How can what is normally an oil (or liquid) be a powder?!?!

[Saltynuts]

Curious. I was thinking of trying some saw palmetto extract in some soap. Every "normal" place you see it (Amazon, for example), its always a liquid form. Which makes sense, as its an oil. But if you go to Alibaba.com and search for it, a bunch of powders come up! How can that even work? If something is an oil at room temperature, how could it be "converted" to a powder? It makes no sense to me. Its not like something suspended in water, and you let the water dry and you are left with a powder of what was suspended in the water. The thing ITSELF is an oil. Having what is an oil in powder form just makes no sense to me.

Probably related, but I remember awhile back I was looking at different free form fatty acids (not oils, but the free form fatty acids themselves). I noticed some, like linolenic acid, is supposed to be a liquid. But then I see it being sold in powder form as well.

How can this be? Is anyone selling these powders just scamming?

I appreciate it!

 

[akseattle]

@Saltynuts, it looks saw palmetto is made from the fruit of the Serenoa repens tree. According to the article at the link below, the berries are eaten whole or dried and used to make tea. Dried and ground saw palmetto can also be purchased in capsule or tablet form. But, the most common form on the market is oily extracts of the fatty portions of the dried berries . So, looks like it's not a scam just because it's sold in powder form. There are other reasons to watch out for scams on alibaba- but just being saw palmetto in powdered form isn't necessarily a scam.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/saw-palmetto

 

[AliOop]

Saw palmetto extract is frequently found in powdered form in supplements that support prostate health, among other things. That's the only form I've ever seen or known about before your post. My guess is that it's made from a different part of the plant (leaves, roots) than the oily substance that you are describing, OR the ones who sell it in oil form infused a carrier oil with the powder.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Milk powder, aloe (concentrate) powder...

 

[justsomeguy]

Peanut butter powder.
Honey powder.

 

[MelissaG]

Freeze dry and pound into powder.

 

[justsomeguy]

Freeze dry and pound into powder.

Even though I knew there was chemistry involved, my mind just settled on "magic"

 

[Saltynuts]

Thanks everyone. Seems to me that the answer is simply that "saw palmetto extract" is a generic term that can be in either a solid or liquid form.

Let's shift gears for a sec. Forget about saw palmetto. Let's start with an oil. Any real oil. Say olive oil. Say its 100% pure. I don't think you can "freeze dry" that. Freeze dying is evaporating all the water in something, leaving everything else behind. I think there is no water in oil. Its just 100% oil (assuming its pure). The only way to make that oil into a powder (besides possibly freezing it, although I doubt any oil will freeze into anything hard that could be ground into a powder) would be to add something to it (so its no longer the 100% pure oil you started with). In other words, something that is 100% an oil at room temperature cannot also be a solid (powder) at room temperature.

Is that wrong?

Thanks!

 

[Ekuzo]

Thanks everyone. Seems to me that the answer is simply that "saw palmetto extract" is a generic term that can be in either a solid or liquid form.

Let's shift gears for a sec. Forget about saw palmetto. Let's start with an oil. Any real oil. Say olive oil. Say its 100% pure. I don't think you can "freeze dry" that. Freeze dying is evaporating all the water in something, leaving everything else behind. I think there is no water in oil. Its just 100% oil (assuming its pure). The only way to make that oil into a powder (besides possibly freezing it, although I doubt any oil will freeze into anything hard that could be ground into a powder) would be to add something to it (so its no longer the 100% pure oil you started with). In other words, something that is 100% an oil at room temperature cannot also be a solid (powder) at room temperature.

Is that wrong?

Thanks!

I think you have a fair point - for other stuff it may work, but for oils it shouldn't. What if the oil was fully hydrogenated and that way made into solid form, and then ground into powder, can they do that? I know for some oils they can. That's the explanation I came up with, but that way you end up with a different product again - I guess that's the price to pay for doing that

Peanut butter powder.
Honey powder.

Baby powder. Just don't make me explain how they make it, it'll turn ugly

 

[Saltynuts]

Yea, I found one I was talking about. It sounds like this is NOT the case with Saw Palmetto extract, as akseattle and Alioop pointed out, what people call saw palmetto "extract" can vary. But here is some gamma linolenic acid for sale on alibaba:

https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...offerlist.normal_offer.d_title.22c813a0w4df8M

I remember seeing that (not that add exactly,, this was awhile ago, but others like it) and thinking "cool, maybe I could get some of that and add some to a mix that is deficient in conditioning type fatty acids." You can seed its in powder form at that link.

Well, true free-form gamma linolenic acid is absolutely a liquid at room temp, not a powder, this can be seen anywhere, here is one link:

https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/US/en/...P2rHiKw5xg4-vvQf0LpEKmdzop4vX7bBskMQRK0J9CEre

Their CAS numbers line up, so they are supposed to be the same thing. And the alibaba add says its 99% pure gamma linolenic acid. Well, in my mind that HAS to be bogus, you'd have to add to much stuff to true gamma linolenic acid to make it into a powder that its purity would be far below 99%. That has GOT to be a bogus product...

 

[Mobjack Bay]

For what it’s worth, here’s the answer Google AI gave me to the question: “how do you make a powder from linoleic acid?” (After re-reading your post, I realized that you mentioned linolenic acid. The answer for linolenic acid is substantially the same using Google AI)

To make a powder from linoleic acid, you need to first mix the liquid linoleic acid with a suitable carrier material like maltodextrin or a powdered carbohydrate, then spray dry the mixture to evaporate the solvent, leaving behind a fine powder; this process is typically done in a specialized spray dryer machine in a laboratory setting.

Key steps:

• Source linoleic acid:
  Obtain high-quality liquid linoleic acid, which can be extracted from vegetable oils like sunflower oil or safflower oil.
  
  
  
• Choose a carrier:
  Select a suitable powder carrier like maltodextrin, which helps to evenly distribute the linoleic acid and improve the powder's flowability.
  
  
  
• Mix the solution:
  Carefully mix the liquid linoleic acid with the carrier powder in a solution with the desired concentration.
  
  
  
• Spray drying:
  Use a spray dryer to atomize the mixture into fine droplets and rapidly evaporate the solvent (usually water) to produce a dry powder.