''Vateria indica'' oil is extracted from the seeds of the ''

Vateria indica ''Vateria indica'', the white dammar, is a species of tree in the family Dipterocarpaceae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats mountains in India. It is threatened by habitat loss. It is a large canopy or emergent tree frequent in tropical wet e ...

'' plant, a species in the family Dipterocarpaceae. The ''Vateria indica'' plant is indigenous to the Western Ghats,

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

and

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

regions of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It thrives in the evergreen forests, surviving up to 800 meters above sea level. Oil from the seeds of the plant is extracted through a chemical refining process which makes the plant edible.

Common names in Indian languages

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

: Dupa, Kundura, Ajakarna, Sarjaks. *

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

: Kharub, Safed Damar, Sundras.

Kernel

Dhupa kernels are approximately 47% of the fruit, with the average kernel weighing 55 grams. The color of the kernel is reddish white or green, and it has a thick brown covering/hull and is hard, brittle, and aromatic. The

moisture Moisture is the presence of a liquid, especially water, often in trace amounts. Small amounts of water may be found, for example, in the air (humidity), in foods, and in some commercial products. Moisture also refers to the amount of water vapo ...

content in a fresh kernel is about 41-47%; it also contains 19-23% of pale yellow fat/oil having a tallow-like consistency that turns white over time. Kernels are generally dried in sunlight or by steam to enable extraction of the fat/oil, which is generally around 25% of the dried kernel by weight.

Collection and processing

Seeds are collected immediately after the

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

falls to avoid germination in the wet soil or infestation by worms. Seeds are collected by hand and it usually it takes 4–5 weeks for the crop to be collected. The germ is removed by hand and the fruits are decorticated with wooden mallets; the kernels are broken and sterilized in the process. The kernels are dried by agitating them in a layer 4–5 feet deep under the sun in a godown. The kernel is broken up to 6–7 mm size and crushed through an

expeller Expeller pressing (also called oil pressing) is a mechanical method for extracting oil from raw materials. The raw materials are squeezed under high pressure in a single step. When used for the extraction of food oils, typical raw materials are ...

; 8-9% oil is recovered from the seed, then the oil cake is processed by

solvent extraction A solvent (s) (from the Latin '' solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas, or a supercritical fluid. Water is a solvent for ...

to yield the remaining oil from the oil cake.

Oil and fat

Vateria indica oil is known as piney tallow or dhupa fat. Because Dhupa oil contains more than 55.0%

saturated fatty acids A saturated fat is a type of fat in which the fatty acid chains have all single bonds. A fat known as a glyceride is made of two kinds of smaller molecules: a short glycerol backbone and fatty acids that each contain a long linear or branched c ...

, it remains solid at lower temperatures and so is known as

fat In nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specifically to triglycerides (triple est ...

. The fat contains up to 40-45% stearic acid, 10-13%

palmitic acid Palmitic acid (hexadecanoic acid in IUPAC nomenclature) is a fatty acid with a 16-carbon chain. It is the most common saturated fatty acid found in animals, plants and microorganisms.Gunstone, F. D., John L. Harwood, and Albert J. Dijkstra. The L ...

and 43-48%

oleic acid Oleic acid is a fatty acid that occurs naturally in various animal and vegetable fats and oils. It is an odorless, colorless oil, although commercial samples may be yellowish. In chemical terms, oleic acid is classified as a monounsaturated omeg ...

. The

linoleic acid Linoleic acid (LA) is an organic compound with the formula COOH(CH2)7CH=CHCH2CH=CH(CH2)4CH3. Both alkene groups are ''cis''. It is a fatty acid sometimes denoted 18:2 (n-6) or 18:2 ''cis''-9,12. A linoleate is a salt or ester of this acid. ...

content is only 0.5%. Also arachidic acid, a saturated fatty acid with 20 carbons, is present up to 5.0%. Fatty acid compositionSEA Hand Book-2009.By The Solvent Extractors' Association of India.page No:911 Dhupa fat is greenish yellow to white, fairly soft with a pleasant odor. It can be bleached by exposure to light. Specification for dhupa fat

Uses of oil

Refined fat is obtained after chemical conventional refining and is edible. It is used as a component for filling, as a substitute or extender for

cocoa butter Cocoa butter, also called theobroma oil, is a pale-yellow, edible fat extracted from the cocoa bean. It is used to make chocolate, as well as some ointments, toiletries, and pharmaceuticals. Cocoa butter has a cocoa flavor and aroma. Its mel ...

, after proper processing, and in yarn-sizing and manufacture of

candles A candle is an ignitable wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time. A person who makes candles ...

soaps Soap is a surfactant cleaning compound used for personal or other cleaning. Soap may also refer to: Education * Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program, for medical students who were not initially matched with U.S. residencies by the National ...

and other

cosmetics Cosmetics are constituted mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources, or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics have various purposes. Those designed for personal care and skin care can be used to cleanse or protect ...

. The fat is also refined for edible use in confectionery and as an adulterant of ghee.

References

External links

Crirec.com
{{Non-timber forest products, state=expanded Vegetable oils Economy of Kerala Food and drink in India