It is now a week and a day that I start a series on how our local food has been produced, as I said every Monday it will come out but due to a tight schedule I have been busy organizing the second project for the promotion of the hive . . However, I apologize for the delay in my publication.
Yet it's another week, another series on local food production. Today it will be a production of red oil (palm oil), as it is produced directly from the raw before reaching the final product called Oil.
What is palm oil?
Palm oil is mainly used for cooking in some developing countries. It can also be used for other products such as detergents, cosmetics, and food production.
Palm oil is a very productive crop that has high levels of cholesterol. It is in high demand globally than vegetable oil and this has led many to get involved in palm planting in Africa and other Asian countries because production costs are low and manageable.
However, many are not even aware of the process the fruit went through before it became an oil for use, and I think that is one of the benefits of this series, to explain and show how local food has been produced.
Palm oil Production
The bases of fresh palm fruits are obtained from palm trees and then cut into pieces for sorting. Classified palm fruit is the one tied up in a sack, seen in the images above.
Procedures
The fruit undergo cooking to an extent the fruit was boiled to allow the palm fruit pulp to be soft for mashed.
Then it is sent to the threshing machine, the machine damages the pulp cell and it softens into pieces, as seen in the pictures, when a lady pours it into the hydraulic threshing and crushing machine.
The palm oil mash will be sent to the oil press station, this station consists of two machines. The first machine separates the fruit puree from the palm kernel while the second machine presses are continuous screw presses that separate the oil from the fruit. This pressing machine obtains crude palm oil, that is, the mixture of oil and water and some solid impurities.
palm oil refining section
The crude palm oil obtained will then be cooked, at this point it will get to a boiling point the water will precipitate in the pot while the oil will float on top. The oil will then be separated by removing it from the top.
At this stage is called Oil fraction and the oil has reached it final stage of production, it can be use.
Thanks for Reading, See you next week Monday for Another Series of food Production.