• How is refined palm oil produced?
  • To produce refined palm oil (RPO), the objectionable impurities in the CPO are removed to obtain the required levels using two main methods: chemical or alkali refining and physical refining methods. Either of these is followed by fractionation as a final purification process to separate the oil into stearin and olein components.
  • Why is palm oil refining important?
  • Furthermore, the refining process of palm oil is critical for maintaining its quality and extending its application range. It removes unwanted compounds while preserving beneficial components such as tocopherols [12, 13, 14, 15].
  • What is crude palm oil refining?
  • To prevent iron oxidation, the storage tank is lined in a suitable protective coating. The oil at this stage is called the crude palm oil (CPO). The aim of refining is to convert the CPO to quality edible oil by removal of objectionable impurities to the desired levels in the most efficient manner.
  • How is palm oil reprocessed?
  • The first step of crude palm oil and palm kernel oil physical refining is the degumming, which consists of the removal of the phosphatides. When this content is low, as is the case for these oils, the dry degumming is the common way.
  • How is palm oil processed?
  • The fruit bunches are then transported to the processing facility for further processing. Extraction: The fruit bunches are sterilized, threshed, and pressed to extract the crude palm oil. This process involves a combination of mechanical and chemical processes and can vary depending on the specific equipment and techniques used.
  • What are the different methods of palm oil processing?
  • They are the traditional methods, small-scale mechanical units, medium-scale mills and large industrial mills (Poku, 2002). The basic unit operations associated with palm oil processing include fruit sterilization, fruit loosening/stripping, digestion, oil extraction and clarification.