 10.3390/molecules27103230) · document dated 2022-05-18 · read 2026-09-24

Table 4 fatty acids used for the ranges; Table 3 physicochemical values read and rejected (see notes).

Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (Grasas y Aceites), open access — Chacon-Fernandez M.G., Hernandez-Medel M.R., Bernal-Gonzalez M., Duran-Dominguez-de-Bazua M.C., Solis-Fuentes J.A. Composition, properties, stability and thermal behavior of tamarind (Tamarindus indica) seed oil. Grasas y Aceites 2019, 70(4):e333 (doi 10.3989/gya.0928182) · document dated 2019-12-30 · read 2026-09-24

PDF galley .../article/download/1802/2525 read; Table 1 (saponification value) and Table 2 (fatty acids) of the lignoceric-rich oil cited in disputed.

The oil of tamarind seed kernels, which hold only about 4-9 % oil. THE LITERATURE DISAGREES (see disputed). Figures follow the linoleic-rich majority, all from PlantFAdb (SOFA) unless stated, GLC area %. Typicals: dataset #12075, 'Fatty acid and sterol compositions of malagasy tamarind kernel oils' (1983; SOFA TAB_007849; six samples from Madagascar): 14:0 0.2, 15:0 0.0, 16:1 delta-7 0.3, 16:0 17.4, 17:1 0.1, 17:0 0.2, 18:3 delta-6,9,12 (gamma-linolenic) 0.1, 18:2 42.4, 18:1 19.5, 18:0 6.7, 20:1 0.9, 20:0 2.8, 21:0 0.0, 22:0 4.0, 23:0 0.0, 24:0 5.5 (total 100.1); unsaponifiable 3.1-3.9 % (hexane extract). Min/max add #21960 ('Component acids of Tamarindus indica ...', 1969; TAB_007845): 12:0 0.3, 14:0 0.2, 16:0 11.1, 18:2 55.4, 18:1 15.0, 18:0 6.6, 20:0 1.8, 22:0 3.7, 24:0 5.9, unsaponifiable 2.5 %; #10561 ('Extraction, characteristics, fatty acid composition of tamarind kernel oil', 1979; TAB_007846, India): 12:0 0.0, 14:0 0.0, 16:0 8.7, 18:3 2.8, 18:2 50.2, 18:1 19.6, 18:0 4.4, 20:0 9.0, 24:0 4.0; #22305 ('Fatty-acid composition of tamarind kernel oil', 1977; TAB_007847, India): 12:0 0.0, 14:0 0.0, 16:0 9.0, 18:3 5.6, 18:2 45.0, 18:1 19.0, 18:0 5.0, 20:0 6.2, 24:0 10.8; and Sajjad et al. 2022 (Molecules 27:3230, Table 4, Pakistan): palmitic 9.90, stearic 2.22, oleic 14.52, linoleic 61.51, eicosanoic 1.50, behenic 3.90, tetracosanoic 6.45 %. Where a dataset does not list an acid it is not counted in that acid's range; lauric and alpha-linolenic acid are not in the typical dataset and carry ranges only. C15-C17 and C21-C23 acids and 16:1 delta-7 have no key. NO SAPONIFICATION OR IODINE VALUE IS USED. Sajjad et al. print saponification number 202.7 mg KOH/g and iodine value 76 g I2/100 g, but in the same table a density of 0.840 g/cm3 and a refractive index of 1.42 that no vegetable oil has, and an iodine value their own 61.5 %-linoleic profile contradicts (it implies about 120); none of that table is used. PlantFAdb #22306 (1977, a Folch extract of kernel-meal lipids) prints saponification value 190.0 and iodine value 118.4 beside a lignoceric-rich profile (16:0 14.8, 18:0 5.9, 18:1 27.0, 18:2 7.5, 18:3 5.6, 20:0 4.5, 22:0 12.2, 24:0 22.3 %) that cannot give that iodine value (it implies about 50). Chacon-Fernandez et al. 2019 (Grasas y Aceites 70:e333, Mexico) measured saponification value 174.80 +/- 9.87 mg KOH/g on a lignoceric-rich oil (Table 2: lignoceric 20.15, oleic 18.99, palmitic 11.91, stearic 7.63, behenic 7.57, arachidic 5.33, linoleic 4.94, paullinic 4.22 %, plus oxidation products - oxo-, epoxy- and dihydroxy-acids, azelaic acid - totalling about 6 %); that value belongs to that type of oil and is not transferred. The build derives the saponification value from the typical profile (about 188). CosIng has no INCI name for tamarind seed oil (only extracts, gum and polysaccharide), so inci is null.

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.