Effects of Length of Fermentation and Storage Media on Chemical Properties of Palm Oil

This study examined the effects of different length of fermentation and storage media on quality characteristics of palm oil produced at the processing centre of Department of Agricultural and Bio-Environmental Engineering, The Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. Fresh palm fruits were collected immediately after harvesting and divided into three samples. Each sample was processed into palm oil at intervals of three days and the respective palm oil obtained from each sample was subjected to laboratory test under the same conditions to determine their respective saponification values, moisture content, free fatty acid values and thiobabituric acid number (TBA). Samples were also stored in media such as tin, rubber and glass and their chemical properties were determined after 18 days of storage. The result shows that free fatty acid (FFA) increases with increase in day of fermentation of the palm fruits for both freshly processed oil and those stored for 18 days. Only the oil processed in the first day have the moisture content which are within the 0.01-0.04% standard moisture content values of palm oil while the oil stored in glass had the lowest saponification value of 202.97mgKOH/g and TBA values which are within the standard values of 0.1 to 0.2.