The chemical and physical characteristics of Malaysian palm kernel and its products are discussed in this article. The main products derived from palm kernel are palm kernel oil, palm kernel olein and palm kernel stearin whereas the by-products are palm kernel meal and palm kernel fatty acid distillate. The major composition of the kernel is oil (49%), followed by carbohydrate (26.1%), protein and crude fibre (8% each). The major triacylglycerol content in palm kernel oil and its fraction is trilaurin. Even though palm kernel oil is highly saturated, its melting point (27.3°C-28.0°C) is relatively low due to high proportion of short chain fatty acids. The range of iodine value of palm kernel oil is 16.5 to 18.75, whilst for its fraction, palm kernel olein and stearin, is 20.6 minimum and 8.0 maximum respectively. The residue after mechanical pressing is known as palm kernel meal, contains carbohydrate (50.3%), protein (19.8%), crude fibre (16.7%) and oil (8%), which made it suitable for animal feed application. The major component of palm kernel fatty acid distillate (a by-product of palm kernel oil refining) is total fatty matter (95%). Some insights on the quality requirement of palm kernel products based on Malaysian Standards are also discussed in this article.