RESEARCH ARTICLE

Journal of Oil Palm Research Vol. 24 (1) April 2012, p. 1310-1317

PROPERTIES OF RESIDUAL PALM PRESSED FIBRE OIL

RUSNANI Abd Majid* ; ABDUL WAHAB Mohammad** ; CHOO Yuen May*

ABSTRACT

Residual fibre oil was recovered from palm pressed fibre by using a solvent (hexane). The oil was analysed for its physical and chemical properties. The macro-nutrient and element contents of the pressed afibre were also analysed. The residual fibre oil co ntained high amounts of phosphorus (144 ppm), vitamin E (1153 ppm) and carotenes (1877 ppm). The compositional content of vitamin E present was 54.0% α-tocopherol, 19.2% α-tocotrienol, 16.7% α-tocotrienol and 10.1% α-tocotrienol. The major fatty acids of t he residual fibre oil were palmitic and oleic acid at 31.9% and 24.8%, respectively. The oil also contained a high amount of lauric acid (22.0%) which is the major fatty acid in palm kernel oil. Density of the residual fibre oil as a function of temperature was measured at temperatures ranging from 40°C to 75°C. Density exhibited a linear relationship with temperature. Viscosity of the residual fibre oil was shown to decrease with an increase in temperature. The formation of needle-shaped crystals was observed when the residual oil was cooled down from 36°C to 34°C. There were no significant changes in the macro-nutrient and element contents of the palm pressed fibre before and after oil extraction with hexane.

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* Malaysian Palm Oil Board, P. O. Box 10620,
50720 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
E-mail: rusnani@mpob.gov.my

** Department of Process and Chemical Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering & Built Environment,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia,
43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.