Page 34 - HPIC E-Magazine (January-2021)

Special Article

with this unique Hindu philosophy, Table 3
the Indian soap industry does not Merits & demerits of palm based soap v/s animal tallow soaps
use animal fat for soap manufacture. Parameters Palm based (RBD) non-edible animal tallow
However due to the inherent short-
age of edible oils, it has carried out Detergency Good Less
significant research in the produc- Solubility Good Less Soluble
tion, purification, pre-treatment and
use of different varieties of locally Foaming Fair Less
available non-edible varieties of oils Hardness Very hard & crumbling Hard
like rice barn oil, castor oil, neem
oil, mowrah oil, karanjia oil, etc., as Suitability for
replacement of animal fat. • White toilet soap Less suitable More suitable
• Coloured soap Fair Good
The similarity in the fatty acid
composition of tallow and palm oil Stability for
has made it technically possible to • Colour Fair Good
replace one with the other. The same
is the case between coconut oil and • Fragrance Fair Fair
palm kernel oil. Due to this reason Glossiness Fair Less
and also because of their ready avail-
ability palm oil, palm kernel oil, palm Texture Hard but smooth Less smooth
stearin, and their products are very palm stearin with optimal portions of quality palm based soap made out of
popular now with soap manufactur- other soft and lauric oils, a high qua- neutral fats or oils has a sharp clean
ers. The quality of soaps made from lity soap can be produced that is com- odour. Soaps made from palm fatty
palm products is very high and com- parable to that obtained from tallow. acids have a sharp fatty odour. The
parable to that of commercial tallow odour of the soaps made can increase
based soaps. Soaps made out of palm Role of fragrances on ageing. This incremental change
stearin is hard; however by blending Generally, freshly produced good has to be masked by use of a suit-
Table 4
Typical physical properties of individual soap
Fats & oils Colour of soap Consistency of soap Foaming Cleansing Action on skin
qualities Qualities
Coconut oil White to pale Very hard Quick but not Excellent Biting
yellow lasting lather
Palm kernel White to yellow Very hard Quick but not Excellent Biting
lasting lather
Tallow Buff to white Fairly hard Slow but lasting Fair No action
Palm stearin White to cream Hard and crumbling Fair Fair No action
(RBD)
Palm oil (RBD) White to cream Fairly hard and Fair & quick Very good No action
crumbling
Castor oil Straw colour Hard and tough Quick breakdown Fair
Ground nut Buff to white Medium soft Quick & medium Good No action
lasting
Rosin Brown soft and Thin and greasy Medium No action
sticky
Mowrah Creamish yellow Hard Fair & quick Good No action
Rice bran Greenish yellow Soft Thin Fair No action

34 Home, Personal & Institutional Care India January 2021