MCT oil is made by extracting medium-chain fatty acids from coconut oil or palm kernel oil, then recombining them into a concentrated, purified oil. The process involves hydrolysis (splitting the oil into individual fatty acids), distillation or fractionation (isolating the specific fatty acids wanted), and esterification (reassembling those fatty acids into a new triglyceride). The result is an oil that contains almost entirely caprylic acid (C8) and capric acid (C10), two fatty acids that make up only about 15% of natural coconut oil but 100% of a finished MCT oil.
Where the Raw Materials Come From
Nearly all commercial MCT oil starts as coconut oil or palm kernel oil, both of which are naturally rich in medium-chain fatty acids compared to other plant oils. Coconut oil contains roughly 8% caprylic acid (C8) and 7% capric acid (C10), the two fatty acids that end up in the final product. The rest of coconut oil is dominated by lauric acid (49%), a 12-carbon fatty acid that some manufacturers exclude from MCT oil because it behaves more like a long-chain fat during digestion. Palm kernel oil has a similar fatty acid profile and serves as an alternative or supplementary source.
Because the desired fatty acids represent such a small fraction of the starting oil, MCT production is fundamentally a concentration process. You’re taking a broad-spectrum natural fat and narrowing it down to just two components.
Step 1: Hydrolysis
The first manufacturing step splits the raw oil into its individual parts. Natural coconut or palm kernel oil is a triglyceride, meaning three fatty acid chains are attached to a glycerol backbone. Hydrolysis breaks those bonds using steam, pressure, or enzymes, releasing the individual fatty acids and freeing the glycerol. This gives manufacturers a mixture of loose fatty acids of varying chain lengths, which can then be separated.
Step 2: Separating the Medium-Chain Fatty Acids
Once the oil has been split into individual fatty acids, the next job is isolating C8 and C10 from everything else. The most common industrial method is fractional distillation: heating the fatty acid mixture under vacuum so that different fatty acids evaporate at different temperatures based on their molecular weight. Shorter-chain fatty acids (like C8 and C10) vaporize at lower temperatures than longer-chain ones (like C12 and C16), so they can be collected separately as they rise through the distillation column.
A newer alternative is solvent-free crystallization, which uses precise temperature control instead of heat. In this approach, the oil is cooled slowly, sometimes to around 15°C for coconut oil, at carefully controlled rates (as low as 0.10°C per minute). Longer-chain fats crystallize and solidify first because they have higher melting points, while the medium-chain fraction stays liquid and can be drained off. Continuous stirring during the crystallization phase improves the separation, and running the process in two stages can boost MCT content by roughly 16% beyond what a single pass achieves.
Distillation remains the dominant commercial method because it produces a higher-purity product in fewer steps, but crystallization is gaining interest as a gentler, lower-energy option.
Step 3: Esterification
At this point, the manufacturer has isolated C8 and C10 fatty acids, but they’re not yet an “oil” in the traditional sense. They’re free fatty acids, which are harsh, acidic, and not shelf-stable. To create a proper triglyceride oil, those fatty acids need to be reattached to a glycerol backbone.
This recombination is called esterification. The isolated C8 and C10 fatty acids are mixed with glycerol (the same backbone molecule released during hydrolysis) and a catalyst drives the reaction. Traditional manufacturing uses chemical catalysts under heat. The reaction produces water as a byproduct, and removing that water is critical because it slows the reaction down. Manufacturers pull it off using vacuum pressure or by adding absorbent materials like molecular sieves or silica gel.
A growing number of producers use enzyme-based catalysis instead of chemical catalysts. Specific lipase enzymes can drive the same esterification reaction under milder conditions. Recent research has developed systems where the lipase enzyme acts as both the catalyst and a stabilizing agent, achieving high conversion rates in as little as 30 minutes, roughly 26% more efficient than older water-free enzymatic methods. Enzymatic production runs at lower temperatures, which helps preserve the quality of the fatty acids and avoids some of the harsh conditions of chemical processing.
The end result of esterification is a “structured” triglyceride: three medium-chain fatty acids bonded to glycerol, creating a stable oil made entirely of MCTs.
Step 4: Refining and Deodorizing
The raw MCT oil coming out of esterification still contains trace impurities, residual color pigments, and odor compounds. The final stage cleans it up through a standard oil-refining sequence.
Bleaching removes color by passing the oil through absorbent clays that trap pigment molecules. Deodorization, the most important finishing step, is essentially a steam-stripping process. Hot oil (typically between 160°C and 260°C) is held under very low pressure (1.5 to 5 millibar, close to a vacuum) while steam is bubbled through it. Volatile compounds responsible for off-flavors and odors evaporate into the steam and get carried away. The process also destroys heat-sensitive color compounds, a secondary bleaching effect. Depending on the setup, deodorization takes anywhere from 5 minutes in a high-efficiency packed-column system to several hours in a batch process.
After cooling, the finished oil is filtered one last time and bottled. The result is a clear, nearly tasteless, odorless liquid.
What’s Actually in the Finished Product
Commercial MCT oils contain two predominant fatty acids in varying ratios: caprylic acid (C8) and capric acid (C10), with only trace amounts of anything else. The exact ratio depends on the manufacturer. Some products favor a higher C8 concentration (often marketed as “C8 MCT oil” or “brain octane”), since C8 converts to ketones faster. Others use a blend closer to 30:70 or 60:40 C8 to C10. A small number of MCT products include some lauric acid (C12), but most high-purity oils exclude it.
Compared to the starting coconut oil, which is about 15% C8 and C10 combined, a finished MCT oil concentrates those fatty acids to nearly 100%. That’s why MCT oil and coconut oil behave so differently in the body despite coming from the same source.
Coconut-Derived vs. Palm-Derived MCT Oil
From a chemistry standpoint, caprylic acid is caprylic acid regardless of whether it came from a coconut or a palm kernel. The finished MCT oil is chemically identical either way. The difference is environmental and ethical. Palm oil production is linked to deforestation, and buyers concerned about sourcing often look for “100% coconut-derived” on the label or for RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) certification, which sets standards for sustainable palm farming. Many MCT oil brands now specify their source oil on the label for this reason.