Palm oil fruit grow in dense bunches known as Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB). To harvest the FFB, the harvester uses a long sickle to remove it from the palm tree. FFB which are ready to be harvested can be easily identified due to the bright red-orange colour of their palm fruit. Processing at the mill
How is palm oil made?
Infographic ¨C How Palm Oil Is Made After being stripped from the FFB, the palm fruit is processed into two main products: Crude Palm Oil (CPO), which is extracted from the mesocarp or flesh of the fruit, and Palm Kernel Oil (PKO), which comes from the hard seed in the centre.
How does a palm oil mill use mesocarp?
This press cake is fed into the depericarper station, which separates the mesocarp fibre and seed. The mesocarp fibre is used as biofuel in the palm oil mill¡¯s boilers, which produce steam to drive turbines to power the mill. The remaining palm seeds, also known as kernels, are cracked and deshelled.
How does palm oil production start?
Palm oil production begins with palm oil seeds. As oil palms have a productive life of 25-30 years, the choice of seeds will impact production for decades to come. Asian Agri has developed its own Topaz seeds, which produce higher yields and are more resistant to pests than regular oil palms, increasing productivity of oil palm plantations.