When talking about palm kernel oil, people are always confused with palm oil. Therefore firstly let’s make clear what is palm oil and what is palm kernel oil. Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the reddish pulp of the fruit of the oil palms, so palm oil can also be called palm fruit oil. Palm oil is naturally reddish in color because of a high beta-carotene content. While palm kernel oil is derived from the kernel of oil palm fruit and it is obtained by pressing and extraction from the palm nut kernels by palm kernel oil press machine, after which the palm nut kernel oil is refined by palm kernel oil refining machine. Its color is not red. At room temperature, crude palm kernel oil is solid, yellowish-brownish and has a characteristic smell and taste. Once it has been refined, it becomes a white to yellowish seed oil with a typically neutral, pleasant taste. It contains more saturated fats than palm oil and is very commonly used in commercial cooking because the higher saturated fat content allows for greater stability at higher temperatures and better shelf life.
Favorable Conditions to Start Palm Kernel Oil Production Business in Indonesia ► Abundant raw material resources Indonesia has the third-largest area of contiguous tropical forest in the world and unique weather conditions and mature growing technology guarantee the high output of palm fruits. Annually about 63 million metric tons of palm oil is harvested from tropical plantations, 87 percent comes from Indonesia and Malaysia. And Indonesia has surpassed Malaysia as the top producer of palm oil. Palm oil is derived from the flesh and kernel of the fruit of oil palms. Nowadays,the current total plantation area covers 8 million hectares,and are expected to rise to 13 million hectares by 2020.
Besides, with the abundant raw materials, the cost for the palm oil and palm kernel oil is low comparing with other vegetable oil. Therefore the demand for the oil keep increasing and set to exceed 70 million metric tons by the middle of the next decade.
Indonesia palm kernel oil production by year
►Wide use and application of palm kernel oil
Palm kernel oil has been widely used in many kinds of fields, furthermore its relatively low price than other vegetable oils makes it more competitive. Palm kernel oil is an essential ingredient in the manufacture of myriad of products such as many types of chocolates, chewing gum, lipstick, washing powder, doughnuts, soap, and bio-diesel. In Asia, palm kernel oil use is very wide as cooking medium and for noodles which has created a $44 billion industry. According to trade reports China and India are the two biggest importer of palm oil production in the world. Besides, palm kernel oil does not contain cholesterol, so it is a healthy substitute for butter and lard in cooking. Palm kernel oil, when used alone or when mixed with other oil (like, Shea butter) helps in nourishing, and preventing dry skin. Palm kernel oil also aids in healthy hair, nail, and lips treatment. Use as an hot oil treatment on dry, hair scalp for that soothing feeling and needed moisture. Moreover, palm kernel oil can be used in the aluminium industry as a grease during rolling and deep-drawing processes for aluminium sheeting.
Widely application of palm kernel oil
► Market demand of palm kernel oil
Oil palm is one of the world’s most important fruit crops. For oil palm is restricted to the tropics, so it is mainly cultivated in Indonesia, Malaysia, Southeast Asia and some Africa countries, among which Indonesia and Malaysia are the main two countries of growing palm trees. Nowadays Indonesia is the largest producers and exporter of palm oil and palm kernel oil in the world, accounting for almost 47% of the world’s traded palm oils and fats supply. The demand for the palm kernel oil keeps increasing this years, and the palm oil has been the largest consuming oil products overtaking soybean oil , thus start a palm kernel oil production is really profitable in Indonesia with very abundant materials of low price. Indonesia exports about half of its palm kernel oil production.
In Indonesia, palm kernel oil is preferred by industrial users. Oleochemical manufacturers are the main users of palm kernel oil, especially in the form of refined, bleached and deodorized palm kernel olein and palm kernel stearin which are used to make fatty acid, fatty alcohol and glycerol. Indonesia consumes a large share of its domestic production of palm kernel oil.
Palm kernel oil is a common cooking ingredient. It is semi-solid at room temperature, and is more saturated than palm oil and comparable to coconut oil. Palm kernel oil production is a relative complex process requiring a number of distinct process step which begins with the shelling palm nut kernels which is a time ,labor consuming and hard work.
Basically, the palm kernel oil making processes will go through the following steps:
► The first and most important step is to separate the kernels and shells. How to get the palm kernel is really a tough job for many people. The traditional cracking way will damage the kernel and cause waste. If you want to start a small workshop, a palm nuts kernel shelling machine can help you solve those troublesome work. The palm nuts kernel shelling machine is mainly applicable for cracking palm nut kernel shells with high efficiency. And what you only need to do is putting the palm nut kernels into the palm nut kernel shelling machine and then operate the machine which is easy operation and labor &energy-saving.
► Next, use the palm nut kernel and shell separating machine to separate the palm nuts kernel from the cracked shells clearly and completely. Most importantly, you can get complete kernels without damage and the shelling rate can reach up to 95%. Furthermore there are different capacity for different scale pressing factory.
► After you get the white kernel, you can use an automatic oil press machine to produce palm kernel oil. Then through the last step---refining. Finally you can get what you want and the whole process do not spend you a lot of time.
