More extensive operations use a machine called a depericarper to separate the nuts from the fiber more efficiently.

On small plantations, workers separate the nuts from the fiber by hand, then the nuts are dried and sold to palm kernel oil mills. These kernels are typically processed at different facilities than the palm fruits, although some independent operations handle the entire product stream. Inside these nuts are oil-rich seed kernels that can be separately pressed to extract a different kind of oil that’s semi-solid at room temperature, similar to coconut oil. The solid residue that remains after pressing palm oil from the fruit includes palm nuts as a byproduct. As food manufacturers look for low-cost replacements for trans fats, palm oil is well-positioned as a smart edible alternative.Īlso read: The Challenge of Small-Scale Oilseed Processing: Paying Off Your Investment

With a balanced ratio of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, palm oil is prized as a relatively healthy edible oil free from trans fats and cholesterol. Refined palm oil appears as an ingredient in many confections, shortenings, and dairy substitutes - giving chocolate its shine, keeping ice cream from melting, and stopping peanut butter from separating. Most of the palm oil used in food manufacturing has been refined to remove these pigments and flavors, resulting in a bland, neutral oil. A rich source of tocotrienols like vitamin E, this red palm oil boasts a range of nutritional benefits and a sharp flavor that makes it a staple in many African cuisines.

Then, the mash is crushed in a screw press to separate the palm oil from the solid material, like other methods of oilseed processing.Ĭrude palm oil takes on a dark reddish-orange color due to high levels of beta-carotene (also found in carrots). In larger-scale palm oil mills, processors cook the fruit in steam-heated vessels and mash it with rotary beaters to rupture the oil-bearing cells. Then, they cook the fruit in hot water to soften the pulp before pounding it by hand or trampling it by foot to squeeze out the oil.Īs the industry has evolved, processing technologies have advanced with increased mechanization. Plantation workers harvest FFB by hand and manually remove the individual fruits from the bunch. Oil palm fruits are often processed using traditional, manual methods in remote tropical villages. Certain varieties of oil palm can produce more than 20 tonnes of FFB per hectare annually, yielding approximately 5 tonnes of palm oil. Each bunch contains up to 3,000 fruits and weighs between 20 and 50 pounds. Palm oil comes from the fleshy pulp of the oil palm fruit, which grows in clusters called fresh fruit bunches (FFB).

The Palms by Clay Anderson