Dry heating of palm fruits : effect on selected parameters
2010
Nu'man Abdul Hadi | Ng Mei Han | Choo Yuen May | Ma Ah Ngan
Current practice in mill uses steam in fresh fruit bunch sterilization and screw press for oil extraction. Large amount of water used in steam sterilizer ended up as palm oil mill effluent (POME) which requires appropriate treatment. In addition, the POME poses environment concerns through the generation of biogas. Dry heating is believed to be able to reduce, if not eliminatealtogether the usage of water during the milling process. This paper reports the effect of dry heating on oil palm fruitlets. Selected parameters of crude palm oil such as oil yield, deterioration of bleachability Index (DOBl), oxidative stability and free fatty acid (FFA) content were investigated and reported. Preliminary result shows that dry heating at 2-3 minutes is sufficient to halt the lipolysis that leads to the rise in FFA without any damageto the kernel. In addition, the mesocarp can be easily separated from its shell under this heating duration. Although oil yield is found to be highest at 5 minutes of dry heating, the inside kernel is overcooked or damaged. Overall, the quality of oil obtained from oil palm fruits that has undergone dry heating is comparable to that of commercial crude palm oil.
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