**History and Traditional Uses**:
– Humans have used oil palms for over 5,000 years.
– Palm oil was discovered in a tomb dating back to 3,000 BCE.
– Palm oil was used as cooking oil in West and Central African countries.
– British traders used palm oil as an industrial lubricant during the Industrial Revolution.
– Palm oil was a primary export of West African countries in the 1870s.
– Red palm oil is a traditional cooking oil in West Africa.
**Production and Global Market**:
– Indonesia is the largest global producer of palm oil.
– Malaysia, Thailand, and Nigeria are other significant producers.
– Indonesia primarily produces biodiesel from palm oil.
– Palm oil accounted for 36% of global oils from oil crops in 2014.
– Global per capita palm oil consumption was 7.7kg in 2015.
– World production of palm oil in 2018-2019 was 73.5 million metric tons.
– Projected palm oil production to reach 240 million metric tons by 2050.
**Processing and Extraction**:
– Palm oil is naturally reddish due to beta-carotene.
– Palm oil has lower saturated fat compared to palm kernel and coconut oil.
– Oil extraction rates vary for palm oil and palm kernels.
– Palm oil is widely used in cooking in tropical regions.
– Palm oil is stable for frying due to its saturation levels.
– Palm oil is produced by milling or cold-pressing oil palm fruits.
– Basic processing of palm oil involves filtering and density separation.
– Crude palm oil is red due to high carotenoid content.
**Refining and Uses**:
– Crude palm oil can be refined to remove non-triglyceride components.
– Bleaching removes color using bleaching earth.
– Filters remove clay from the oil.
– Deodorizer removes free fatty acids.
– Refined, bleached, and deodorized palm oil is the basic palm oil sold globally.
– Palm oil production for food, handicrafts, and other products.
– Pervasive use of palm oil in personal care and cleaning products.
**Biomass, Biofuels, and International Production**:
– Palm oil used to produce methyl ester and hydrodeoxygenated biodiesel.
– Palm oil biodiesel meeting European EN 14214 standard.
– Significant palm oil exports to Europe converted to biodiesel.
– Indonesia doubling production by the end of 2030.
– Malaysia’s commitment to limit palm oil plantation expansion.
– Colombia’s potential to produce sustainable palm oil without deforestation.
Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from oil crops in 2014. Palm oils are easier to stabilize and maintain quality of flavor and consistency in ultra-processed foods, so are frequently favored by food manufacturers. On average globally, humans consumed 7.7 kg (17 lb) of palm oil per person in 2015. Demand has also increased for other uses, such as cosmetics and biofuels, creating more demand on the supply encouraging the growth of palm oil plantations in tropical countries.
The use of palm oil has attracted the concern of environmental and human right groups. The palm oil industry is a significant contributor to deforestation in the tropics where palms are grown, and has been cited as a factor in social problems due to allegations of human rights violations among growers. An industry group formed in 2004 to create more sustainable and ethical palm oil, through the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. However, very little palm oil is certified through the organization, and some groups have criticized it as greenwashing.
In 2018, a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature acknowledged that palm oil is much more efficient than other oils in terms of land and water usage; however, deforestation causes more biodiversity loss than switching to other oils. The biggest global producers of palm oil are Indonesia, who produced 60% of it in 2022, followed by Malaysia, Thailand, and Nigeria. Indonesia produces biodiesel primarily from palm oil.