Innovation in producing virgin coconut oil through integrated wet process

Virgin coconut oil (VCO) is the new millennium discovery on usage of the ever multifunctional coconut. VCO is rich in the medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs) that have been shown to speed up the metabolism (Nandi et al. 2004). Almost 50% of the fatty acid in virgin coconut oil is lauric acid which is known as anti-viral, antibacterial, anti microbial and anti-fungal (Enig, 1998). The fatty acid profile in coconut oil shares a similar characteristics with breast milk. The MCFAs in coconut oil are not stored in the body cells but rather processed directly in the liver where they are converted immediately into energy (Berit and Jurgen, 2006) It therefore puts less strain on other organs of the body (liver pancreas and digestive system), allowing them to function more effectively (Rethinam, 2008). The paper describes the process in producing virgin coconut oil through integrated wet process. The novel features of this process is the production of virgin coconut oil itself which can minimize the time, cost energy and man power as well as can maximize the yield and improve the quality of coconut oil. The VCO obtained by this process contribute about 30-35% wt/wt of yield. The physical characteristics of VCO along this process shows that the VCO is colorless, retain fresh coconut aroma and sweet coconut taste with the highest content of lauric acid; 49.85%. Besides that, the result also indicates that vitamin E present in VCO. In general, the overall results for sensory analysis were acceptable in terms of aroma and taste of the product. The score is between 6.30 and 7.90 in hedonic scale which is like slightly and like very much. On the other hand, the results obtained from microbiological testing shows that the product is free from microorganisms. The performance of the product was also evaluated using several tests such as moisture content, proximate analysis and heavy metal content testing and was found comparable to the Malaysian and Philippine National Standard (PNS).