ALTERNATIVES TO ANIMAL FAT

Sitaram Dixit
Senior Manager Applications & Technical Fragrance Development
International Flavours & Fragrances India Limited

ils and fats either from plant or animal origin is the basic raw material used in soap manufacture.
Commonly used ones include animal tallow fat, and vegetable oils obtained from palm oil, coconut oil,
palm kernel oil, groundnut oil, rice barn oil, castor oil, etc. Natural triglycerides are formed with different mixes
of fatty acids. It is important for a soap manufacturer to know the type and the amount of the fatty acids present
in different oils as it is these fatty acids that determine the property of the soaps made out of them. Moreover
this knowledge also gives good flexibility to the soap maker in replacing and or substituting oils in the soap oil
blend according to market factors of availability and cost.

Soap is the alkali salt of a fatty acid with a general formula NaOOC(CH2)nCH3. Soap properties exist when
n+2 is greater than 8 and less than 20. The best properties occur when n+2 equal 12 to18. The fatty acids used to
make soap are obtained from fats and oils. The fatty acids have varying chain lengths, which are all straight
chain and contain even number of carbon atoms. There are about 40 different fatty acids occurring in nature, the
largest is the group containing 18 carbon atoms.
Of the different fatty acids the most important with respect to soap manufacture are
Lauric Acid
Myristic Acid
Palmitic Acid
Stearic Acid
Oleic Acid
Linoleic Acid
Linolenic Acid
Ricinoleic Acid

12 Carbon Atoms
14 Carbon Atoms
16 Carbon Atoms
18: 0 Carbon Atoms
18: 1 Carbon Atoms
18: 2 Carbon Atoms
18: 3 Carbon Atoms
18: 1 Carbon Atoms

The last four fatty acids in bold letters are unsaturated fatty acids. Unsaturated fatty acids give softer soap with
lower melting point and are less stable.
Hard fats like, Mutton tallow, Lard and Palm oil contain longer chain saturated fatty acids and soaps made from
these fats are firm, slowly soluble, milder and have a good detergency.
Lauric Oils like Coconut Oils, Palm Kernel Oils, have shorter chain fatty acids which form soap that give faster
tighter more copious lather which are less mild than soap from hard fats.
Soft Oils like Groundnut Oils, Cotton seed Oils, Rice Barn Oils, contains more unsaturated fatty acids. Soaps
made from these oils are softer less white and less stable
Soft Oils are hardened by catalytic hydrogenation and bleached to improve the properties of soap. There is
usually a loss of natural antioxidants found in the oil during the process of bleaching and hydrogenation.
Antioxidants may be necessary to prevent rancidity developing in the oils and in the soaps made out of these
oils. Excess Linoleic Acid and Linolenic Acid in soap oil blend is not advisable as they develop rancidity faster.
In soap making, raw materials are chosen based on the quality parameters required to ensure high quality
products at the required price. The quality parameters include saponification value, acid value, titer value, iodine
value, Lovibond colour, etc. It can be clearly seen that a judicious blend of oils and fats are necessary to obtain
soap with ideal properties. It is also necessary to blend different oils for economic reasons. Blend is so adjusted
to control hardness, plasticity, lather, mush, cracking, mildness and discoloration.
Direct saponification of fats and oils with caustic soda is the original method universally used world wide to
prepare soap. However, this method is used only in less developed countries today for large-scale manufacture.
Nowadays soaps are made by fatty acid neutralisation. Fats and oils are split at high pressure and temperature by
water to give fatty acids and glycerine. Apart from economic advantages obtained from this process the lower

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boiling fractions of fatty acids can be removed for the fats and oils to give truly superior fatty acids for use in
making soap.
Tallow is the most widely used animal fat in soap manufacture. The quality of tallow depends on the type of
treatment carried out. Natural decomposition of tallow begins with the slaughter of the animal. The colour and
content of the fatty acids increase with time to yield poor quality tallow if no treatment is carried out. All care
has to be taken during rendering, handling, and storage of the fat so that degradation is prevented and the fat
remains good for soap manufacture.
Tallow is obtained by putting the animal tissue containing the fat through a process called rendering. Rendering
consists of separating the fat & tissue from water using heat and pressure. Rendering can be carried out by two
methods namely wet and dry. When taste, colour and odour are important parameters then the wet method is
preferred for extracting edible animal fat. Dry method is used for non-edible quality animal fat.
Edible quality fat has a low colour and free fatty acids levels and is generally used to make food products for
human consumption. The consumption of animal fat by humans is reducing largely due to health concerns and
evolving consumer preferences. Soap made out of edible quality tallow (ET) is the best both in terms of
performance and aesthetics. However, they are expensive for soap manufacture, and so their usage limited. Top
white (TW) and Fancy Bleachable (BFT) grades of tallow are used for soap manufacture. Both these grades of
tallow are very similar to edible grade tallow and yield high quality soap but at a lower price.
Fat obtained from hogs and fowls are called as Choice white grease (CWG). They are unstable due to the high
unsaturated fatty acid content and are used for cheaper quality toilet and laundry soaps. For making toilet soaps
tallow used should be as white as possible. The whiter the tallow, the brighter the colour of the soap obtained.
Good quality tallow when used in soap making requires lower amount of opacifiers, and lower optical
brightener levels. The fragrance level requirement is also lower as smaller amounts are required to mask the
base odour. Also fragrance stability in the soap is better if superior quality animal tallow is used.
Toilet soaps usually contains 10 to 30% Lauric Oils (Coconut oil, Palm Kernel Oils, etc.) Coconut oil is the
most important vegetable oil used in soap manufacture. Its main contribution is to improve solubility and foam
properties of the soap manufactured. Coconut oil is usually mixed with other non Lauric oils like animal fat,
fractions of other vegetable oils, marine oils, hydrogenated oils, etc., to make soaps.
We know that tallow is the primary fat raw material used in soap making all over the world. Coconut oil is
added invariable to improve the quality of soap and to obtain soap that has superior foam and performance
characteristics. In regions where tallow is not available locally available fatty substances are used as substitutes.
In topical regions like Malaysia Palm oils and Palm stearin is used as a replacement for tallow, where as in other
regions, it is replaced by vegetable oils obtained from local plant sources that are partially or totally
hydrogenated and some times split and distilled.
India a predominantly Hindu country strongly believes in non-violence against all living beings. In line with this
unique Hindu philosophy, the Indian soap industry does not use animal fat for soap manufacture. However due
to the inherent shortage of edible oils, it has carried out significant research in the production, purification, pretreatment and use of different varieties of locally available non-edible varieties of oils like Rice barn oil, Castor
oil, Neem oil, Mowrah oil, Karanjia Oil, etc., as replacement of animal fat.
We are aware that animal tallow and coconut oil have been the chief raw materials used in the soap
manufacture. Similarity in the fatty acid composition of tallow and palm oil has made it technically possible to
replace one with the other. The same is the case between coconut oil and palm kernel oil. Due to this reason and
also because of their ready availability palm oil, palm kernel oil, palm stearin, and their products are very
popular now with soap manufacturers. The quality of soaps made from palm products is very high and
comparable to that of commercial tallow based soaps. Soaps made out of palm stearin is hard, however by
blending palm stearin with optimal portions of other soft and lauric oils a high quality soap can be produced that
is comparable to tallow.
Generally, freshly produced good quality palm based soap made out of neutral fats or oils has a sharp clean
odour. Soaps made from palm fatty acids have a sharp fatty odour. The odour of the soaps made can increase on
ageing. This incremental change has to be masked by use of a suitable fragrance. The odour of a product as
perceived and interpreted by a consumer is the combined effect produced by the fragrance and the base odour.

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Fragrance used should perform a dual role of masking the inherent odour of the raw material used and impart a
distinct identity to meet any special requirement of the finished products.
A comparative study carried out on the effect of fragrance in distilled palm oil / palm kernel oil and animal
tallow / coconut oil fatty acid soap at varying temperatures and dosage levels has the following conclusions to
offer on intensity, performance and colour effect. It is found that at all levels (0.8 to 1.2%) of fragrance dosages,
the intensity of fragrance was higher in palm based soaps than in animal tallow based soaps, indicating that palm
based soaps retain perfume better. The odour profile at the end of the study was also pleasant and well accepted
by the consumers. Also the degree of Whiteness observed between soaps made out of distilled palm oil / palm
kernel oil and animal tallow / coconut oil fatty acid soap during storage was also comparable.
In todays scenario India is the largest producer of vegetable oil based soaps and Malaysia is the world largest
producer and processor of Palm based fatty derivatives for soap making. Palm Oil and its derivatives like palm
stearin is becoming more and more attractive for soap manufacturers. This is not only because it is cost
competitive and technically suitable but also due to specific consumer preference.
Vegetable oil based soaps are becoming popular and if the current trend continues continues it will not be far
when all soaps made will be from vegetable oil and not animal fat.

FATTY ACID COMPOSITIONS & PROPERTIES OF COMMERCIAL PALM BASED SOAPS

% WEIGHT

PROPERTIES

VALUES

Less than 1.0

Iodine Value
Titer C
% Free caustic Alkali
% Moisture
Penetration value (mm)
% Salt (NaCl)
% Total Fatty Matter
Foamability (ml)
(immediate)
Foamability (ml)
(measured after five
minutes)
Hunter Whiteness (%)

39.0 to 43.8
39.2 to 43.2
Less than 0.1
6.9
19.0 to 32.0
Less than 1.0
83.0 to 86.0
460

18:2

6.5 to 7.5

18:3

- 0.10

20:0
Others

Less than 0.5

295
81.4 to 86.4

MERITS & DEMERITS OF PALM BASED SOAP V/S ANIMAL TALLOW SOAPS
PARAMETERS
Detergency
Solubility
Foaming fair
Hardness
SUITABILITY FOR
White toilet soap
Coloured soap
STABILITY FOR
Colour
Fragrance
Glossiness
Texture

SOAPS MADE FROM PALM

SOAP MADE FROM NON EDIBLE ANIMAL TALLOW

Less suitable
Fair

More suitable
Good

Fair
Fair
Fair
Hard but smooth

Good
Fair
Less
Less smooth

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TYPICAL PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF INDIVIDUAL SOAP

Fats & Oils

Colour of
Resultant
Soap
White to
Pale yellow
White to
Yellow
Buff to
White

Consistency of
Soap
Very hard
Very hard
Fairly hard

Foaming
Qualities

Cleansing
Qualities

Action
on skin

Solubility Number at
55.55C
61.11C
100F
110F

Excellent

Biting

100

125

45

54

20

Excellent

Biting

100

111

47

57

15

Fair

No
action

5.1

15.3

12

Hard and
Crumbling

Fair

Fair

No
action

5.3

16.5

White to
Cream

Fairly hard and

Fair & quick

Very Good

No
action

5.3

16.5

Castor Oil

Straw colour

Hard and Tough

Ground Nut

Buff to
White

Medium Soft

Rosin

Brown

Soft and sticky

Ricebarn

Creamish
Yellow
Greenish
Yellow

Hardness
Ratio

Quick but not

White to
Cream

Mowrah

Abrasion No (g) at
55.55C
61.11C
100F
110F

Quick breakdown
Quick &
medium
lasting
Thin and
greasy

7
6

10

Fair
No
action

Good
Medium

Hard

Fair & Quick

Good

Soft

Thin

Fair

1.25

No
action
No
action
No
action

TYPICAL OIL BLENDS SOAPS MADE IN INDIA VEGETABLE OILS ONLY

40%
40%
20%

Palm Stearin
Castor Oil
Rice Barn Oil
Coconut Oil / Palm Kernel Oil

55%
15%
15%
15%

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Palm Stearin
Rice Barn Oil
Coconut Oil / Palm Kernel Oil

60%
20%
20%

Palm Stearin
Soft Oils
Coconut Oil / Palm Kernel Oil

45%
45%
15%

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