All About Refined Coconut Oil

Refined Coconut Oil is the most widely used form of Coconut Oil in the world, if not the purest or the best. It is also known by the name of Coconut Oil RBD, which means refined, bleached and deodorized.

In fact, the oil that is expelled directly from copra is not fit for consumption as it may contain dust particles, insect remains, spawn, microbes, mold spores and many other substances that can be harmful to health. . You may wonder how these foreign substances get into coconut oil . If you have ever seen coconut kernels are dried in copra, well you would understand.

In almost all cases, the beans are cut and spread out in the hot sun to dry, with their flesh facing the sun. They are kept that way for days, weeks or even months until they dry as desired. They are not even covered with nets. Perhaps now you can imagine what happens in that time. Dust and every other possible inedible substance could fall into them at any time.

Also, all these curious insects, birds, rodents and other animals make regular visits to see, or rather, taste. Again, in the absence of sufficient strong sunlight or in cloudy weather, there are plenty of possibilities for mold growth on the beans, which are not thrown away or cleaned before the oil is extracted. Basically, for our own safety, we are left with no choice. To understand this extraction and cleaning process a little more clearly, we delve into it a little deeper in the following sections.

Extraction:  There is no special technique involved in extracting Refined Coconut Oil . In fact, it is not Refined Coconut Oil when it is expelled. It is expelled from the copra using bagasse driven machine, just like any other oil.

Refining, Bleaching and Deodorization:  The crude oil is first repeatedly filtered to obtain a clean filtered oil. The oil is also bleached in the process, this filtration process is done using calcareous clays. It is then heated to a very high temperature, which serves a dual purpose. It deodorizes the oil as well as killing the germs or fungal spores inside it. Then sodium hydroxide (Na(OH) 2) is added to it and it is further filtered to remove the fats. Finally, in some cases, it is hydrogenated to ensure that no unsaturated fatty acids are left in the oil, which considerably lengthens the shelf life.

Difference from Pure Coconut Oil:  Refined Coconut Oil  is different from pure coconut oil in many ways. Firstly, you will not find the typical coconut smell or flavor of coconut in the oil, unlike pure coconut oil. This deodorization is deliberate, because despite some people’s preference for the coconut scent in their cooking oil, there are just as many who don’t.

Being refined, it is certainly more hygienic than raw coconut oil, but not beneficial from a health point of view. It is left with almost no protein or minerals due to this transformation. However, its shelf life is longer than raw or pure coconut oil.

Pricing:  It’s certainly a little more expensive than raw coconut oil (refining, bleaching, and other processing charges add to the base cost). However, it is cheaper than the same crude oil when it comes with a “pure coconut oil” label. Again, it’s much cheaper than its other sisters like Organic Coconut Oil and Virgin Coconut Oil .

Availability:  Refined Coconut Oil is the most readily available form. Therefore, most sold and most consumed. In fact, almost all of the coconut oil that comes packaged in bottles, sachets, and larger packets on the market is refined coconut oil.