AsianJournalofScienceandAppliedTechnology

ISSN 2249 - 0698 Vol. 2 No. 1, 2017,pp.8-12

©The Research Publication,www.trp.org.in

Determination of Alkali Content & Total Fatty Matter in

Cleansing Agents
K. J. Betsy, Mary Jilu, Reshma Fathima and Jaya T. Varkey
Department of Chemistry, St. Teresa’s College, Ernakulam - 682 035, Kochi, Kerala, India
Email: jayavarkey@yahoo.com
(Received on 15 January 2017 and accepted on 27 March 2017)

Abstract – Cleaning products play an essential role in our daily

andageofthesoap[5].Suchchemicalcharacteristicsinclude
lives. By safely and effectively removing soil, germs and other
contaminants, they help us to stay healthy, care for our homes moisturecontent,totalfattyacids(TFM),pH,freealkali,and
and possessions, and make our surrounding more pleasant. percent chloride [6].
Soap is a mixture of sodium salt of various naturally occurring
A. General Overall HydrolysisReaction
fatty acids. Total alkali and fatty matter contents are the most
important characteristics describing the quality of soap and Fat + NaOH glycerol + sodium salt of fatty acid
it is always specified in commercial transactions. The main
objective of the study is to determine the total alkali content Soap is an anionic surfactant used in conjunction with
and total fatty matter content of some commonly used toilet water for washing and cleaning. Although the reaction is
and washingsoaps. shown as one step reaction, it is in fact two steps. The net
effect as that the ester bonds are broken. The glycerol turns
Keywords: Soap, Free Alkali Content, Total Fatty Matter,
back into an alcohol. The fatty acid portion is turned in to a
Saponification, Toilet Soap, Washing Soap
salt because of the presence of a basic solution of theNaOH.
I. IntroductIon Inthecarbonylgroup,oneoxygennowhasanegativecharge that
attracts the positive sodium ion[7].
Soap is a sodium or potassium salts of various naturally
occurringfattyacids.Itisproducedbysaponificationorbasic Thefatsandoilsusedinsoapmakingcomefromanimals or
hydrolysisreactionofafatoroil.Sodiumcarbonateorsodium plant sources. Each fat or oil is made up of a distinctive
hydroxide is used to neutralize the fatty acid and convert it mixture of several different triglycerides. In a triglyceride
to the salt [1, 2]. The fatty acids, stearic, palmitic, myristic, molecule, three fatty acid molecules are attached to one
lauric and oleic acids, contribute to lathering and washing molecule of glycerin. There are many types of triglycerides;
properties of the soaps [3, 4]. The chemical characteristics each type consists of its own particular combination of fatty
of soap depend on several factors: the strength and purity of acid. Fatty acids are the components of fats and oils that are
alkali,thekindofoilused,completenessofsaponification used in soapmaking.

Fig.1 Hydrolysis of a Triglyceride (fat)

1 AJSAT Vol.2 No.1 January - June 2013

 Determination of Alkali Content & Total Fatty Matter in Cleansing Agents

B. AlkaliContent properties, plus emollients, preservatives, etc. and then the

The alkali used in soap making was obtained from TFM can be as low as 50% [12]. Fillers, which are usually
ashes of plants, but they are now made commercially. The dry powders, also make the soap harder, harsher on the skin
alkali mainly used is a soluble salt of an alkali metal like and with greater tendency to become ‘mushy’ in water and
sodium or potassium. The alkalis used in soap making are so low TFM matter is usually associated with hardness and
NaOH (sodium hydroxide) and KOH (potassiumhydroxide). lower quality. In older days in Europe and in some countries
Sodium carboxylates are the common toilet soaps. now,soapwithTFM75%minimumwasreferredtoasGrade 1
Potassium carboxylates or potassium soaps are obtained and 65% minimum as Grade 2. The soap with the higher
when saponification of a fat or oil is carried with potassium TFM gives more lather, lasts longer and, more importantly,
hydroxide. Potassium soaps are softer than sodium soaps cleans your skin better and more gently. The least quality
and they are used for special purposes when rapid solution soap (Grade 3) has to have at least 60%TFM.
is desired eg: in making shaving creams or liquid soaps. TFM is a measure of identifying the amount of fatty
The composition of sodium or potassium carboxylates matter present in soap. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)
constituting soap depends on the percentage of fatty acids has categorized bath or toilet soaps as ‘normal’, ‘baby,
bonded to glycerol in the original triglycerides. Solid fats transparent, and antibacterial soaps. The last three are called
give mixture with higher proportion of sodium or potassium specialty soaps targeted to specific users. A toilet soap is a
salts of higher fatty acids (palmitic acid, stearic acid) and cosmetic by law and it must fulfill the requirements of the
give hard soaps [8]. The vegetable oils give mixtures with a relevant Indian standard. BIS categorized toilet soaps in to
greater proportion of unsaturated fatty acids (oleic acid and three grades based on the total fatty matter present in them.
linoleic acid) and give soft soaps [9]. According to Bureau If TFM is above 76%, grade I, which is having good quality.
of Indian Standards (BIS), good quality soaps must have TFM above 60%, belongs to grade II and TFM above 50%
less than 5% of alkali content whereas according to ISO belongs to grade III. According to International Standards
specification, soaps should have only below 2% of alkali (ISO),goodqualitysoapsmusthaveTFMabove76%[9,10].
content[10,11].
In the present study, the total alkali content and totalfatty
C. Total FattyMatter mattercontentofdifferentsoapsamplesweredeterminedand
The total fatty matter (TFM) is one of the mostimportant compared with standard values. These values are important
characteristics describing the quality of soap and it is in determining the quality of a soap and suitability in the
always specified in commercial transactions. It is defined cleansing applications.
as total amount of fatty matter, mostly fatty acids, that can II. exPerImental
be separated from a sample after splitting with mineral acid,
usually HCl. This is the method and idea that we used here A. Materials
to determine the total fatty matter in soaps. Soaps are graded
Soap samples, Chloroform (CHCl3), Sodium Hydroxide
in terms of total fatty matter. TFM is usually associated with
(NaOH), Methyl Orange, Nitric acid (HNO 3) and Sodium
hardnessandlowerqualityofsoaps.Thefattyacidsmost
Carbonate (Na CO
2
) 3were purchased from Spectrum
commonlypresentinsoapsareoleic,stearicandpalmiticand chemicals. 0.5N NaOH and 0.5N HNO3 were prepared using
pure, dry, sodium oleate has TFM 92.8%, while top quality standard procedures. NaOH was standardized using standard
soap noodles now increasingly used for making soaptablets oxalic acid and standardized NaOH was used to prepare
insmallandmediumsizefactories,aretypicallytradedwitha standard HNO
3.
specificationTFM78%min.,moisture14%max.Butbesides
moisture,finishedcommercialsoap,especiallylaundrysoap,
alsocontainsfillersusedtoloweritscostorconferspecial
B. Procedure 1. Determination of Total Alkali Content in the Soap
Samples
K. J. Betsy, Mary Jilu, Reshma Fathima and Jaya T. Varkey

5gm of soap sample is dissolved in 100ml hot water. 2NaOH---------Na2O + H2O

About 40ml of 0.5N HNO3 is added to make it acidic. The
80 gram of NaOH 62 g of Na2O
mixtureisheateduntilfattyacidsarefloatingasalayerabove
thesolution.Itiscooledinicewatertosolidifythefattyacids. The F g of NaOH requires (Y) = (62 x F) / (80) g of Na2O
fatty acids were separated and the aqueous solution was Weight of soap taken = 5 g
treated with 50ml chloroform to remove the remaining fatty
% of alkalinity = (Y x 100) /w= .
acids.Theaqueoussolutionwasmeasuredand10mlofitwas
titrated against 0.5N NaOH using methyl orange asindicator
2. Determination of the Total Fatty Matter in Soaps
andfromthetitervaluethetotalalkalicontentwascalculated
using the following method [13]. Procedure

Calculation: 5gm of soap sample is dissolved in 100ml hot water.

About40mlof0.5NHNO3 isaddedtomakeitacidic.The
Total volume of the aqueoussolution=V= ml
mixtureisheateduntilfattyacidsarefloatingasalayerabove
10 ml of aqueous solution required t ml ofNaOH thesolution.Itiscooledinicewatertosolidifythefattyacids. The
fatty acids were separated and the aqueous solution was
V ml of aqueous solution requires = Vxt /10 = A ml.
treated with 50ml chloroform to remove the remaining fatty
Amount of NaOH required by acid in aqueous solution =A acids.Theseparatedfattymatterwasmixedtogether,solvent was
ml evaporated and the yield is noted. The total fatty matter can
Volume of HNO3 required, B ml =A x Normality of NaOH / be calculated using the following method [14].
Normality of HNO3
Calculation
VolumeofHNO3requiredforneutralizingNaOH=C=40–B Weight of the china dish (x)=
AmountofNaOHin1000ccofsoapsolution(E)=(Cx40x Weightofchinadish+Soapafterdrying(y)=
Normality of HNO3 g)/1000
Weight of soap sample = 5 g
250 cc of soap solution contains (F) = (E x 250) / 1000 g
% of fatty mater = (y – x) x 100 =
Weight of
soapsample

III. results

Table I ToTal alkalI ConTenT In The soap samples

Standard NaOH x soap sample (methyl orange indicator)

 Table II ToTal faTTy maTTer ConTenT on soap samples

Fig.1Graphical representation of total alkali content in soaps

Fig.2 Graphical representation of total fatty matter in soap

IV. conclusIon alkali content are having good quality. The low total fatty
matter is associated with hardness and lower quality of soap
Itcanbesummarizedthatthestudyindentedtodetermine and it is the most important characteristics describing the
thetotalalkalicontentandtotalfattymatterofsoaps,revealed quality of soap. The bathing samples which we have studied
that, the soaps which have high total fatty matter and low
are all in the standard range of TFM values. Washing soaps references
are in the low TFM range is up to the standardlevels.
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[10] Bureau of Indian standards, DOC: CHD 20 (1861) C, May2011.

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[12] J. David Anneken, Sabine Both, Ralf Christoph, Georg Fieg,

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[14] https://www.classle.net/book/estimation-total-fatty-matter-content-
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