Abstract
This study reports on the effects of dry heating of oil palm fruits for the purpose of sterilization and solvent extraction with various oil parameters. Steam sterilization of oil palm fresh fruit bunches was required as a pre-treatment to deactivate enzymes that give rise to Free Fatty Acids (FFA) before the oil could be extracted. While the use of high-pressure steam was effective, large amount of water used ends up as palm oil mill effluent, which requires appropriate treatment. Dry heating of oil palm fruits was carried out in an oven for 1-4 and 5 min time duration. The heated fruits were extracted for its oil by solvent means. Oil yield, Deterioration Of Bleachability Index (DOBI), oxidative stability and FFA content were investigated. The FFA content in the oil extracted from dry heated oil palm fruits ranged from 1.02-2.19%, DOBI from 4.19-6.72 and oxidative stability from 14.3-19.1 h. Dry heated oil palm fruits yield crude oil with comparable quality to that of commercial crude palm oil, which is steam sterilized.
Highlights
In current palm oil milling, Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) are sterilized under high pressure steam
This study reports on the effects of dry heating of oil palm fruits for the purpose of sterilization and solvent extraction with various oil parameters
Almost one-half of the steam used is exhausted during the sterilization cycle and the remaining steam ends up as sterilizer condensate and forms part of the Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME), which requires rigorous treatment to comply with stringent discharge standards of the Malaysian Department of Environment (DOE) (Ma, 1999)
Summary
In current palm oil milling, Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) are sterilized under high pressure steam. The main objectives of sterilization are to supply heat to detach the fruits from FFB stalks, stop enzyme reaction that cause Free Fatty Acids (FFA) in the oil to rise and condition the nuts for subsequent cracking (Vijaya et al, 2010). Large quantities of steam are used and prolonged steaming is necessary to achieve sufficient heating of the inner layers of the bulky FFB. The time required for steam sterilization depends on the total weight of FFB. It requires about 25-30 min for small bunches (3-6 kg) and about 50 min for bunches more than 7 kg (MKPUM, 1985).
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