Quality evaluation of virgin coconut oil processing in Pacific island countries using analytic hierarchy process
-
Jimaima Lako
Abstract
Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) is an integral edible oil whose quality is heavily influenced by production methods. This study assessed the quality and safety of 12 VCO samples from various processors using a novel methodology. Samples underwent comprehensive sensory, chemical, microbial, and contaminant analyses at three separate laboratories. To identify the best VCO, an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was employed. This multi-criteria decision-making model used standards from the Asian and Pacific Coconut Community (APCC) as its benchmark. The evaluation ranked each producer across four categories: sensory attributes, food safety, composition and quality factors, and free fatty acids. The developed AHP framework provides a robust method for selectors, buyers, and consumers to make informed decisions. Furthermore, it allows high-quality producers to leverage this strategy for marketing, while encouraging others to identify areas for product improvement.
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to acknowledge Mr. Tevita Kete of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community of Fiji for the partnership and providing the laboratory data, which made this publication possible.
-
Research ethics: Not applicable.
-
Informed consent: Secretariat of the Pacific Community of Fiji.
-
Author contributions: Jimaima Lako received the experimental results and data through partnership with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community of Fiji, interpreted the results, reviewed, edited and finalized the manuscript. Ronal Chand developed the first draft, finalized the manuscript, analyzed and interpreted the results, and reviewed and edited the manuscript. He is the corresponding author with the journal editor, and organized author contributions. Rishal Singh co-developed the first draft, analyzed and interpreted the results and reviewed the manuscript. Riteshni Maharaj analyzed and interpreted the results and reviewed the manuscript.
-
Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: AI was not used.
-
Conflict of interest: No conflict of interest.
-
Research funding: None declared.
-
Data availability: The authors have the data and its analysis.
References
1. Hamsi, MA, Othman, F, Das, S, Kamisah, Y, Thent, ZC, Qodriyah, HMS, et al.. Effect of consumption of fresh and heated virgin coconut oil on the blood pressure and inflammatory biomarkers: an experimental study in Sprague Dawley rats. Alexandria J Med 2015;51:53–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajme.2014.02.002.Suche in Google Scholar
2. Bawalan, DD, Chapman, KR. Virgin coconut oil. Production manual for micro and village scale processing. FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. Bangkok: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; 2006.Suche in Google Scholar
3. Boemeke, L, Marcadenti, A, Busnello, FM, Gottschall, CBA. Effects of coconut oil on human health. Open J Endocr Metab Dis 2015;5:84–7. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojemd.2015.57011.Suche in Google Scholar
4. Shahid, M, Waqa, G, Pillay, A, Kama, A, Tukana, IN, McKenzie, BL, et al.. Packaged food supply in Fiji: nutrient levels, compliance with sodium targets and adherence to labelling regulations. Public Health Nutr 2021;24:4358–68. https://doi.org/10.1017/s136898002100224x.Suche in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central
5. Suryani, S, Sariani, S, Earnestly, F, Marganof, M, Rahmawati, R, Sevindrajuta, S, et al.. A comparative study of virgin coconut oil, coconut oil and palm oil in terms of their active ingredients. Processes 2020;8:402. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr8040402.Suche in Google Scholar
6. Harvard, TH. Chan school of public health. Coconut Oil; 2021. Available from: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/food-features/coconut-oil/ [Accessed5 Apr 2023].Suche in Google Scholar
7. Megalingam, RK, Sakthiprasad, K, Sreekanth, M, Vivek, GV. A survey on robotic coconut tree climbers–existing methods and techniques. Proceedings of the IOP Conference Series: Mater Sci Eng 2017;225:012201. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899x/225/1/012201.Suche in Google Scholar
8. Dubey, AP, Pattnaik, SM, Banerjee, A, Sarkar, R, Kumar, S. Autonomous control and implementation of coconut tree climbing and harvesting robot. Procedia Comput Sci 2016;85:755–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2016.05.263.Suche in Google Scholar
9. Mendes, B, Dikgale, K, Tartibu, L, Kunene, T. Development of an automated coconut scraping machine. Johannesburg; 2020.Suche in Google Scholar
10. Prasad, A, Sharma, B, Kumar, SA. Strategic creation and placement of landmarks for robot navigation in a partially-known environment. In: 2020 IEEE Asia-Pacific Conference on Computer Science and Data Engineering (CSDE). Suva: IEEE; 2020:1–6 pp.10.1109/CSDE50874.2020.9411583Suche in Google Scholar
11. Kumar, SA, Vanualailai, J, Sharma, B. Lyapunov functions for a planar swarm model with application to nonholonomic planar vehicles. In: 2015 IEEE Conference on Control Applications (CCA). Suva: IEEE; 2015:1919–24 pp.10.1109/CCA.2015.7320890Suche in Google Scholar
12. Kumar, SA, Vanualailai, J, Sharma, B. Lyapunov-based control for a swarm of planar nonholonomic vehicles. Math Comput Sci 2015;9:461–75. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11786-015-0243-z.Suche in Google Scholar
13. Kumar, SA, Vanualailai, J, Prasad, A. Distributed velocity controllers of the individuals of emerging swarm clusters. In: Proceedings of the 2020 IEEE Asia-Pacific Conference on Computer Science and Data Engineering (CSDE). Suva; 2020:1–6 pp.10.1109/CSDE50874.2020.9411585Suche in Google Scholar
14. Kumar, SA, Vanualailai, J, Sharma, B, Chaudhary, A, Kapadia, V. Emergent formations of a Lagrangian swarm of unmanned ground vehicles. In: 2016 14th International Conference on Control, Automation, Robotics and Vision (ICARCV). Suva: IEEE; 2016. 1–6 pp.10.1109/ICARCV.2016.7838807Suche in Google Scholar
15. Sharma, B, Vanualailai, J, Singh, S. Lyapunov-based nonlinear controllers for obstacle avoidance with a planar n-link doubly nonholonomic manipulator. Robot Autonom Syst 2012;60:1484–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.robot.2012.07.014.Suche in Google Scholar
16. Prasad, A, Sharma, B, Vanualailai, J, Kumar, S. Motion control of an articulated mobile manipulator in 3D using the Lyapunov-based control scheme. Int J Control 2022;95:2581–95. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207179.2021.1919927.Suche in Google Scholar
17. Prasad, A, Sharma, B, Vanualailai, J, Kumar, SA. A geometric approach to target convergence and obstacle avoidance of a nonstandard tractor-trailer robot. Int J Robust Nonlinear Control 2020;30:4924–43. https://doi.org/10.1002/rnc.5021.Suche in Google Scholar
18. Chand, R, Valluri, MR, Khan, MG. Digital signature scheme over lattices. In: Proceedings of the 2021 25th International Conference on Circuits, Systems, Communications and Computers (CSCC). Suva: IEEE; 2021:71–8 pp.10.1109/CSCC53858.2021.00021Suche in Google Scholar
19. Dayrit, FM, Buenafe, OEM, Chainani, ET, de Vera, IMS, Dimzon, IKD, Gonzales, EG, et al.. Standards for essential composition and quality factors of commercial virgin coconut oil and its differentiation from RBD coconut oil and copra oil. Philipp J Sci 2007;136:119–29.Suche in Google Scholar
20. Marina, A, Che Man, Y, Nazimah, S, Amin, I. Chemical properties of virgin coconut oil. J Am Oil Chem Soc 2009;86:301–7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-009-1351-1.Suche in Google Scholar
21. Marina, A, Man, YC, Amin, I. Virgin coconut oil: emerging functional food oil. Trends Food Sci Technol 2009;20:481–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2009.06.003.Suche in Google Scholar
22. Nor, NFA, Ya’akob, H, Ngadiran, S, Idris, A, Anuar, NS, Sarmidi, MR. Evolutions in virgin coconut oil: liquid to powder. Jurnal Teknologi 2021;83:119–32. https://doi.org/10.11113/jurnalteknologi.v83.16265.Suche in Google Scholar
23. Bawalan, DD. Processing manual for virgin coconut oil, its products and by-products for Pacific Island Countries and Territories. In: Secretariat of the Pacific community, Noumea; 2011.Suche in Google Scholar
24. Noora, NM, Aziza, AA, Sarmidia, MR, Aziza, R. The effect of virgin coconut oil loaded solid lipid particles (VCO-SLPs) on skin hydration and skin elasticity. J Teknologi (Sci Eng) 2013;62:39–43. https://doi.org/10.11113/jt.v62.1248.Suche in Google Scholar
25. Varma, SR, Sivaprakasam, TO, Arumugam, I, Dilip, N, Raghuraman, M, Pavan, K, et al.. In vitro anti-inflammatory and skin protective properties of virgin coconut oil. J Tradition Complement Med 2019;9:5–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtcme.2017.06.012.Suche in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central
26. Sen, CK, Khanna, S, Rink, C, Roy, S. Tocotrienols: the emerging face of natural vitamin E. Vitam Horm 2007;76:203–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0083-6729(07)76008-9.Suche in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central
27. Salehi, B, Quispe, C, Sharifi-Rad, J, Cruz-Martins, N, Nigam, M, Mishra, AP, et al.. Phytosterols: from preclinical evidence to potential clinical applications. Front Pharmacol 2020;11:599959. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2020.599959.Suche in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central
28. Ma, ZF, Lee, YY. Virgin coconut oil and its cardiovascular health benefits. Nat Prod Commun 2016;11:1934578X1601100829. https://doi.org/10.1177/1934578x1601100829.Suche in Google Scholar
29. Srivastava, Y, Semwal, AD, Sharma, GK. Virgin coconut oil as functional oil. In: Therapeutic, probiotic, and unconventional foods. Mysore: Elsevier; 2018:291–301 pp.10.1016/B978-0-12-814625-5.00015-7Suche in Google Scholar
30. Winarsi, H, Purwanto, A. Virgin coconut oil (VCO) enriched with Zn as immunostimulator for vaginal candidiasis patient. Hayati J Biosci 2008;15:135–9.10.4308/hjb.15.4.135Suche in Google Scholar
31. Singh, P, Khurma, J, Singh, A. Coconut oil based hybrid fuels as alternative fuel for diesel engines. Am J Environ Sci 2010;6:71–7. https://doi.org/10.3844/ajessp.2010.71.77.Suche in Google Scholar
32. Saaty, TL. The analytic hierarchy process: decision making in complex environments. In: Avenhaus, R, Huber, RK, editors. Quantitative assessment in arms control. Boston, MA: Springer; 1984.10.1007/978-1-4613-2805-6_12Suche in Google Scholar
33. Saaty, TL. Fundamentals of the analytic hierarchy process. In: The analytic hierarchy process in natural resource and environmental decision making. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands; 2001:15–35 pp.10.1007/978-94-015-9799-9_2Suche in Google Scholar
34. de Fsm Russo, R, Camanho, R. Criteria in AHP: a systematic review of literature. Procedia Comput Sci 2015;55:1123–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2015.07.081.Suche in Google Scholar
35. Kokoç, M, Ersöz, S. Comparison of AHP-TOPSIS and AHP-VIKOR methods in product selection in terms of inventory management. Int J Eng Res Dev 2019;2:163–72. https://doi.org/10.29137/umagd.391359.Suche in Google Scholar
36. Mir, MA, Ghazvinei, PT, Sulaiman, NMN, Basri, NEA, Saheri, S, Mahmood, NZ, et al.. Application of TOPSIS and VIKOR improved versions in a multi criteria decision analysis to develop an optimized municipal solid waste management model. J Environ Manag 2016;166:109–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2015.09.028.Suche in Google Scholar PubMed
37. Narayan, SS, Kaur, J, Kumar, S. Evaluating food safety in virgin coconut oil production using microbial contamination analysis. Food Saf J 2020;12:143–50.Suche in Google Scholar
38. Kaewmanee, T, Benjakul, S, Visessanguan, W. Chemical and microbial quality of coconut oil processed by different methods. Int J Food Microbiol 2019;85:159–64.Suche in Google Scholar
© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
