Crocodile fat, alligator oil or crocodile/alligator oil is a lipid substance deriving from the bodies of the crocodilian family of reptiles. Since the beginning of commercial alligator farming in the United States, Australia,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and

South East Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, crocodile fat became a commercial product that can be used in a number of ways, including

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

and as a feedstock for

biodiesel Biodiesel is a renewable biofuel, a form of diesel fuel, derived from biological sources like vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled greases, and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made from fats. The roots of bi ...

Energy use

Alligator fat was recently identified as a source to produce

. Every year, about 15 million pounds of alligator fat are disposed of in landfills as a waste byproduct of the alligator meat and skin industry. Studies have shown that biodiesel produced from alligator fat is similar in composition to biodiesel created from soybeans, and is cheaper to refine since it is primarily a waste product. Biodiesel made of crocodile fat can be utilized by cars. A research work was published in Industrial Engineering Chemistry Research Journal. The authors show that recovery of

lipids Lipids are a broad group of organic compounds which include fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins Vitamin A, A, Vitamin D, D, Vitamin E, E and Vitamin K, K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The fu ...

from the alligator fat tissue was studied by solvent extraction as well as by microwave rendering. Microwave rendering resulted in oil recovery of 61% by weight of the frozen fat tissue obtained from producers. The fatty acid profile of the lipid showed that

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 ...

(C16:0),

palmitoleic acid Palmitoleic acid, or (9''Z'')-hexadec-9-enoic acid, is an omega-7 monounsaturated fatty acid (16:1n-7) with the formula CH3(CH2)5CH=CH(CH2)7COOH. It is a rare component of fats. It is a common constituent of the glycerides of human adipose tis ...

(C16:1), and

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 ...

(C18:1) were the dominant

fatty acids In chemistry, in particular in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an unbranched chain of an even number of carbon atoms, ...

accounting for 89–92% of all lipids by mass; 30% of the fatty acids were saturated and 70% were unsaturated. The biodiesel produced from alligator oil was found to meet the ASTM specifications of biodiesel concerning

kinematic viscosity Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's rate-dependent drag (physics), resistance to a change in shape or to movement of its neighboring portions relative to one another. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of ''thickness''; for e ...

sulfur Sulfur ( American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur ( Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms ...

, free and total

glycerin Glycerol () is a simple triol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, sweet-tasting, viscous liquid. The glycerol backbone is found in lipids known as glycerides. It is also widely used as a sweetener in the food industry and as a humectant in pha ...

, flash point, cloud point, and acid number. The head of the research team Brahal Bajpai and his crew assessed that a large crocodile farm would produce biodiesel made out of crocodile fat at $2.51 a gallon, excluding the cost of the fat and transportation. The latter cost would presumably be $0, since it is a waste product anyway. Such a price would make it competitive with

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

-derived diesel.

Commercial products

Crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include ...

fat has been used in many traditional cultures as a medicine.Pereira, Jonathan. ''The Elements of Materia Medica: Vegetable and animal materia medica'', II, p. 2, London 1840. Accessed on 24.1.2017 at https://books.google.com/books?id=Sn5BAQAAMAAJ Lotions and other products derived from alligator fat are now sold online.

References

{{reflist Animal fats Traditional medicine Crocodylidae