Kasada Oil Refinery Cameroon Cameroon

The economical history of the oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) began in the rain forests of western Africa in the late 19th century. Since its introduction into Cameroon in the early 20th century until the early sixties its impact on the economy was marginal. For many years the economy of Cameroon had depended for its wealth and prosperity upon rubber. In 1961, Cameroon embarked on an intensive agricultural diversification program, and the crop that has achieved the most notable success since then is palm oil. Within a relatively short period, Cameroon became the world's largest commercial producer and exporter of palm oil in 1966. Diversification into oil palm means that the country is now less dependent on the fortunes of rubber as a plantation crop. Palm Oil a Cost Effective ProductPalm oil is obtained from the flesh of the palm fruit. Each palm tree produces approximately one fruit bunch, containing as many as 3000 fruitless, per month. In addition, each palm tree continues producing fruit economically for up to 25 years. This ensures a constant stable supply, as compared with other annual crops. Naturally, palm oil is characterized as stabilized oil due to its chemical composition. As such, it can be used in most food applications without hydrogenation, thus, reducing production cost by as much as 30% . Palm oil also is priced competitively and can represent a saving of up to several cents per pound, compared to other edible oils. Palm oil is available in a variety of forms: crude palm oil, palm olein, palm stearin, RBD palm oil, fractionated palm olein and pal mid-fraction. While most of the oil Malaysia exports is RBD palm oil and RBD palm olein, the range of products is available to suit a variety of manufacturing needs and in forms that are ready-to-use and require no further processing. Palm Oil CompositionPalm oil is extracted from the mesocarp of the fruit of the palm Elaeis guineensis. There are a few varieties of this plant but Tenera, which is a hybrid of the Dura and the Pisifera, present abundantly through out the whole Peninsular. The mesocarp comprises about 70-80% by weight of the fruit and about 45-50% of this mesocarp is oil. The rest of the fruit comprises the shell, kernel, moisture and other non fatty fiber. The extracted oil is known as crude palm oil (CPO) which until quite recently was known as the golden commodity. Palm oil like all natural fats and oils comprises mainly Triglyceries, mono and diglycerides. Free fatty acids, moisture, dirt and minor components of non oil fatty matter referred to collectively as unsaponifiable matter. 1. TryglycerideIt is a chemical compound of one molecule of glycerol bound to three molecules of Fatty Acid. The fatty acids could be of the same type or they could be different. The property of a triglyceride will depend on the different fatty acids that combine to form the triglyceride. The fatty acids themselves are different depending on their chain length and degree of saturation. The short chain fatty acids are of lower melting point and are more soluble in water. Whereas, the longer chain fatty acids have higher melting points. The melting point is also dependent on degree of non-saturation. Unsaturated acids will have a lower melting point compared to saturated fatty acids of similar chain length. The 2 most predominant fatty acids in palm oil are C16: 0 (saturated) palmitic acid and C18: 1 (unsaturated) oleic acid. Typical fatty acid composition of palm oil is given as