Palm Oil Production At A Local Factory.

Palm oil is a red oil extracted from the outer covering of the palm kernel fruit.

It has its origin in West Africa and has been produced and consumed in the region for centuries.

Palm oil is one of the most common products used by almost everybody in Nigeria. It is the most consumed edible oil worldwide, as it is a popular food ingredient in Africa and some parts of Asia (such as in Malaysia and Indonesia).

Apart from being a popular ingredient in African food (especially soups, stews and pottage), palm oil has one of the most versatile uses of any plant product. The global palm oil market is worth hundreds of millions of dollars every year.

              

Until the early part of the 20th century, palm oil was processed only by traditional methods where loose fruits were collected from the ground or a few bunches were cut from the tree. From the 1920s however, experimentation began with steam cookers and hand presses designed to make production at the village level more efficient in terms of labor use and oil yield.


                  

Virgin red palm oil is traditionally made by being hand-pressed, without the use of extreme heat or any chemicals. This allows it to maintain the natural nutrients of carotenes and the tocopherols and tocotrienols (Vitamin E).

In recent decades, the rapid increase in palm oil production has resulted in large factory settings, where the oil is refined. RBD (refined, bleached, deodorized) palm oil has the nutrients stripped, resulting in a different taste, colour and nutrition profile of the oil.