Chew Chien Lye, Tan Bee Aik, Low Jaime Yoke Sum, Mohd Hakimi Noor Irma Nazashida, Kua Shwu Fun, Lim Chin Ming
Sime Darby Plantation Research, R&D Centre - Carey Island Pulau Carey Malaysia.
Chemical Engineering Discipline School of Engineering Monash University Malaysia Bandar Sunway Malaysia.
Food Sci Nutr. 2021 Aug 6;9(10):5335-5343. doi: 10.1002/fsn3.2423. eCollection 2021 Oct.
Quality and food safety are of paramount importance to the palm oil industry. In this work, we investigated the practicability of ethylene gas exogenous application on post-harvested oil palm fruit bunches to improve the crude palm oil (CPO) quality. The bunches were first exposed to ethylene gas for 24 hr to induce abscission of palm fruits from bunches. The detached fruits were then subjected to heat treatment, mechanical extraction, clarification and drying to produce CPO. Critical quality parameters of CPO produced, that is free fatty acid, deterioration of the bleachability index and triacylglycerol showed improvement with ethylene gas treatment. Contaminant content that is phosphorus, chloride, iron, and copper also showed a reduction in the CPO derived from ethylene-treated bunches. These findings corresponded with low levels of contaminants such as 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol esters and glycidyl esters in refined oil. The implementation strategy and practicability of this method is herein proposed and discussed. Ethylene application not only improves the CPO quality, but could potentially enhance the process sustainability of palm oil mills.
质量和食品安全对棕榈油行业至关重要。在这项工作中，我们研究了外源施加乙烯气体对收获后的油棕果串的可行性，以提高毛棕榈油（CPO）的质量。首先将果串暴露于乙烯气体中24小时，以诱导棕榈果从果串上脱落。然后将分离出的果实进行热处理、机械提取、澄清和干燥以生产CPO。所生产的CPO的关键质量参数，即游离脂肪酸、漂白性指数的恶化和三酰甘油，经乙烯气体处理后有所改善。来自乙烯处理果串的CPO中的污染物含量，即磷、氯、铁和铜也有所降低。这些发现与精炼油中低水平的污染物如3-氯丙烷-1,2-二醇酯和缩水甘油酯相对应。本文提出并讨论了该方法的实施策略和可行性。乙烯的应用不仅提高了CPO的质量，而且有可能增强棕榈油厂的工艺可持续性。
