This is an article which appeared in one of our local newspaper dailies on the question why coconut oil gets thick in winter, and wish to share them here,
Oils are liquid fats. Fats are esters of carboxylic acids which are either saturated (do not contain double bond) or unsaturated (contain one or two double bond). These esters are derived from a single alcohol called glycerol and are called glycerides. Usually fats with greater percentage of unsaturation tend to be in liquid state and fats with greater percentage of saturation tend to be in solid state at room temperature.
Vegetable fats are all liquid fats since they belong to esters of long chain fatty acids with one or more double bonds while most of the animal fats are solid in nature since they are all esters of long chain fatty acids which do not contain double bond. Coconut oil unlike other vegetable oils contains nearly 91 per cent of saturated fatty acids Even though it has greater percentage of saturation it remains as liquid fat instead of solid fat.
Its liquid nature is due to the presence of more number of short chain (C12 and C14) saturated fatty acids (only fats with long chain saturated fatty acids remain as solid fats). Because of the greater percentage of saturation coconut oil can easily be solidified at low temperature and becomes solid during winter when the temperature falls below 20 degree centigrade.
Oils which contain unsaturated fatty acids can also be solidified if their double bonds are broken by hydrogenation at very high temperature. Vegetable ghee and vanaspathi are made in this way. This process is called hardening. In the case of coconut oil this hardening occurs not because of hydrogenation but because of low temperature.
Coconut oil has got some natural tendency to freeze at a low temp. So if it freezes in winter season, it confirms it purity. Coconut oil has the freezing point of 25.1 deg. C
yes
Yes
Oils liquefy or solidify at different temperatures. Sunflower oil is lighter than coconut oil so it remains a liquid at a lower themperature in winter.
YES
YES
The freezing point of coconut oil is 25 degrees C, which is about 77 degrees F. which is a nice summer day where I live! Consequently the temperature frequently drops low enough to freeze it. Mustard oil doesn't freeze until minus 80 degrees C, which is minus 112 degrees F. That's colder than the lowest recorded temperature for anywhere permanently inhabited, so it stays liquid in winter. This may be related to the fact that there are more unsaturated compounds in the mustard oil compared to the coconut oil.
just add 10% Olive or Palm oil to it .
coconut oil has added things like coconut flakes
If the temperature gets lower than 76 degrees Fahrenheit, yes.
No it will not disolve in coconut oil.
coconut oil
It is unrefined, unfiltered and without any additives. Sometimes, it is called "pure coconut oil" to mark its difference from the refined, bleached, deodorized coconut oil, commonly called " refined coconut oil". Virgin coconut oil, organic coconut oil, and the organic virgin coconut oil can be unrefined
No you do not need to refrigerate coconut oil. If you put coconut oil in the fridge it will become very hard.