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Saponification number refers to the amount in milligrams of potassium hydroxide (KOH) required to saponify 1 gram of oil. Determination of saponification number is based on the determination of the oil by completely saponification of the oil with a regulated and known amount of potassium hydroxide and titrating the unused KOH in the environment with a regulated acid solution.
Determination of saponification number is done in fixed oils, essential oils, balm, wax and resins. If the amount of saponifying substance in the oil is out of the pharmacopoeia values, it means that the oil is adulterated. For this reason, saponification number determination is an important parameter in terms of determining the purity of oils.
The Turkish Food Codex Communiqué on Oils with Plant Name (Communiqué no: 2012/29) published by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock stated the number of saponification according to the oil types in the annex titled Physical and Chemical Properties of Vegetable Oils (Annex 3).
The saponification number of oils is inversely proportional to the chain lengths of the fatty acids and thus their molecular weight. In other words, oils, which are esters of long chain fatty acids, have lower saponification numbers than short chain ones.
Butter, which is butyric, caproic, caprylic, lauric acid esters, has a high saponification rate (225-250). Vegetable oils have a saponification number of less than 200, except for some oils such as coconut (255) and palm (245) oils.
The approximate molecular weight of an oil with a known saponification number can be calculated.
