Palm Oil: Crude & Refined Palm Oil Products

Palm oil is the most traded vegetable oil in the world today and has been used as a dietary constituent for nearly five thousand years.

Palm oil is obtained from the mesocarp of the Elaeis guineensis fruit, simply by cooking, mashing and pressing. In this process, the seeds are separated and after cracking and removing the shell, the kernel can be processed to yield palm kernel oil and palm kernel cake.

1. Crude Palm Oil (CPO)

Crude palm oil is obtained from the mesocarp of fresh fruit bunches. It is an orange liquid and semi-solid at room temperature, melting to a clear red-orange liquid on slight heating.

Crude palm oil can be refined and further fractionated to widen its application. The following specifications are defined for export purposes:

Free Fatty Acid (as palmitic)	Moisture & Impurities
5.0% max	0.5% max

2. Refined, Bleached & Deodorised (RBD) Palm Oil

RBD palm oil is obtained from refining crude palm oil. It is a light yellow liquid and semi-solid at room temperature, melting to a clear yellow liquid on slight heating.

RBD palm oil is used as frying oil for food industries such as Instant Noodles and snack food. It can also be used in manufacture of margarine, shortening, vanaspathy, ice cream, condensed milk and soap.

Free Fatty Acid (as palmitic)	Moisture & Impurities	Iodine Value (Wijs)	Melting Point°C (AOCS Cc3-25)	Colour (5¼” Lovibond Scale)
0.1% max	0.1% max	50-55	33-39	3 Red max

3. Refined, Bleached & Deodorised (RBD) Palm Olein

RBD palm olein is obtained from fractionating refined palm oil to separate liquid parts (olein) from solid parts (stearin). It is a clear yellow liquid at room temperature.

RBD palm olein is used as cooking oil as well as frying oil for food industries such as snack food and ready-to-eat food. It is also used as a raw material for margarine and shortening.

Free Fatty Acid (as palmitic)	Moisture & Impurities	Iodine Value (Wijs)	Melting Point°C (AOCS Cc3-25)	Colour (5¼” Lovibond Scale)
0.1% max	0.1% max	56 min	24 max	3 Red max

4. Refined, Bleached & Deodorised (RBD) Palm Stearin

RBD palm stearin is obtained from fractionating refined palm oil to separate olein from stearin. It is a white solid at room temperature, melting to a clear yellow liquid on heating.

RBD palm stearin is used in margarine and shortening industries. It is also used in soap, candles and oleochemical industries.

Free Fatty Acid (as palmitic)	Moisture & Impurities	Iodine Value (Wijs)	Melting Point°C (AOCS Cc3-25)	Colour (5¼” Lovibond Scale)
0.2% max	0.15 % max	48 max	44 min	3 Red max

5. Palm Fatty Acid Distillate

Palm fatty acid distillate (“PFAD”) is a by-product from refining crude palm oil. It is a light brown solid at room temperature, melting to a brown liquid on heating.

Palm fatty acid distillate is used in soap industries, animal feed industries and as raw materials for oleochemical industries. Vitamin E can be extracted from PFAD.

Free Fatty Acid (as palmitic)	Moisture & Impurities	Saponifiable Matter
70.0% min	1.0% max	95% min (basis 97%)