CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is
believed to have originated from the tropical rainforest of West Africa. It is
a perennial plant that belongs to the family palm distinctive group of the
monocotyledons (Tong and Teog 1995). The main belt runs through the Southern
Latitude of Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra-Leona and Conga (Tong
and Teoh 1995). Palm kernel oil is an oil which is extracted from the seed of
the palm. The monocarp of the fruit can be extracted for palm oil. This palm
oil contains natural antioxidant (Tocopherol) and carotene which are
pro-vitamin A (Faessler et al 2007).
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Palm
kernel oil has a great preponderance of saturated fatty acids than palm oil
(80% compared to 60% for palm oil) with the major fatty acid being oil
(Ihekeronye and Ngoddy, 1995). It also contains the low molecular weights fatty
acids, caprylic and capric acid. In line with the high proportion of saturated
acid, saturated triglycerides constitute over 60% and mono-oleic di-saturated
triglycerides more than 25% of the total glycerides. The Iodine value is about
17 and the melting point 25 – 30oC (Ihekeronye and Ngoddy 1985).
Palm kernel oil, coconut oil and
palm oil are three of the few highly saturated vegetable fats. Palm kernel oil
which is semi-solid at room temperatures is more saturated than palm oil and
comparable to coconut oil like. All vegetable oil these three palm – derived
oils do not contains cholesterol (found in unifined animal fats), although
saturated fat in take increase both L D L and H D L cholesterol (Mansink and
Katan 1992). Palm kernel cake is useful as a source of protein in compounding
animal feed and has a favourable calcium to phosphorus ratio. An average
analysis of palm kernel cake is a shown in table I
Table One: Analysis of Palm Kernel Cake
Carbohydrate 48.0%
Oil
5.0%
Protein
16.0%
Fiber 13.0%
Ash
4.0%
Water 11.0%
Source: Raw Materials Research and Development Council on Oil Palm 2004.
There are a number of ways to extract
palm kernel oil from the seeds, ranging from traditional method which involves
roasting the seeds, cracking them and grinding then to extract the oil to more
modernized methods. Which are designed to extract every possible drop of oil
from seeds. Several manufacturers also use a fractional distillation process to
separate the oil into various components. However the quality oil varies widely
depending on the method of processing adopted, the quality control measure
applied and storage techniques employed. Other factors which may affect quality
of palm oil are. The presence of excess moisture which leads to the development
of free fatty acid (FFA) by enzymatic hydrolysis of the oil (Ishiwu and Iwouno
2006). Exposure to air at high temperature leading to autoxidation of oil and
rancidity.
Palm kernel oil are used in the
production of refined vegetable oil, it is used either in blends or alone with
other oils for the manufacture of cocoa butter substitutes and confectionary
fats, filled milks, table margarine and many other food products. Non-food
product like soap, fatty acid and glycerine, bio fuel and the manufacturing of
Oleo chemicals which include methyl/esters, fatty alcohols, etc.
Motivation
Some refined vegetable oil congeals
at room conditions while others remain molten. The presences of high content of
saturated oils, fats are responsible for the congealing of those oils.
Observation on palm oil reveal that palm oil produced from fermented palm fruit
congeals at room conditions whereas those produced from boiled palm fruits do
not congeal at room temperature.
1.
This study
therefore intends to find out if palm kernel oil processed using kernel from
boiled and fermented palm fruits could follow the same trend.
In other wards
whether boiling of palm fruit could result in the palm kernel oil more molten
than palm kernel oil from fermented, effect of pre-processing conditions on the
characteristics of palm kernel oil.