The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) is using tempeh yeast to extract cooking oil and virgin coconut oil (VCO) from coconut, a researcher from BRIN’s Chemical Research Center Researcher has informed.

The addition of tempeh yeast helps separate oil and water within coconut milk naturally since the protein in coconut milk that helps oil and water to mix is eaten by the yeast, Teuku Beuna Bardant said.

“Once the amount of protein decreases, its function of preserving the oil and water mix stability declines,” he explained in a statement issued on Monday.

“As a result, there is no longer anything that maintains the oil and water molecules, and the two separate by themselves,” he added.

The process of producing the oil is the wet method, which involves producing milk first, he said.

Coconut flesh is grated, processed into milk, and then tempeh yeast is added to the mix, he informed.

Next, the oil is heated to a temperature of 70 degrees Celsius to kill the yeast and its spores contained within the oil, he said.

The process is repeated two to three times, and is usually known as the pasteurization process, he added.

“This oil is better for human health because it has a short and medium chain,” Bardant pointed out.

The shorter chain makes coconut oil and VCO easier to consume. When people consume such oils, the body tends to use them rather than store them under the skin tissue, Bardant explained.

Consuming coconut oil also does not lead to people gaining fat as fast as palm oil, he said.

He further said he expects people to utilize coconut oil for cooking and palm oil for energy fuel.

“People will not be too dependent on palm oil because coconut oil can also be used as cooking oil,” he remarked.

Source: Antara News