Olive Oil

About This Product

Olive oil is obtained from the fruit of Olea europaea, and is traded as extra virgin, virgin, refined and pomace grades depending on extraction and processing. It carries CAS number 8001-25-0 and the INCI name Olea Europaea Fruit Oil. Refined and pomace grades are the ones normally specified for soap and cosmetic manufacture, where the colour and flavour of virgin oil bring no benefit and add cost. Oleic acid dominates the fatty acid profile at typically 55 to 83 percent, and that single fact governs its behaviour in a formulation. A monounsaturated C18 chain produces a soap that is very mild and conditioning but slow to trace, soft in the mould and low-lathering, giving the dense, creamy lather characteristic of castile soap. Soap makers therefore blend olive with a lauric oil such as coconut or palm kernel to restore lather and hardness. As a cosmetic emollient the same high oleic content gives a rich, cushioned, slow-absorbing film and good oxidative stability, since one double bond per chain oxidises far more slowly than the two or three carried by polyunsaturated oils. Pomace grade, solvent-extracted from the residue, is the usual economy option for soap. It is used in castile and cold-process soap, creams and lotions, massage and bath oils, hair care and pharmaceutical bases. Bio Green Wax supplies refined and pomace olive oil to specification on free fatty acid, peroxide value, colour, odour and grade.