Efficiency and quality of palm kernel oil expellers in Ibadan

Abstract

This study focused on effect of capacity on yield and quality of palm kernel oil and cake. Preliminary survey of existing palm kernel oil expellers’ capacities were carried out across eleven local government areas in Ibadanland. The expellers were used to express oil from palm kernel; yield and quality of the oil were determined using standard methods. Chemical compositions of the cake were also determined using AOAC methods. Analysis of variance was carried out on data at p ≤ 0.05. The expellers’ capacities were 25, 30, 35, 40 and 50 hp and use electricity as source of power while the cost of fabrication ranged from N250,000 to N500,000. Oil yield ranged from 38.36 to 45.33% and was increased significantly with increase in expeller capacity. Least peroxide and acid values were 11 meq/kg and 2.5 mg/KOH respectively. Palm kernel cake is rich in carbohydrate, protein and ash. The major elements detected were Na, K, Ca, Mg while Zn, Fe and Cu were trace elements. Expeller capacity had no significant effect on the chemical composition of the cake.

Keywords: Palm kernel, expeller, capacity, oil yield, cake composition.