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Oils

Wheat Germ Oil

Also: Wheatgerm oil, Triticum aestivum germ oil, Triticum vulgare germ oil.

Calculate a 100 % Wheat Germ Oil bar

Published values

Saponification value191.22 mg KOH/g
Used by the calculator191.2 mg KOH/g (typical)
SAP for NaOH0.1363 g/g
Iodine value115.47 g I₂/100 g
INS (SAP − IV)76
Melting point
Unsaponifiable matter4.69 %

A bar made of 100 % Wheat Germ Oil

Hardness 18 below 29–54
Cleansing 0 below 12–22
Conditioning 79 above 44–69
Bubbly lather 0 below 14–46
Creamy lather 18 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
Myristic acid C14:0 · saturated 0.13 0.1
Palmitic acid C16:0 · saturated 16.73–17.42 17.1
Palmitoleic acid C16:1 0.18–0.23 0.2
Stearic acid C18:0 · saturated 0.54–0.56 0.6
Oleic acid C18:1 13.38–16.14 14.8
Linoleic acid C18:2 55.05–59.55 57.3
α-Linolenic acid C18:3 n-3 6.64–7.95 7.3
Gadoleic acid C20:1 1.36–1.38 1.4
Erucic acid C22:1 0.23–0.25 0.2

Where these numbers come from

Food and Nutrition Sciences (Scientific Research Publishing)Mahmoud A.A., Mohdaly A.A.A., Elneairy N.A.A. Wheat Germ: An Overview on Nutritional Value, Antioxidant Potential and Antibacterial Characteristics. Food Nutr. Sci. 2015, 6, 265-277 (doi 10.4236/fns.2015.62027) · document dated 2015-02-12 · read 2026-09-20

Full-text PDF. Table 2 = physico-chemical characteristics of wheat germ oil (SAP 191.22, IV 115.47, unsaponifiable 4.69 %); Table 3 = fatty-acid composition.

Molecules (MDPI) via PubMed CentralLi J., et al. Subcritical Butane Extraction of Wheat Germ Oil and Its Deacidification by Molecular Distillation. Molecules 2016, 21(12), 1675 (doi 10.3390/molecules21121675) · document dated 2016 · read 2026-09-20

Table 2 fatty-acid composition (%) of WGO by three extraction methods; AV and PV of crude oil.

Primary source (Mahmoud, Mohdaly & Elneairy 2015, Food and Nutrition Sciences 6:265-277; hexane-extracted oil from Triticum aestivum germ bought from Middle Egypt Flour Mills, Fayoum, Egypt; triplicate). Table 2 physico-chemical characteristics: refractive index 1.4728 (25 C), specific gravity 0.9257, acid value 13.88 mg/g, acidity 8.33 % oleic, saponification value 191.22 +/- 0.15 mg/g, ester value 177.34, iodine value 115.47 +/- 0.22 g I2/100 g, peroxide value 16.35 meq O2/kg, unsaponifiable matter 4.69 +/- 0.33 %. Table 3 fatty acids (%): myristic 0.13, pentadecanoic 0.16, palmitic 17.42, palmitoleic 0.23, elaidic (C18:1 trans) 0.85, cis-oleic 16.14, trans-linoleic 0.71, cis-linoleic 55.05, alpha-linolenic 7.95, heneicosylic (C21:0) 1.36; total saturated 19.07, MUFA 17.22, PUFA 63.71 (no stearic acid row is printed). Fatty-acid ranges above merge these with the additional source Li et al. 2016 (Molecules 21:1675; germ from Handan, Hebei, China; Table 2, three extraction methods SBE/SCE/SE): C15:1 0.19-0.20, palmitic 16.73-16.90, palmitoleic 0.18-0.19, stearic 0.54-0.56, oleic 13.38-13.56, linoleic 59.46-59.55, linolenic 6.64-6.85, C20:1 1.36-1.38, C22:1 0.23-0.25, C24:1 0.21-0.24 % (acid value 8.97 mg KOH/g and PV 4.69 meq/kg for crude SBE oil; no SAP/IV/unsaponifiable). Hence stearic, gadoleic and erucic rest on Li et al. alone and myristic on Mahmoud et al. alone; trans isomers, C15, C21:0 and nervonic (C24:1) are not schema keys. SAP and IV are single-laboratory 'typical' values (one Egyptian sample), not specification ranges; the Ph. Eur. wheat-germ oil monograph could not be opened. Melting point: not reported. INCI not verified on CosIng or a producer TDS, so left 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.