Palm Oil

Palm oil is said to be nature's gift to the world. Consumed for more than 5,000 years, its nutritional value, health benefits and value as a natural resource continue to be discovered even today.

First introduced to Malaysia in 1870 as an ornamental plant, the Elaeis Guineensis tree, also known as the oil palm, is now a leading agricultural crop. Since then, increased planting, cultivation and refinement have led to the introduction of a wide range of processed palm oil products. Today, palm fruit oil and palm oil products are used in many food and non-food applications. They can be used for frying media and for making margarines, shortenings, soap, oleo chemicals and other products. Oil palm is the only fruit that can give two types of oil, extracted from the fruit of the oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) which are chemically different.

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. 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.

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Ditulis oleh William Perkasa pada tanggal Thursday, April 3, 2008