Marula oil: SAP value and fatty acids
Marula oil has a saponification value of 192 mg KOH/g. One gram needs 0.137 g of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) for bar soap or 0.192 g of potassium hydroxide (KOH) for liquid soap to turn fully into soap, before any superfat.
Key numbers
- SAP, NaOH
- 0.136873 g per g oil
- SAP, KOH
- 0.192 g per g oil
- Saponification value
- 192 mg KOH/g
- Iodine value
- 73
- INS
- 119
- INCI name
- Sclerocarya Birrea Seed Oil
Example: 100 g of Marula oil with no superfat needs 13.7 g of 100% NaOH, or 19.2 g of 100% KOH. A 5% superfat uses 5% less.
In soap
Its main fatty acids in our cited profile are oleic (73.4%) and palmitic (11.4%). The eight fatty acids used in soap-quality scores make up 98.8% of the profile.
On its own it scores 17 for hardness, 0 for cleansing and 81 for conditioning, with a saturated : unsaturated split of 17 : 81.
Oleic-rich, stable oil. Cosmetic-grade specs (188–200) sit above the one Nigerian lab value (178.6). Published sources for this oil differ by more than 3%, so checking your supplier's certificate of analysis matters more than usual.
Fatty-acid profile
| Fatty acid | % of fatty acids | Counts toward |
|---|---|---|
| lauric | 0% | hardness, cleansing, bubbly lather |
| myristic | 0% | hardness, cleansing, bubbly lather |
| palmitic | 11.4% | hardness, creamy lather |
| stearic | 6% | hardness, creamy lather |
| ricinoleic | 0% | conditioning, bubbly and creamy lather |
| oleic | 73.4% | conditioning |
| linoleic | 7.8% | conditioning |
| linolenic | 0.2% | conditioning |
Basis: Molecules 2024 Table 2 (Zimbabwe kernel oil, GC-MS FAMEs in mg/g), normalised here to % of the 711.1 mg/g total of all 16 quantified FAMEs.
Soap-quality scores (this oil alone)
| Hardness | 17 |
|---|---|
| Cleansing | 0 |
| Conditioning | 81 |
| Bubbly lather | 0 |
| Creamy lather | 17 |
| Iodine | 73 |
| INS | 119 |
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: 192 mg KOH/g (Median of sources' mgKoh_mid), from Review of Sclerocarya birrea seed oil extracted as a bioenergy resource for compression ignition engines (Robinson, Lukman & Bello, Int J Agric & Biol Eng 5(3), 2012), IJABE (peer-reviewed, open access). Printed value: 178.6 mg KOH/g.
Published values we checked:
- Saponification Index 188-196 mg KOH/g mg KOH/g — Aurum Africa (supplier)
- 193 - 200 mg KOH/g — From Nature With Love (soap/cosmetic supplier)
- 178.6 mg KOH/g — IJABE (peer-reviewed, open access)
Fatty acids and iodine: Chemical Profile and Potential Applications of Sclerocarya birrea subsp. caffra Kernel Oil (Molecules 2024; DOI 10.3390/molecules29163815), MDPI (peer-reviewed, open access). Also checked: Aurum Africa (supplier) ('Fatty acid composition' and 'Iodine value' rows); Dove Medical Press (peer-reviewed, open access) (Table 2, 'Marula oil' row (commercial virgin organic oil)).
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.
Last updated .