Most suitable processing cycle for crude palm oil to be processed into a fully edible oil for international exports

Crude Palm Oil (CPO) in Malaysia isnormally refined, bleached and deodorized by physical means to give Refined,Bleached Deodorized Palm Oil (RBD PO). A much smaller quantity is neutralizedchemically (with sodium hydroxide solution) and then bleached and deodorized togive Neutralized Bleached, Deodorized Palm Oil (NBD PO), which some peopleprefer for certain specialized uses.

The physical process gives a by-product ofhigh Free Fatty Acid (FFA) called Palm Fatty Acid Distillate (PFAD) and thechemical process gives the byproduct called palm acid oil (PAO) with a somewhatlower acidity than PFAD.

Palm Oil is a soft plastic fat of mediummelting point (mNaN.) (33-39° C). In order to expand the range of its uses,very large quantities are fractionated by physical means to give a liquid orsemi-liquid fraction (mNaN. 24° C max) called olein and a much harder fraction(mNaN.44° C min) called stearin.

Increasing quantities of standard olein arefractionated again to give double fractionated olein which remains liquid atlower temperatures (mNaN. 19° C max).This process also produces Palm MidFraction (PMF) which is used in all true Cocoa Butter Equivalents (CBEs) madein the West.