TOFA is a by-product of kraft pulping, while vegetable fatty acids come from oils that share a raw material pool with the food chain. TOFA is not made from a crop grown as food, and at min 150 iodine value it is far more unsaturated than palm kernel oil at max 19.
Not a food crop, a pulping side-stream
The most basic difference between the two feedstock classes is not chemical but structural. Tall oil fatty acids are obtained by distilling the tall oil released during kraft (sulphate) pulping of pine and similar softwoods. The raw material does not exist in order to produce oil; it comes out of a paper and pulp process that is already running.
Vegetable fatty acids are split from crops grown for exactly that purpose. Palm kernel oil (RBD) in our range is the clearest example: the product data lists commercial baking, confectionery and cocoa butter substitute (CBS) as its primary uses, and then notes that it is a base raw material for soap, surfactant, fatty acid, fatty alcohol and glycerine production in the oleochemical industry. The same stream feeds both the plate and the reactor.
OLEOKİMYASALLARPalm Kernel Oil (RBD)The classic raw material shared by the food and oleochemical chains: free fatty acid max 0.1%, moisture max 0.1%, iodine value max 19, Lovibond colour max 1.5 R.What changes on the deforestation regulation side
The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) requires proof that certain commodities (soy, cattle, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, rubber, wood) were sourced without causing deforestation. Palm oil is directly on that list. Tall oil is not a primary forest commodity in scope but a by-product of kraft pulping, so the product is positioned as a chemical derived from an existing industrial stream rather than as an output of the forest. In our range the clearest application of that logic is the bio-based process oil made from tall oil derivatives and positioned outside EUDR scope.
The practical consequence for compliance teams is this: a raw material tied to the food and forest commodity chains requires origin evidence and due-diligence documentation across the supply chain. A raw material that comes from a pulping side-stream does not carry that burden in the same way. In a purchasing decision that is as concrete a criterion as price.
Unsaturation and drying behaviour
On the technical side the separation is made by iodine value. TOFA grades are sold at min 150 iodine value (ASTM D5768). Palm kernel oil (RBD) has an iodine value of max 19 (Wijs, AOCS Cd 1d-92), meaning it is a largely saturated, lauric-rich oil. Oleic Acid 75%, a vegetable- and animal-sourced fatty acid cut, sits between the two at min 90.0.
That ranking explains directly which raw material does which job. Oxidative drying and dimerization run on double bonds, which is why alkyd resin, oil-modified polymer and dimer acid production appear on the primary application lists for TOFA. Saturated, lauric palm kernel oil is valuable in non-drying systems: the soap, fatty alcohol and surfactant chain. In most cases the two are not competitors but inputs to different jobs.
TOFA vs vegetable and palm-derived feedstock
What the palm kernel oil specification gives away
The palm kernel oil (RBD) specification carries separate ppm limits for arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium, antimony and tin (max 0.1, 0.1, 0.05, 1.0, 1.0 and 40.0 ppm respectively). TOFA grade specifications carry no such row. That is not an accident: heavy metal limits exist because the product may enter the food chain. The specification sheet reveals which world the raw material belongs to.
Supply volatility: harvest or pulp output?
We do not forecast price or availability, but it is possible to name which variable each line depends on. Vegetable fatty acid supply depends on harvest performance, food and feed demand, climate conditions in the growing regions and commodity regulation. Tall oil supply depends on pulp production volume; as long as paper and pulp mills run, the side-stream is generated.
Those two variables are independent of each other. Locking a formulation to the vegetable fatty acid line alone means importing the volatility of the food commodity cycle straight into the production plan. Keeping the alternative line qualified on specification is the cheapest insurance against that volatility.
BİO BAZLI ÜRÜNLERTall Oil Fatty Acids 185 (TOFA)The non-food, by-product-derived fatty acid line: acid value min 185, iodine value min 150, rosin acid max 2%.When a vegetable fatty acid is the right choice
- For the soap, fatty alcohol and glycerine chain that needs a saturated, lauric structure: palm kernel oil (RBD).
- Where a measured colour limit and a narrow chain distribution are required: Oleic Acid 75% (C18:1 min 75%, Lovibond max 10.0Y / 1.0R).
- Where the application is food-contact or adjacent to the food chain and heavy metal limits are required: food-grade vegetable feedstock.
- Where drying, esterification and dimerization performance come first, or where a non-food feedstock is itself a compliance criterion: TOFA.
Validate with a sample
Moving from a vegetable fatty acid line to TOFA requires the difference in iodine value and colour behaviour to be accounted for in the recipe. KORKİMYA recommends validating that move up front with a sample and the per-lot certificate of analysis (CoA); you can open a sample and quote request from the product pages.
Safe handling
Why is TOFA considered a non-food feedstock?
TOFA originates from tall oil released during kraft pulping; it is not produced from a crop grown as food. Palm kernel oil, by contrast, lists commercial baking, confectionery and cocoa butter substitute among its primary applications.
What is the EUDR difference between tall oil and palm oil?
Palm oil is among the commodities EUDR covers directly. Tall oil is not a primary forest commodity in scope but a by-product of kraft pulping. Scope interpretation still depends on the product, the supply chain and current legislation.
Is TOFA more unsaturated than vegetable fatty acids?
Yes. TOFA grades are sold at min 150 iodine value; Oleic Acid 75% is min 90.0 and palm kernel oil (RBD) is max 19. That ranking is the source of the difference in oxidative drying and dimerization performance.
Why does the palm kernel oil specification carry heavy metal limits?
Because the product is a raw material that enters the food chain, separate limits are defined for arsenic (max 0.1 ppm), lead (max 0.1 ppm), mercury (max 0.05 ppm), cadmium (max 1.0 ppm), antimony (max 1.0 ppm) and tin (max 40.0 ppm). TOFA specifications carry no such rows.
Can I replace my vegetable fatty acid line entirely with TOFA?
It depends on the application. In drying systems and esterification-based production TOFA is a strong candidate; in the soap, fatty alcohol and glycerine chain that needs a saturated lauric structure, vegetable feedstock keeps its place. Most producers keep both lines qualified to split supply risk.