Meadowfoam seed oil: SAP value and fatty acids
Meadowfoam seed oil has a saponification value of 167.5 mg KOH/g. One gram needs 0.119 g of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) for bar soap or 0.168 g of potassium hydroxide (KOH) for liquid soap to turn fully into soap, before any superfat.
Key numbers
- SAP, NaOH
- 0.119408 g per g oil
- SAP, KOH
- 0.1675 g per g oil
- Saponification value
- 167.5 mg KOH/g
- INCI name
- Limnanthes Alba Seed Oil
Example: 100 g of Meadowfoam seed oil with no superfat needs 11.9 g of 100% NaOH, or 16.8 g of 100% KOH. A 5% superfat uses 5% less.
In soap
Meadowfoam seed oil is left out of the soap-quality scores in Soap Ledger: it is mostly not ordinary oil (a wax, resin, blend or an oil with unusual fatty acids), so those scores would not describe it. It still counts fully in the lye calculation.
Made of unusually long (C20–C22) fatty acids, so it needs less lye than most oils.
Sources
SAP value: 167.5 mg KOH/g (JSQI 2021 range midpoint), from Japanese Standards of Quasi-drug Ingredients 2021 (医薬部外品原料規格2021), PSEHB notification 0325-1 of 25 March 2021, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Japan). Printed value: 160～175 mg KOH/g.
Published values we checked:
- 160～175 mg KOH/g — Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Japan)
- 160 - 175 mg KOH/g — From Nature With Love (soap/cosmetic supplier)
- 169 mg KOH/g — The Soapery (UK soap supplier)
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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