HARVEST, POSTHARVEST HANDLING
Maturity
As fruit ripen, they change from black (or green in virescens types) to orange, but have varying degrees of black cheek color depending on light exposure and cultivar. However, fruit abscission is the best index of bunch ripeness.
Harvest Method
Fruit bunches are harvested using chisels or hooked knives attached to long poles. Each tree must be visited every 10-15 days as bunches ripen throughout the year.
Postharvest Handling
Oil extraction is a complex process, carried out by large mills that may process up to 60 tons of fruit per hour, or by small scale mills in rural villages that produce only about 1 ton of oil in an 8 hour shift. Oil extraction from fruit follows the same basic steps in either case:
Bunches are first steam sterilized in large tanks to inactivate enzymes
Palm oil processing. Bunches are transported to the mill and weighed
Storage
As fruit ripen, they change from black (or green in virescens types) to orange, but have varying degrees of black cheek color depending on light exposure and cultivar. However, fruit abscission is the best index of bunch ripeness.
Harvest Method
Fruit bunches are harvested using chisels or hooked knives attached to long poles. Each tree must be visited every 10-15 days as bunches ripen throughout the year.
Postharvest Handling
Oil extraction is a complex process, carried out by large mills that may process up to 60 tons of fruit per hour, or by small scale mills in rural villages that produce only about 1 ton of oil in an 8 hour shift. Oil extraction from fruit follows the same basic steps in either case:
- Steam sterilization of bunches (inactivates lipase enzymes and kills microorganisms that produce free fatty acids, reducing oil quality)
- Stripping fruit from bunches
- Crushing, digestion, and heating of the fruit
- Oil extraction from macerated fruit (hydraulic pressing)
- Palm oil clarification
- Separating fiber from the endocarp
- Drying, grading, and cracking of the endocarp
- Separating the endocarp from the kernel
- Kernel drying and packing
Bunches are first steam sterilized in large tanks to inactivate enzymes Palm oil processing. Bunches are transported to the mill and weighedStorage
Palm oil is stored in large steel tanks at 88-105°F to keep it in liquid form during bulk transport. The tank headspace is often flushed with CO2 to prevent oxidation. Higher temperatures are used during filling and draining tanks. Maximum storage time is about 6 months at 88°F.
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