Illipe butter (Borneo tallow): SAP value and fatty acids
Illipe butter (Borneo tallow) has a saponification value of 190 mg KOH/g. One gram needs 0.135 g of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) for bar soap or 0.190 g of potassium hydroxide (KOH) for liquid soap to turn fully into soap, before any superfat.
Key numbers
- SAP, NaOH
- 0.135448 g per g oil
- SAP, KOH
- 0.19 g per g oil
- Saponification value
- 190 mg KOH/g
- Iodine value
- 31.5
- INS
- 159
- INCI name
- Shorea Stenoptera Seed Butter
Example: 100 g of Illipe butter (Borneo tallow) with no superfat needs 13.5 g of 100% NaOH, or 19.0 g of 100% KOH. A 5% superfat uses 5% less.
In soap
Its main fatty acids in our cited profile are stearic (43.4%) and oleic (31.6%). The eight fatty acids used in soap-quality scores make up 96.3% of the profile.
On its own it scores 64 for hardness, 0 for cleansing and 33 for conditioning, with a saturated : unsaturated split of 64 : 33.
A firm, cocoa-butter-like butter from Shorea stenoptera nuts. Not the same as Indian 'illipe' (mowrah/mahua butter) or sal butter.
Fatty-acid profile
| Fatty acid | % of fatty acids | Counts toward |
|---|---|---|
| lauric | 0.1% | hardness, cleansing, bubbly lather |
| myristic | 0.1% | hardness, cleansing, bubbly lather |
| palmitic | 20% | hardness, creamy lather |
| stearic | 43.4% | hardness, creamy lather |
| ricinoleic | 0% | conditioning, bubbly and creamy lather |
| oleic | 31.6% | conditioning |
| linoleic | 0.8% | conditioning |
| linolenic | 0.3% | conditioning |
Basis: Darmawan et al. 2020 Heliyon Table 3: mean of two Shorea stenoptera (tengkawang) butter samples, Nanga Yen and Sintang, West Kalimantan (GC-FID).
Soap-quality scores (this oil alone)
| Hardness | 64 |
|---|---|
| Cleansing | 0 |
| Conditioning | 33 |
| Bubbly lather | 0 |
| Creamy lather | 63 |
| Iodine | 32 |
| INS | 159 |
Each score adds up certain fatty acids, the way Soap Ledger scores a whole recipe. They are for comparing recipes; they don't predict how a bar will feel, and they say nothing about safety or skin.
Sources
SAP value: 190 mg KOH/g (FSSAI range midpoint), from Physical Properties of Fats and Oils (compiled from Ullmann's, Bailey's, AOCS and AFCEG handbooks), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Fettwissenschaft (DGF). Printed value: 190 - 194 mg KOH/g.
Published values we checked:
- 180 - 200 mg KOH/g — Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)
- 190 - 194 mg KOH/g — Deutsche Gesellschaft für Fettwissenschaft (DGF)
Fatty acids and iodine: Darmawan M.A. et al. (2020) Reduction of the acidity and peroxide numbers of tengkawang butter (Shorea stenoptera) using thermal and acid activated bentonites. Heliyon 6:e05742. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05742, Elsevier (open access, PMC7750560). Also checked: Springer / Korean Society of Food Science and Technology (open access, PMC6859180) (Table 2 (literature-compiled values)); Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) (2.2.1 item 13, Borneo tallow/Illipe butter); Nature Portfolio (open access, PMC13125491) (Table 3, IB column).
NaOH and KOH values are converted from mg KOH/g with the molar masses 39.997 and 56.106 and rounded to 6 decimals, exactly as in the Soap Ledger app. Real oils vary by origin, grade and lot: check your supplier's certificate of analysis. Verify every weight before you make this, and follow lye safety. Not a safety or compliance certification.
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