Table of Contents
1. Palm tree introduction
1.1 Palm tree
Palm tree is a type of tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climate tree with a tall trunk. Leaves grow directly from the stem, so when they fall, they will leave large scars on the stem. The tree has an average height of 3 – 20 m, if planted in the right climate and environment, the tree will develop well with a very tall trunk.
Palm trees give fruit quite early, normally, it is required to plant 2-3 years to be able to exploit it. Because of its high yield and not too much time for initial caring stage so palm kind of a tree that brings high economic value to growers.
1.2 Palm oil
Palm oil is one of the most commonly used vegetable oils in the world, they are found in everything from cooking oils, shampoos, and toothpastes to bakery products and even ice cream. In addition, palm oil and palm oil by-products play an important role in the nutritional composition of animal feed. Fats in palm oil are used to provide energy and essential fatty acids in the diet (linoleic and linolenic acids) that animals cannot synthesize by themselves. Moreover, palm oil also contains several vitamins to meet the needs of animals that meet nutritional requirements in the diets of many different animals with different digestive physiology.
Fresh palm fruits
2. How is palm tree planted?
The life cycle of palm tree is around 25-30 years, so the selection of seeds will greatly affect the yield. Thesedays, many seed varieties have been continously developed through hybridization for higher yields and better resistance to pests and diseases than conventional palm seed variety.
Palm trees in estate
Palm tree is usually propagated primarily by seed because it does not produce extra shoots. When propagating palm tree by seeds, you need to prepare good quality and equal seeds, you should remove all the small, poor quality seeds that affect the germination rate of the plant. Then, soaking the seeds in water, should prepare a water with 2 parts cold water and 3 parts boiling water, soaking them continuously for five days. During the first eight months, palm seeds are planted in nurseries before being transplanted at the palm estate. In plantations, palm tree is watered and fertilized in stages in accordance with the growth cycle. After 30 months, the palm tree is considered mature and ready for the first harvest. Palm harvest will be repeated every 7-10 days.
Palm fruits grow in dense clusters known as fresh fruit bunches (FFBs). To harvest the FFB, the harvester uses a long sickle to remove it from the palm tree. The FFB is ready to be harvested easily by the bright orange-red color of the palm.
3. Palm oil processing at mill and refinery
Fresh fruit bunches (FFB) after being harvested are transported by truck from the palm estate to the mill, where they are steam sterilized, which makes it easier for the palm fruit to separate from the bunch of fresh fruit and inactivates the enzymes that may cause bunches of fresh fruit to lose fruit quality.
After separating the palm fruit from the FFB, the remaining palm components of the palm cluster will be used for different purposes, the long fibers in the stem can be used to make mattresses and car seat cushions. While the remaining empty fruits are returned to the soil to help retain moisture and this is a source of organic matter to provide nutrients to the plant.
How palm oil is made
After separating from the fresh fruit bunch (FFB), the palm fruit is processed into two main products: Crude Palm Oil (CPO) – extracted from the mesoderm or flesh of the fruit and Palm Kernel Oil (PKO) – extracted from the seed in the center of the palm fruit.
The first step is that the palm fruit presses the mesoderm and flesh into oil, which is then filtered and graded to ensure it is free of contamination and low in moisture to meet standard CPO specifications.
Next, the CPO is shipped to an oil refinery, where it is processed into edible oils (cooking oil, cream and margarine), chemical oleo (used in detergents and lubricants), biodiesel and lauric acid (used in cosmetics and soaps).
After pressing the palm fruit, we get a mixture of mesoderm fibers and seeds that will be left in the press, this mixture is put into the machine to separate the mesoderm and seeds.
Mesodermal fibers are used as biofuels such as fuel for steam boilers to drive turbines that power the plant.
The remaining palm kernels, also known as kernels. The pods are sold for biofuel, while the kernels are scrushed to produce kernel palm oil (CPKO). Crude CPKO also undergoes a refining process before being used to manufacture many kind of products such as comestics, pharmaceuticals products, while the palm kernel expeller are used to make animal feed.
4. Application and value from palm oil
4.1 Cooking oils from palm oil
Palm oil is extracted from palm fruit and soybean oil are the two main raw materials used to produce cooking oil (vegetable oil) in the world. Palm oil extracted from the pulp (flesh) of the palm fruit. Palm oil products have very good heat resistance and oxidation resistance, so palm oil is considered an ideal raw material for deeply frying and blending with other cooking oils.
Palm Olein for cooking oil
4.2 Cosmetics from palm oil
Palm oil can also be used in the chemical industry, cosmetics, biofuels… however, if these effects are used, palm trees have to be planted with specialized techniques to grow palm trees so that the tree can increase the amount of oils and fats as desired. Scientists confirm that red palm oil (crude oil, unprocessed) has a good effect on the body thanks to the fatty acids in the oil and is especially beneficial for menopausal, pregnant women and against osteoporosis. Red palm oil contains a lot of vitamin A higher 15 times than carrots, bringing a lot of effects to the skin such as moisturizing, moisturizing, anti-wrinkle and boosting the production of melanin – helping the skin to resist the harmful effects of ultraviolet rays.
Palm oil for comestics
4.3 Shampoo from palm tree
Shampoo products extracted from palm oil are currently very popular on the market because it does not contain silicone, coal tar or parabens, which care and shine for hair. Palm oil is also used as a hair conditioner because of its function of restoring dry, broken and falling hair, especially in hot summer weather, so it can be said that the oil palm tree has a great meaning in oil production. shampoo, cosmetics.
Palm oil for shampoo
4.4 Animal feed from palm oil
Palm oil can be used to replace butterfat in milk substitutes to feed young animals their mother’s milk substitute and the perfect dietary supplement for poultry, pigs and cattle. Dietary saturated fats/oils strengthen the carcass fat, improving feed efficiency and growth rates. As people’s living standards increase, more and more animal products are consumed in the diet, including meat, dairy and eggs, etc. Currently, livestock consumes about 33% of the production of cereals and grains that can be global oil.
4.5 Palm oil by-products utilization
Wastewater left over from palm oil production – called Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) – is also recycled as fertilizer or as biofuel, biogas. This not only enhances the value of palm but also limit the negative impact on the environment, contributes to increase the value of using palm products in a sustainable manner.
We, Vinh Thanh Dat (VTDIMEXCO) specialize in supplying oils and fats domestically and for export with the ability to supply to the market up to 5.000 – 10.000 tons per month. Product quality, prestige, stable and long-term supply are the criteria that Vinh Thanh Dat (VTDIMEXCO) consider as priority.
