Salmon oil: SAP value and fatty acids
Salmon oil has a saponification value of 184.26 mg KOH/g. One gram needs 0.131 g of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) for bar soap or 0.184 g of potassium hydroxide (KOH) for liquid soap to turn fully into soap, before any superfat.
Key numbers
- SAP, NaOH
- 0.131356 g per g oil
- SAP, KOH
- 0.18426 g per g oil
- Saponification value
- 184.26 mg KOH/g
- INCI name
- Salmon Oil
Example: 100 g of Salmon oil with no superfat needs 13.1 g of 100% NaOH, or 18.4 g of 100% KOH. A 5% superfat uses 5% less.
In soap
Salmon 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.
Fish oil is very high in EPA/DHA, which go rancid fast and can make soap smell fishy. Use only in small amounts. Published sources for this oil differ by more than 3%, so checking your supplier's certificate of analysis matters more than usual.
Sources
SAP value: 184.26 mg KOH/g (Median of sources' mgKoh_mid (no Codex/pharmacopoeia standard found)), from Physicochemical properties of crude marine oils (Table 2: farmed Atlantic salmon, seal, cod liver, wild Pacific salmon oils). Journal of Bioprocessing & Biotechniques 4:168 (2014), OMICS International. Printed value: 185.85 (crude farmed Atlantic salmon oil); 176.19 (crude wild Pacific salmon oil) mg KOH/g.
Published values we checked:
- 180-195 mg KOH/g — Parchem Fine & Specialty Chemicals (distributor)
- 185.85 (crude farmed Atlantic salmon oil); 176.19 (crude wild Pacific salmon oil) mg KOH/g — OMICS International
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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