Palm Oil Chemical Composition

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 sterilized 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.

Chemical composition
The palm oil and palm kernel oil are composed of fatty acids, esterified with glycerol just like any ordinary fat. Both are high in saturated fatty acids, about 50% and 80%, respectively. The oil palm gives its name to the 16 carbon saturated fatty acid palmitic acid found in palm oil; monounsaturated oleic acid is also a constituent of palm oil while palm kernel oil contains mainly lauric acid. Palm oil is the largest natural source of tocotrienol, part of the vitamin E family. Palm oil is also high in vitamin K and dietary magnesium.

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 38.7% oleic acid (monounsaturated fatty acid), 10.5% linoleic acid (polyunsaturated fatty acid), 44.3% palmitic acid, 1% Myristic acid, 4.6% stearic acid (saturated fatty acid) and 0.9% other acids. This composition results in an edible oil that is suitable for use in a variety of food applications.