Formulation of Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) from Centrifugation and Spontaneous Fermentation Processes with Rice Bran Oil (RBO) for a Food Supplement

Abstract

Coconut (Cocos nucifera) is a plant belonging to the Arecaceae family with a myriad of uses. Virgin coconut oil (VCO) is one of the products that can be derived from this plant. The free fatty acid content, especially lauric acid, determines the quality of VCO. There are several methods of VCO production, depending on the raw material treatments and purification/separation processes. The common methods used are centrifugation and fermentation to produce VCO that meets the Standard Nasional Indonesia (SNI). Those methods yield lauric acid contents at 45.1-53.2% and lauric acid are known to have antibacterial and antiviral potentials. This study aimed to produce VCO with lauric acid content that met SNI standards for food supplements to increase immunity by formulating it with Rice bran oil (RBO). RBO is known to contain vitamins, antioxidants, and fatty acids, such as linoleic acid, that are needed to boost the immune system and nutrient absorption. The coconuts used were fresh ripe fruits and prepared with the wet processing procedure. The research method included comparing centrifugation and spontaneous fermentation processes, with the time of precipitation/fermentation as the independent variable. The best yield of VCO was used in combination with RBO to generate a nutritious food supplement. The centrifugation and spontaneous fermentation methods produced the highest VCO yields of 39% and 33% respectively after 24 hours of precipitation. GC-MS (Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry) analyses were employed to determine the lauric acid contents in the resulting VCO. The results showed that the lauric acid contents were 52.1% for the centrifugation and 52.3% for spontaneous fermentation. The food supplement formulation is consisting of 95% VCO and 5% RBO, and from that 100g formulation is contained 46.519 grams lauric acid and 2.431 grams.