Giá trị và tiềm năng của dầu dừa Việt Nam

Value and potential of Vietnamese coconut oil

Coconut oil is a valuable natural product extracted from the pulp (pulp) of old coconuts. This is a product with very diverse applications in many different areas of life, from food processing, cosmetics, industrial products, to pharmaceutical chemistry serving health care and medical needs. cure. Coconut trees and coconut oil products in Vietnam Coconut is a very special crop, because all components of the tree can be utilized to produce a variety of products from food, cosmetics, handicrafts and some industrial products. other career. Despite having a modest planting area (<1%, or about 175,000 hectares) on the world coconut map, in Vietnam coconut still grows very popular in almost every part of the country.

Among them, the coastal areas and Mekong Delta such as: Binh Dinh, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Tien Giang, Vinh Long, account for the main area. Ben Tre is considered the capital of Vietnam's coconut trees with an area of > 72,000 hectares. Thanks to favorable soil and ecological conditions, coconuts here bear fruit all year round with the highest productivity and quality in the country. Research results on the Ben Tre coconut value chain show that an annual estimate of more than 4,000 billion VND in added value comes from exporting raw coconut fruit and many other processed products. In terms of economic value, in Vietnam, coconut trees rank 4th among perennial industrial crops, after rubber, pepper, and cashew. Extracted from mature coconut pulp, coconut oil is a common product and has the most uses in life.

Depending on the extraction technique and process, coconut oil products have different composition and quality. On the market today there are many coconut oil products, which can be divided into groups such as: coconut oil for beauty and body care; Coconut oil is used for food processing and coconut oil as raw material for industrial products. Common coconut oil commercial products are available on our country's market There are many techniques to extract coconut oil. Coconut oil products obtained from different techniques will have different properties and qualities, corresponding to different needs and tastes. Basically, there will be 2 main groups of techniques, dry process and wet process, corresponding to 4 popular types of coconut oil on the market: Traditional coconut oil (cooked coconut oil): created by wet extraction technique, heating coconut milk for a long time, to evaporate water and separate oil, along with other impurities that accumulate at the bottom of the pot.

Coconut oil created in this way will have anhydrous properties, a characteristic sweet aroma, yellow color, and high viscosity. Pure coconut oil (Virgin Coconut Oil - VCO) from cold centrifugation technique (also known as cold oil): is a product obtained by wet extraction technique through a centrifugal system, separating oil from fresh coconut milk suspension. , preserving the superior natural characteristics. Pure coconut oil extracted by this technique is the highest quality product currently available, both in terms of medicinal ingredients, with a gentle aroma, transparent color, and easy absorption through the skin and digestive tract. .

This is the ideal oil for use in cuisine, body care, health support, and medical therapy. Due to extraction using non-heating technology, pure coconut oil is often difficult to preserve and has a shorter stability time than other oil products. One of the factors that most affect the quality of pure coconut oil is storage materials and direct light. Pure coconut oil, after being vacuum dried and stored in brown glass bottles or blue PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) bottles (thickness ³5 mm), has stability for over 12 months. Coconut oil pressed from desiccated coconut (also known as hot oil): is a product obtained by dry extraction technique, squeezing from grated coconut that has been heat-dried, then centrifuged again. In terms of appearance, this product looks similar to cold oil, with a slightly yellowish color, but its taste is somewhat stronger (because the coconut meat has gone through a prolonged heat drying period). Refined Bleached Deodorized - RBD: is a colorless coconut oil that no longer has the characteristic flavor of natural coconut oil. To create it, people take raw coconut oil (extracted using many different techniques, with a variety of raw materials), through many steps of refining, deodorizing, decolorizing, using high heat and some other ingredients. technical chemicals.

During the refining process, many valuable natural components of coconut oil are lost, especially free fatty acids with biological value. Potential products from coconut oil in Vietnam and around the world Coconut oil is a familiar, long-standing natural product in the lives of Vietnamese people, especially people in coconut areas. Since ancient times, our grandparents have known how to make coconut oil by boiling coconut milk for several hours. Finally, traditional pure coconut oil is extracted, with a golden color and a characteristic caramel scent, used for many different purposes: hair care, body care, cooking, and skin disease treatment. The International Coconut Community (ICC) rates Vietnamese coconuts as having the highest productivity and quality in the world, but the actual value is different.