The Copra Problem

[Amazoniac]

Nothing new for most, but some people might not be aware:
The Copra Problem

 

[Dan W]

I've been reading about this to make a coconut oil page. At least on the mycotoxin front, so far I've only found references to problematic levels in the *pre-refined* product. And surprisingly, Peat has mentioned hexane extraction in a possibly-positive way:

Since animal studies show good health effects of both of them [coconut oil and coffee], and bad effects of other foods such as peanuts, wheat, and corn, the contamination [mycotoxin?] is probably low. Hexane extraction seems to eliminate it, and it apparently declines in stored oil with time.

(from jyb's post here)

Wilderness Family Naturals' reportedly does mycotoxin testing and doesn't use hexane, although it's strange they seem to have removed the mycotoxin references to this on their site. So I need to contact them.

At least on a taste and stability front, my Tropical Traditions (refined) coconut oil seems pure enough. And that's with a refining process that seems less aggressive than normal. And I *think* I recall them claiming "sun dried" coconuts for it before there were as many concerns about copra. I'll be contacting them for more details.

 

[Amazoniac]

Dan, as a danwichism patient myself, I'm more concerned with the care and gentleness involved in the process of handling and extraction, regardless if it can withstand those things or not. All about less stress and risk..

 

[Such_Saturation]

Mine says less than 3 hours from opening the coconut. But how long since it's been cut from the tree?

 

[Dan W]

For refined oils, I figure the expeller-pressed ~100°C temperatures shouldn't be too hard on the oil (assuming that commonly-mentioned temperature is correct). At that point you're just after the fatty acids anyway, rather than other coconut-goodness with virgin oils.

This table is interesting if we make the (questionable?) assumption that aflatoxin levels are a good measure of contamination. Although I guess we shouldn't read too much into such a varied dataset: