Tiger nut oil (Cyperus esculentus) as a novel food: oleic acid 65–69 %, saponification value ≤ 189 mg KOH/g — in EFSA’s data one batch had 197 according to ISO 3657
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1528, published on 31 July 2025, authorises oil cold-pressed from pasteurised tiger nut tubers (applicant Tigernuts traders, S.L.) for the general population — as such and in pasta, bread, crackers, salad dressings, spreadable fats, fine bakery wares and milk-based products. In milk-based products the oil may not replace any milk constituent.
- Specification: palmitic acid 12–15 %, stearic 5–8 %, oleic 65–69 %, linoleic 9–12 %; acidity ≤ 2 %, peroxide value ≤ 20 meq/kg, saponification value ≤ 189 mg KOH/g, p-anisidine value < 1; lead and cadmium each ≤ 0.1 mg/kg; aflatoxins (sum of B1, B2, G1, G2) < 4 µg/kg, aflatoxin B1 < 1 µg/kg, ochratoxin A < 3 µg/kg; aerobic microorganisms ≤ 10³ CFU/g, yeasts and moulds ≤ 10² CFU/g, coliforms ≤ 10 CFU/g, Enterobacteriaceae < 10² CFU/g, Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes not detected in 25 g.
- EFSA data: saponification value (titrimetric, ISO 3657:2013) 183–186 mg KOH/g in four batches and 197 in a fifth — above the specification limit of 189; peroxide value 0.7–9.7 meq O2/kg; free fatty acids 0.42–2.21 % in 10 batches; p-anisidine < 1 in five additional batches; vitamin E 264–276 mg/kg (as α-tocopherol). Fatty acids by GC-FID, sugars by IC-PAD, sodium by ICP-MS (in-house methods).
- Production according to EFSA: tubers grown in Niger are sun-dried to ≤ 11 % water, then in the EU pasteurised, X-ray sorted with metal detection, milled and cold-pressed (yield 17.5 %), then filtered; the oil is not refined or hydrogenated. EFSA considered toxicological studies unnecessary and the consumption not nutritionally disadvantageous.
- Maximum levels: 30 mL/100 g in pasta, bread, crackers and fine bakery wares; 50 mL/100 g in salad dressings; 60 mL/100 g in milk-based products; 80 mL/100 g in fats listed in Annex VII, Appendix II to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013. On the label: “Cyperus esculentus (tiger nut) oil”.