Coconut Milk
Coconut milk is the oil in water emulsion obtained by extracting the grated white kernel of the mature coconut, Cocos nucifera, with or without added water, and separating the liquid from the residual fibre.
It is not a solution but a suspension of fat globules and protein bodies in an aqueous phase, and that structure explains everything about how it behaves. Fat content ranges from about 5 percent in a dilute drinking milk to 24 percent in a concentrated cooking milk and above 30 percent in cream, and the fat is highly saturated, dominated by lauric acid with myristic and palmitic acid behind it, which gives a fat that is solid below about 24 degrees Celsius. The natural emulsion is stabilised by coconut protein at the globule surface, and it is fragile: heating, freezing, acid and salt all destabilise it, so commercial milk is homogenised and normally carries an added emulsifier and hydrocolloid to prevent the cream layer separating and the water phase dropping out.
Four formats reach the market: canned and retort sterilised milk, aseptically filled ambient product in cartons and bag in box, frozen milk and cream, and spray dried powder on a carrier. Separation into a firm cream cap over a thin serum is normal in unstabilised product and is not itself a defect, but it is the property that most finished product formulations are designed to prevent.
We source bulk Coconut Milk from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturers are in Hainan. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
or call +86-21-6858 0751
- Function
- Beverage ingredient
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Homogeneous white emulsion, free from fibre and shell fragments |
| Colour | White to creamy white |
| Flavour and odour | Characteristic fresh coconut, no rancid, soapy or fermented note |
| Fat content | 17.0 to 19.0 percent, standard cooking grade |
| Total solids | 22.0 percent minimum |
| pH | 5.9 to 6.6 |
| Peroxide value | 2.0 meq oxygen per kg maximum |
| Emulsion stability | No serum separation after 24 hours at 25 degrees Celsius |
| Lead | 0.1 mg/kg maximum |
| Tin, canned product | 200 mg/kg maximum |
| Commercial sterility | Passes incubation test at 37 and 55 degrees Celsius |
| Total plate count | 10 cfu/g maximum |
| Escherichia coli | Negative in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Negative in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
Fat content is the primary grade line and is what the trade means by the names it uses: coconut milk at around 5 to 10 percent fat for drinking, standard cooking milk at 17 to 19 percent, thick or first pressed milk at 20 to 24 percent, and coconut cream above that. Total solids are specified alongside fat. Extraction route divides first extract milk, pressed from the grated kernel without added water and richer in aroma, from second and third extracts made by re-extracting the residue with water and used for dilute grades.
Preservation format gives the second division: retort sterilised cans, aseptic ambient packs, chilled and frozen milk, and spray dried powder with maltodextrin or milk protein as the carrier. Stabiliser systems are a specification point in themselves, with fully stabilised grades carrying an emulsifier and a hydrocolloid, and additive free grades sold to buyers who accept separation and will shake or homogenise the product themselves. Organic certified material and sulphite free material are traded as separate lines, the latter because some producers treat the kernel to prevent discolouration.
Applications
- Southeast Asian curries, laksa and rendang, where the emulsion breaks under heat and releases the fat that fries the spice paste
- Ready to drink coconut milk beverages, homogenised and stabilised to hold suspension over shelf life
- Plant based dairy alternatives, ice cream and yoghurt, using coconut fat as the structuring lipid
- Bakery fillings, custards and Southeast Asian desserts, thickened with starch or egg
- Soups and sauces requiring body and a rich mouthfeel without dairy
- Coffee and tea whiteners, dosed as a dairy free creamer base
- Confectionery and coconut flavoured fillings, contributing both fat and flavour
- Frozen desserts and ice pops, where the saturated fat gives a firm set at freezer temperature
- Spray dried coconut milk powder for dry mixes, instant beverages and seasoning blends
Brands Using Coconut Milk
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Coconut Milk on the ingredient label.
Brand names, product names and logos are the property of their owners. They appear here as published evidence that the ingredient is used, taken from the brand's own label or website. Their appearance is not an endorsement, and it does not mean the brand buys from us or from any manufacturer listed on this site.
China Manufacturers of Coconut Milk
Top Coconut Milk manufacturers in China.
- Hainan Taifengyuan Industry Enterprise Corporation3 ingredients in the directory
- Hainan Zhenge Food Co., Ltd.1 ingredient in the directory
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
Coconut milk is a food rather than a food additive, so it carries no E number and no additive listing. The general hygiene and process control frameworks govern manufacture: Regulation 852/2004 with the general food law in the European Union, and 21 CFR Part 117 in the United States. Because the product is a low acid food packed in a hermetically sealed container, canned and aseptic coconut milk shipped to the United States comes under the low acid canned food requirements of 21 CFR Parts 108 and 113, which require establishment registration, process filing and a scheduled process established by a competent authority. That registration has to be in place before the product can be traded.
The functional ingredients carry their own status. In the European Union, Regulation 1333/2008 authorises the emulsifiers and stabilisers used to hold the emulsion, including polysorbate 60, mono and diglycerides as E471, carboxymethyl cellulose as E466, guar gum as E412 and carrageenan as E407, with purity criteria in Regulation 231/2012, and the United States permits them as well, carrageenan at 21 CFR 172.620 and polysorbate 60 at 21 CFR 172.836. Sulphites, where used to protect kernel colour, must be declared as an allergen in both markets above the relevant threshold and appear in Annex II of Regulation 1169/2011. Coconut is treated as a tree nut for allergen labelling purposes in the United States, which is a point European exporters frequently miss. Codex maintains a standard for aqueous coconut products which sets the compositional tiers for milk and cream used throughout the trade.
Manufacturing Process
Mature nuts are dehusked and deshelled, and the brown testa is pared from the white kernel where a white product is required, since testa fragments discolour the milk. The kernel is washed, then grated or comminuted to a fine wet meal that ruptures the cells holding the oil and protein. The meal is pressed, in a screw press or hydraulic press, and the liquid that comes off without added water is the first extract, the richest fraction. The press cake is remixed with warm water and pressed again to give second and third extracts, and the final cake goes to coconut flour or to feed.
The combined extract is screened and passed through a decanter or clarifier to remove residual fibre and heavy solids, then standardised to the specified fat and total solids by blending extracts and adding water. Emulsifier and stabiliser are dispersed in, the milk is preheated and homogenised in two stages at high pressure to reduce the fat globule size, and it is then heat treated. Canned product is filled and retort sterilised in the container. Aseptic product is sterilised in a tubular or scraped surface heat exchanger at ultra high temperature, cooled and filled cold into presterilised packaging. Powder grades are instead spray dried after a carrier has been added to the standardised milk.
