Fractionated Palm Kernel Oil
Many processed foods contain palm kernel oil as an ingredient.
Palm kernel oil is composed of fatty acids, esterified with glycerol just like any ordinary fat. It is high in saturated fatty acids, about 80%. The oil palm gives its name to the 16-carbon saturated fatty acid palmitic acid found in palm kernel oil, palm oil, and coconut oil.
Palm kernel oil is an edible plant oil derived from the kernel of the oil palm Elaeis guineensis.[1] It should not be confused with the other two edible oils derived from palm fruits: coconut oil, extracted from the kernel of the coconut, and palm oil, extracted from the pulp of the oil palm fruit.[2]
Palm kernel oil, coconut oil, and palm oil are three of the few highly saturated vegetable fats. Palm kernel oil, which is semi-solid at room temperature, is more saturated than palm oil and comparable to coconut oil. Like all vegetable oils, these three palm-derived oils do not contain cholesterol (found in unrefined animal fats),[3][4] although saturated fat intake increases both LDL[5] and HDL[6] cholesterol.
Palm kernel oil is a common cooking ingredient; its increasing use in the commercial food
industry throughout the world is buoyed by its lower cost, the high oxidative stability (saturation) of the refined product when used for frying, and its lack of cholesterol and trans fatty acids, both viewed as being heart-healthy attributes.
Uses
Splitting of oils and fats by hydrolysis, or under basic conditions saponification, yields fatty acids, with glycerin (glycerol) as a byproduct. The split-off fatty acids are a mixture ranging from C4 to C18, depending on the type of oil/fat.[14][15]
Resembling coconut oil, palm kernel oil is packed with myristic and lauric fatty acids and therefore suitable for the manufacture of soaps, washing powders and personal care products. Lauric acid is very important in soap making. A good soap must contain at least 15 per cent laurate for quick lathering, while soap made for use in sea water is based on virtually 100 per cent laurate.[16]
Derivatives of palmitic acid were used in combination with naphtha during World War II to produce napalm (aluminum naphthenate and aluminumpalmitate).[17]
[edit]Biodiesel, biomass and biogas
Palm kernel oil, like other vegetable oils, can be used to create biodiesel for internal combustion engines. Biodiesel has been promoted as a renewable energy source to reduce net emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Therefore, biodiesel is seen as a way to decrease the impact of thegreenhouse effect and as a way of diversifying energy supplies to assist national energy security plans.
Palm is also used to make biodiesel, as either a simply processed palm kernel oil mixed with petrodiesel, or processed through transesterification to create a palm kernel oil methyl ester blend, which meets the international EN 14214 specification, with glycerin as a byproduct. The actual process used to make biodiesel around the world varies between countries, and the requirements of different export markets. Next-generation biofuel production processes are also being tested in relatively small trial quantities.