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Background
Palm oil is derived from the flesh of the fruit of the oil palm species E. Guineensis. In its virgin form, the oil is bright orange-red due to the high content of carotene. Palm oil is Nature's Gift to Malaysia, and Malaysia's to the World.
Palm oil is semi-solid at room temperature; a characteristic brought about by its approx. 50 percent saturation level. Palm oil (and its products) has good resistance to oxidation and heat at prolonged elevated temperatures; hence, making palm oil an ideal ingredient in frying oil blends. Manufacturers and end-users around the world incorporate high percentages of palm oil in their frying oil blends for both performance and economic reasons.
In fact, in many instances, palm oil has been used as 100 percent replacement for traditional hydrogenated seed oils such as soybean oil and canola. Products fried in palm oil include potato chips, french fries, doughnuts, ramen noodles and nuts. Click on 'The Oil' on the sidebar to learn more details about Palm Oil.
Anatomy of the Palm
Oil palm is the only fruit that can give two types of oil. Palm oil comes from the mesocarp (flesh of the fruit) and the lauric palm kernel oil from the kernel at the fruit's core. The two oils are separated in the oil palm bunches by the thick shell of palm kernels.
The Oil Palm Tree
The oil palm tree (Elaeis guineensis) originated from West Africa where it was growing wild and later developed into an agricultural crop. It was first introduced to Malaya in early 1870’s as an ornamental plant. In 1917 the first first commercial planting took place in Tennamaran Estate in Selangor, laying the foundations for the vast oil palm plantations and palm oil industry in Malaysia. The cultivation of oil palm rapidly increased beginning in the sixties under the government’s agricultural diversification programme which was to reduce the country’s economic dependence on rubber and tin. Later in the 1960s, the government introduced land settlement schemes for planting oil palm as a means to eradicate poverty for the landless farmers and smallholders. The oil palm plantations in Malaysia are largely based on the estate management system and small holders scheme.
Today, 3.88 million hectares of land in Malaysia is under oil palm cultivation producing 14 million tonnes of palm oil in 2004. Malaysia is the largest producer and exporter of palm oil in the world, accounting for 30% of the world’s traded edible oils & fats supply. The industry provides employment to more than half a million people and livelihood to an estimated one million people.
Oil palm is a crop that bears both male and female flowers on the same tree, meaning they are monoecious. Each tree produces compact bunches weighing between 10 and 25 kilograms with 1000 to 3000 fruitlets per bunch. Each fruitlet is almost spherical or elongated in shape. Generally the fruitlet is dark purple, almost black and the colour turns to orange red when ripe. Each fruitlet consists of of a hard kernel (seed) inside a shell (endocarp) which is surrounded by thea fleshy mesocarp.
Palm trees may grow up to sixty feet and more in height. The trunks of young and adult plants are wrapped in fronds which give them a rather rough appearance. The older trees have smoother trunks apart from the scars left by the fronds which have withered and fallen off.
A normal oil palm tree will start bearing fruits after 30 months of planting and will continue to be productive for the next 20 to 30 years thus ensuring a consistent supply of oil. Each ripe bunch is commonly known as Fresh Fruit Bunch (FFB). In Malaysia, the trees planted are mainly the tenera variety, a hybrid between the dura and pisifera. The tenera variety yields about 4 to 5 tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO) per hectare per year and about 1 tonne of palm kernels. The oil palm is most efficient, requiring only 0.25 hectares to produce one tonne of oil while soybean, sunflower and rapeseed need 2.15, 1.50 and 0.75 hectares respectively.
The Oil
The oil palm produces two types of oils; crude palm oil (CPO) from the fibrous mesocarp and crude palm kernel oil (CPKO) from the kernels. Although both oils originate from the same fruit, palm oil is chemically and nutritionally different from palm kernel oil. It is one of the only two mesocarp oils available commercially, the other being olive oil.
In conventional milling process, the FFB’s are steriliszed and the fruitlets stripped off. The loose fruitlets are then digested and pressed to extract the CPO. The kernels are separated from the fibrous mesocarp in the press cake and later cracked to obtained CPKO.
Palm Oil
Palm oil, being a vegetable oils, is cholesterol-free. Having a naturally semi solid characteristic at room temperature with a specific origin melting point between 33ºC to 39ºC, it does not require hydrogenation for use as a food an ingredient.
CPO is deep orange red in colour due to the high content of natural carotenes. Palm oil is rich source of carotenoids and vitamin E which confers natural stability against oxidative deterioration.
Fractionation separates oil into liquid and solid fractions. Palm oil can be fractionated into liquid (olein) and solid (stearin) components.
Palm oil has a balanced ratio of unsaturated and saturated fatty acids. It contains 40% oleic acid (monounsaturated fatty acid), 10% linoleic acid (polyunsaturated fatty acid ), 45% palmitic acid and 5% stearic acid (saturated fatty acid). This composition results in an edible oil that is suitable for use in a variety of food applications.
Palm Olein
Palm olein is the liquid fraction obtained by fractionation of palm oil after crystallization at controlled temperatures. The physical characteristics of palm olein differ from those of palm oil. It is fully liquid in warm climate and has a narrow range of glycerides.
In addition to finding uses as in the case of palm oil, palm olein is widely used as a cooking oil. It also blends perfectly with other popular vegetable oils that are traditionally used in many parts of the world ; prompting a nickname 'blending partner' for palm olein. For example, in Japan, refined palm olein is blended with rice bran and in Malaysia, it is blended with groundnut oil.
Like palm oil, palm olein is also widely used as a frying oil and much of its popularity is due to its good resistance to oxidation and formation of breakdown products at frying temperatures and longer shelf life of finished products. In fact, palm olein is considered as the gold standard in frying and is perhaps, on its own, the most widely used frying oil in the world!
Palm Stearin
Palm stearin is the more solid fraction obtained by fractionation of palm oil after crystallization at controlled temperatures. It is thus a co product of palm olein. It is always traded at a discount to palm oil and palm olein; making it an cost effective ingredient in several applications.
The physical characteristics of palm stearin differ significantly from those of palm oil and it is available in a wider range of melting points and iodine values.
Palm stearin is a very useful source of fully natural hard fat component for products such as shortening and pastry and bakery margarines.
In addition to palm olein and stearin, there are easily a dozen other fractions, obtained from palm oil including various grades of double fractionated palm olein (aka superolein) and palm mid fractions. Where pourability and clarity can be issues for palm olein, especially in temperate countries, superolein finds uses as frying oil and cooking oil, usually in blends with seed oils. Palm mid fraction is commonly used as a highly versatile natural ingredient in the manufacture of tub margarine and in CBE manufacture.
Palm Kernel Oil
Palm kernel oil is obtained from the kernel of the oil palm fruit. The oil composition is very different from that of the palm oil.
Palm Kernel Olein
Palm kernel olein is the liquid component of palm kernel oil obtained from fractionation.
Palm Kernel Stearin
Palm kernel sterain is the more solid fraction of palm kernel oil obtained from fractionation.
Palm kernel oil, palm kernel olein and palm kernel stearin find uses in margarine, confectioneries, coffee whitener, filled milk, biscuit cream and coating fats; with little or no further processing. There is a growing trend to use palm kernel oil products as an ingredient in the production of non-hydrogenated trans fat free margarine.
Palm kernel stearin is widely used to substitute for the more expensive cocoa butter in many of its traditional applications. In some instances, particularly when hydrogenated, palm kernel stearin exhibits performance superior to that of cocoa butter. Apart from their excellent melting properties, hydrogenated palm kernel oil products generally have good resistance to fat bloom and show good resistance to oxidative stress.
Processing
Palm Oil and palm kernel oil are two different oils or fats which can be extracted from the fruit of the oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), semi-solid at room temperature, these oils or fats can be fractionated into solid and liquid fractions known as stearins and oleins respectively. They can also be processed through physical or chemical refining to yield either refined, bleached and deodorized (RBD) or neutralized, bleached and deodorized (NBD) palm oil and palm kernel oil. Combinations of these processes lead to various types of palm oil and palm kernel oil products (see figure 1).
Although the volume is small in relation to that used for food, it is important since most of the palm oil and palm kernel oil are further processed to products of higher added value. With the expected growth in the output of palm oil and the general tendency for the industry to develop downstream activities, the area of oleochemical applications is expected to grow in importance.
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