Step-by-Step Process of Coconut Oil Production in Ghana (West Africa).
Step-by-Step Process of Coconut Oil Production in Ghana (West Africa).
Coconut oil, one of the finest natural oils consumed by many.
Steps used in extracting coconut oil
- Matured, harvested dry coconut is dehusked.
- The dehusked coconut is then cracked open by breaking the shell.
- Coconut kernel or copra is scooped out of the shell. Copra is the white pith or the endosperm of the coconut, from which the coconut oil is then extracted.
- The free copra is rubbed on a grater to give fine flakes or is milled in a corn mill.
- Water is added to flaked or milled copra to form a slurry.
- The slurry is put in a piece of white cotton cloth.
- The juice is then squeezed out of a white cotton cloth, and the squeezed mixture is collected into a container.
- The squeezed liquid is allowed to stand in the sun until a layer of oil foam collects at the top.
- The oil foam is then skimmed off into another container and boiled until the coconut oil collects at the top.
- The oil is then scooped out into suitable containers.
By-products of the extraction of coconut oil
- Sludge, which remains at the bottom oil, is used to make animal feed.
- Husk is used;
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- for firing and heating.
- for making brushes and doormats
- for making mosquito coils and repellents.
- The hard shell is used as fuel for firing and heating.
- Fibre is used as fuel for firing and also used to produce doormats.
How technology has improved the extraction of coconut oil.
- Hand-operated / machine-operated grater which increases the rate of production.
- Coconut mills produce finer-grade dough, which gives a high oil yield.
- The screw press is used to squeeze copra juice and exerts higher pressure to give a higher yield of the juice.
