Table of Contents
- What are the Industrial Use of Capric Acid?
- What is the Importance of Capric Acid?
- What is the difference between caprylic acid and capric acid?
One of the numerous healthy fatty acids obtained from coconut oil is capric acid. The size of the world market for capric acid, estimated at USD 223.92 million in 2022, is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 5.29 percent from now until 2028, when it is anticipated to reach USD 305.14 million.
The market for capric acid currently outpaces the demand for caprylic acid (read more: caprylic acid) by a wide margin.
Capric acid or C10 is a saturated fatty acid that has several other names which are decylic acid and decanoic acid. This fatty acid has a sweaty smell that is unpleasant and close to a goat’s smell. Because of that, the name is connected with that smelly animal as ‘caper’ or ‘capra’ means goat in the Latin language.
Capric acid is naturally contained in plant-based oil such as coconut oil and palm kernel oil. However, coconut oil contains more of this fatty acid, which is about 10% compared to the 4% that palm kernel oil contains. Furthermore, capric acid can also be found in some mammals’ milk or fats.
In this article, you will learn more about C10 from the industrial uses of capric acid as well as the benefits of it, especially the one contained in coconut oil.
What are the Industrial Use of Capric Acid?
Nowadays, many industries are demanding coconut oil for their industrial purposes. One of the reasons for that high demand is the capric acid contained in coconut oil. Capric acid can have several roles in many industries, one of which is in esters production as a chemical intermediate.
Those esters produced with the help of capric acid application will be used again for other industrial processes. Some of the common ones are for the production of perfumes, greases, lubricants, dyes, plastics, food additives, pharmaceuticals, and rubbers.
Moreover, capric acid can also be used as a sanitizer with its natural antimicrobial properties. That ability is great for industrial cleaners such as equipment used for food-making processes including those in wineries, breweries, and meat processing plants.
The demand for capric acid in the global market has been growing in recent years. That growth can not be separated from the pharmaceutical industry which utilizes the fatty acid and has become one of the growth’s most important factors.
Since the healthcare industry is at its peak with some recent events and lifestyle changes for people, capric acid has become a precious material. People demand more pharmaceuticals and medicines, which means they also need more capric acid.
In addition, other available medium-chain fatty acids containing similar properties to capric acid like caprylic acid, lauric acid, and caproic acid could potentially affect the capric acid’s global market. Still, those other acids have their own places, so the impact on the global market of capric acid is low.
Out of all regions around the world, some in Asia are anticipated to prevail in the global market of capric acid. Two of those regions are East Asia and South Asia which are the world’s leading regions of the fatty acid production and consumption respectively.
What is the Importance of Capric Acid?
Just like other acids derived from coconut oil, capric acid is an important one as it gives many benefits when consumed. The acid is great for the human body to stay healthy and pretty. To give you an idea of how important it is, here are the benefits of capric acid:
Antiviral and Antimicrobial
Thanks to its strong antimicrobial and antiviral properties, capric acid can help the human body to fight viruses, microbes, bacteria, and even the yeast Candida albicans. The acid is able to do the task as inside the human body, it is transformed into monocaprin, which is also suitable for denture disinfectant.
Energy Resource
Fat is a source of energy for humans. However, some fatty acids are not healthy if it is consumed too often. Those fatty acids are saturated fats categorized as long-chain triglycerides or LCT. LCTs are not that healthy for the human body as they need a long time with the digestive process.
The good news is that capric acid is categorized as medium-chain triglycerides. It means that this fatty acid can be processed easily in the liver since it can be quickly deteriorated. As the result, capric acid is great to be used as an energy resource. It perhaps also performs better than long-chain fatty acids.
Weight Loss
As it can replace the role of not-so-healthy LCTs in the human body, an MCT like capric acid will give the same advantages without causing the body to gain weight. Because of that, this fatty acid can help lose some weight when added to the diet. Still, as it is just a supplement, use it with the approval of your doctor.
Acne Removal
Capric acid contains antiviral and antimicrobial properties as mentioned previously. Besides that, there are also some similarly important ones, which are inflammatory properties. Those properties are incredible for acne treatment and removal which has proven to be effective.
What is the difference between caprylic acid and capric acid?
In general, capric acid and caprylic acid are similar as both are fatty acids from coconut oil with similar properties. Still, there are some differences in some factors of both acids. Capric acid can be found in saturated fats as a medium-chain fatty acid. On the other hand, a fatty acid of caprylic acid is found in breast milk and coconut naturally.
Saturated fats from the milk of certain mammals like cows and goats contain a little amount of capric acid. But, in tropical oils like palm kernel oil and coconut oil, the amount is plenty. For caprylic acid, it is not only contained in coconut oil since palm oil and butter also contain the fatty acid.
With many capric acid industrial uses as well as many of the fatty acid’s benefits, coconut oil has become more and more valuable. Although the fatty acid can be produced with other raw materials, no one can replace coconut oil as the top source of the industrially important capric acid.