Oils

Elaeis guineensis

African oil palm

Elaeis guineensis



African oil palm



Useful reference: 101



     A palm tree 20-25 m high native to west tropical Africa. The fruit grows in bunches and

consists essentially of a soft outer skin, which is reddish orange when ripe, and a fibrous layer

covering the nut, composed of a shell and a kernel containing the palm oil. 

     The fruit yields two kinds of oil: palm oil from the fleshy covering and palm kernel oil

from the nut. During the processing of palm fruits the first residue of empty bunches - 50% of the

fresh fruit bunches - is used as fuel in the oil-extraction plant. Then anther 20% of the fresh fruit

bunches are processed in a mechanical press to obtain viscous crude oil. The nuts from 15% of

the fresh fruit bunches are separated from the solid residue, or palm fibre, and sent to plants

specializing in the extraction of palm kernel oil. Purification of the oil produces large amounts of

sludge. 

     

PALM OIL. The oil from the fleshy outer skin of the fruit is customarily included (at about a 5%

level) in pig and poultry rations as a source of vitamins A and D and to reduce dustiness in the

feed. 

     

PALM PRESS FIBRE. This by-product is acceptable to ruminants at a low level of inclusion in

the diet. Crude protein and crude fibre digestibility decreases when the level of inclusion exceeds

25-30%. The fibre can be dried and pelleted to overcome the problems of poor keeping quality

and bulkiness. 

     

PALM OIL SLUDGE. The waste from palm oil purification has been used to feed cattle and pigs

on estates where it is produced. Cattle seem to accept up to 40% palm oil sludge in their rations

without adverse effects. Palm oil sludge and press fibre combined in equal proportions can

constitute up to 50% of the ruminant ration; however, this blend can be stored for no more than

a day and a half before it becomes unpalatable. Raw or concentrated palm oil sludge can be

absorbed on cassava meal or palm kernel cake and dried into feed cakes.

     

PALM KERNEL CAKE. Despite a comparatively high oil content, palm kernel cake is dry and

gritty and is not readily accepted by all types of stock. As an ingredient in mixed feeds, its

unpalatability is of less importance.

     Solvent-extracted meal is particularly unpalatable and must therefore be mixed with

well-liked feeds, such as molasses, and fed in gradually increasing proportions. It is, however, a

safe and wholesome material, and if reasonable care is taken in the arrangement of the feeding,

it is readily eaten. 

     Palm kernel cake is largely used for feeding cattle. It tends to produce a firm butter when

fed to dairy cattle. A ration or 2-5 kg per day has been found satisfactory for adult cattle. 

     Good results have been obtained from pig rations consisting of 20-30% palm kernel meal.

Higher proportions usually cause scouring. It has been claimed, however, that a final pig fattening

ration of 62.4% palm kernel meal, 35.1% maize and 2.5% blood meal gives average weekly

increases of 4.5 kg per hog. Young pigs do not always like it, and in pig feeding it must always

be introduced very gradually. Palm kernel cake or meal tends to produce firm pork of good

quality. 

     Palm kernel cake, though seldom used in poultry rations, seems to be palatable to poultry

and can replace wheat middlings in the poultry diet. Up to 20% has been included in the diet with

good results.





                         As % of dry matter

                    DM   CP   CF   Ash  EE   NFE  Ca   P    Ref



Kernels, Malaysia   92.0 7.9  3.9  1.7  54.0 32.5 0.09 0.31 292



Pericarp, Malaysia  66.6 7.4  19.0 8.1  12.0 53.5 0.13 0.12  "



Kernel oilcake, hyd-

raulically pressed, 

Ghana               88.2 15.8 29.7 3.7  23.0 27.8 0.21 0.47 372



Kernel oilcake, 

expeller, Nigeria   91.6 20.4 9.0  5.7  8.3  56.6           374



Kernel oil meal, 

solvent extracted, 

Ghana               90.8 18.6 37.0  4.5 1.7  38.2 0.31 0.85 372



Palm press fibre, 

Malaysia            86.2 4.0  36.4 9.0  21.0 29.6 0.31 0.13 516



Palm oil sludge, 

Malaysia                 9.6  11.5 11.1 21.3 46.5 0.28 0.26  "





                                   Digestibility (%)



                         Animal    CP   CF   EE   NFE  ME   Ref



Kernels                  Sheep     95.2 60.3 95.3 84.0 5.38 512



Oilcake, expeller        Sheep     84.9 60.0 96.1 85.3 3.31  "



Oilcake, expeller        Pigs      60.0 36.3 25.0 76.7 2.25  "





                         Nylon bag degradability



                               a    b    c        12hr 48hr Ref

                              (%)  (%)  (/hour)   (%)  (%)



Palm kernel cake, Ghana  DM   48.4 15.9 0.0415         59.9 627



Oil palm fruit bracts, 

Ghana                    DM   11.7 20.3 0.0292         25.6  "



     [P (rumen degradability at time t) = a+b*(1-exp(-c*t))]





          Amino acid composition as % of crude protein



Kernel oilcake                                         Ref  119



Arg  Cys  Gly  His  Ils  Leu  Lys  Met  Phe  Thr  Try  Tyr  Val

13.9 1.9  4.8  2.5  3.8  6.4  3.7  2.7  3.6  3.5  2.8  2.7  5.7