Candlenut oil or kukui nut oil is extracted from the nut of ''

Aleurites moluccanus ''Aleurites moluccanus'', commonly known as candlenut, is a tree in the spurge family Euphorbiaceae. It grows to about tall and produces drupe fruit. First described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, the species' origin is unclear due to its spread b ...

'' (''Aleurites triloba''), the candlenut or'' kuku'i''.

Description

The candlenut tree is widely distributed through

Polynesia Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...

and

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

, and is found in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

, and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

,Thompson, Alice R. (1913), "Kukui (Candle-Nut) Oil", Ind. Eng. Chem., 5 (8): 644–645, doi:10.1021/ie50056a007 and has been introduced into the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

.Wood, George B.; Bache, Franklin; Wood, H. C. Jr.; Remington, Joseph P.; Sadtler, Samuel P. (1899), The dispensatory of the United States of America (18th ed.), Philadelphia : Lippincott, Aleurites, Triloba, Oil of., p.1556 The oil from the nut is of commercial value, and is included in the

drying oil Drying is a mass transfer process consisting of the removal of water or another solvent by evaporation from a solid, semi-solid or liquid. This process is often used as a final production step before selling or packaging products. To be conside ...

s and is used as an illuminating oil. Solvent extraction of the oil from the crushed kernel yields a light yellow oil (density ); when obtained by expression (pressing), the oil may be dark from impurities. Roughly half the weight of the kernel is oil. A sample of the oil obtained by petroleum extraction had a

saponification value Saponification value or saponification number (SV or SN) represents the number of milligrams of potassium hydroxide (KOH) or sodium hydroxide (NaOH) required to saponify one gram of fat under the conditions specified. It is a measure of the ...

of 179.1 (generally 190-205), an

iodine number Iodine is a chemical element; it has symbol I and atomic number 53. The heaviest of the stable halogens, it exists at standard conditions as a semi-lustrous, non-metallic solid that melts to form a deep violet liquid at , and boils to a vio ...

of 155.5 (generally 135-165, as low as 114), and a Reichert value of 2.82. The oil acts as a mild

cathartic In medicine, a cathartic is a substance that ''accelerates'' defecation. This is similar to a laxative, which is a substance that ''eases'' defecation, usually by softening feces. It is possible for a substance to be both a laxative and a cathar ...

similar to

castor oil Castor oil is a vegetable oil pressed from castor beans, the seeds of the plant ''Ricinus communis''. The seeds are 40 to 60 percent oil. It is a colourless or pale yellow liquid with a distinct taste and odor. Its boiling point is and its den ...

, while the cake remaining from pressing also acts as a purgative if ingested. The oil typically contains 15%

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 due to the presence of impurities. In chemical terms, oleic acid is cl ...

, 40%

linoleic acid Linoleic acid (LA) is an organic compound with the formula . 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. Linoleic acid is a polyunsat ...

, and less than 30%

linolenic acid Linolenic acid is a type of naturally-occurring fatty acid. It can refer to either of two octadecatrienoic acids (i.e. with an 18-carbon chain and three double bonds, which are found in the '' cis'' configuration), or a mixture of the two. Lino ...

. Analysis of nut oil samples from Polynesia (Hawaii, Tonga) over a 10-year period showed no change in fatty acid composition - that is about 6%

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 ...

, 2-3%

stearic acid Stearic acid ( , ) is a saturated fatty acid with an 18-carbon chain. The IUPAC name is octadecanoic acid. It is a soft waxy solid with the formula . The triglyceride derived from three molecules of stearic acid is called stearin. Stearic acid ...

, 15-18% linoleic acid, and 30-33% linolenic acid. Oils from

Maritime Southeast Asia Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the Southeast Asian countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. The terms Island Southeast Asia and Insular Southeast Asia are sometimes given the same meaning as ...

(

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

) had different unsaturated content, with 20-25% oleic, 34-42% linoleic, and 27-32% linolenic acid, with palmitic and stearic acid contents similar. Analysis of a different sample of candlenut kernel seed oil from either solvent (

hexane Hexane () or ''n''-hexane is an organic compound, a straight-chain alkane with six carbon atoms and the molecular formula C6H14. Hexane is a colorless liquid, odorless when pure, and with a boiling point of approximately . It is widely used as ...

soxhlet) or

supercritical carbon dioxide Supercritical carbon dioxide (s) is a fluid state of carbon dioxide where it is held at or above its critical temperature and critical pressure. Carbon dioxide usually behaves as a gas in air at standard temperature and pressure (STP), or a ...

extraction showed around 54% stearic acid, 16% oleic acid, 20% linoleic acid, and less than 3% linolenic acid. In Indonesia, the candlenut oil can often be found in hair care products. Historically, it has been valued as an

emollient A moisturizer, or emollient, is a cosmetic preparation used for protecting, moisturizing, and lubricating the skin. These functions are normally performed by sebum produced by healthy skin. The word "emollient" is derived from the Latin verb ''mo ...

, and is currently used primarily in

skin-care Skin care or skincare is the practice of maintaining and improving the health and appearance of the Human skin, skin. It includes washing, moisturizing, protecting from the sun, and treating skin problems like acne and dryness. Skin care can he ...

products.

Synonyms

It is also known as Spanish walnut (Jamaica), Belgaum walnut oil (India), and ''kekune'' oil (Sri Lanka).

References

{{reflist Vegetable oils

Description

Synonyms

See also

References