Fresh coconut meat is processed either by wet milling or by drying the residue before extracting the oil. In both cases, the oil is extracted by using a screw press. Alternatively, the fresh meat may be processed by grating and drying to adjust its moisture content to 10 to 12% and then expressing the semi-dry meat to extract the oil.
How is coconut oil extracted?
However, coconut milk or fresh meat is used to extract coconut oil on small scale at home. Industrial production methods use centrifuge machines to separate the oil. A coconut milk fermentation method has also been developed to separate the oil from the emulsified mixture. Centrifuges may also be used to separate the oil from the milk.
How is dry copra extracted?
More commonly, the dry copra is first extracted by the solvent-free method using expellers to obtain better quality coconut oil. Then the residue is processed through solvent extraction plant using food-grade hexane as a solvent to extract the residual coconut oil (8 to 12%). Dry copra may be extracted directly in solvent extraction plants.
How is coconut milk processed?
Alternatively, the fresh meat may be processed by grating and drying to adjust its moisture content to 10 to 12% and then expressing the semi-dry meat to extract the oil. In another method, coconut milk is mixed with water, the emulsion broken and then the oil is separated. Coconut milk is an emulsion of proteins, oil and water.