The composition of coffee oil and its component fatty acids

Summary A specimen of coffee oil has been examined with the objective of determining its composition in the light of possible uses of the oil which is recoverable as a byproduct in the soluble coffee industry. The oil, as obtained by extraction of the coffee grounds with solvent, contains over 5% of unique unsaponifiable material which, without preliminary removal, makes the oil unsuitable for many purposes. It has been shown that the unsaponifiable and glyceridic components can be separated by molecular distillation. A specimen of the methyl esters of the fatty acids of the oil was examined by the ester distillation fractional crystallization techniques. The composition of the component fatty acids has been calculated. The oil contains 46% of linoleic acid. Saturated and unsaturated acids of the C20, C22, and C24 series are present in coffee oil in small amounts.