Oil Palm - One Fruit, Two Oils, Countless Applications

Oil palm is an exceptionally versatile oil crop because a single fruit provides two commercially important oils with distinctly different properties. Palm oil is extracted from the mesocarp or flesh, while palm kernel oil is produced from the kernel. These oils can then be refined, fractionated and further processed into numerous food and industrial ingredients.

Palm oil can be separated into palm olein and palm stearin, allowing manufacturers to select liquid or solid fractions for different functions. Applications include cooking and frying oils, margarine, shortening, bakery fats, confectionery, ice cream, fillings and other food products.

Palm Oil Fruit - Mars Oleochemicals Malaysia

Oil palm produces two versatile oils food, personal care, oleochemical, cleaning and energy applications worldwide.

Palm-kernel oil has a different fatty-acid profile and is especially important in specialty fats and oleochemical manufacturing. Palm and palm-kernel feedstocks can produce fatty acids, fatty alcohols, glycerine, methyl esters and numerous downstream derivatives used in personal care, cosmetics, soaps, detergents and industrial chemicals.

The versatility of palm-derived products extends well beyond cooking oil. Palm-based materials support bakery, confectionery, personal care, household cleaning, oleochemicals, specialty chemicals, biodiesel and other industrial value chains, making oil palm an important multipurpose agricultural and industrial feedstock.

Produces two distinct vegetable oils
Provides palm oil from the mesocarp
Provides palm-kernel oil from the kernel
Broad food functionality
Broad non-food functionality
Fractionation produces multiple functional grades
Palm olein for liquid-oil applications
Palm stearin for solid-fat applications
Palm-kernel fractions for specialty fats
Suitable for oleochemical conversion

Renewable vegetable-origin feedstock
Source of fatty acids
Source of fatty alcohol feedstocks
Source of glycerine
Supports surfactant manufacturing
Supports specialty-fat manufacturing
Suitable for food processing
Suitable for personal-care ingredients
Suitable for home-care ingredients
Broad industrial value chain

Enables different functional fat profiles
Provides liquid and solid oil fractions
Supports cooking and frying applications
Supports bakery-fat formulations
Supports confectionery-fat formulations
Provides renewable oleochemical feedstocks
Enables surfactant production
Supports cosmetic ingredient manufacturing

Supports household-cleaning formulations
Supports specialty ester production
Provides lauric and non-lauric feedstocks
Supports biodiesel production
Supports large-scale industrial processing
Offers multiple downstream product streams
Provides diverse formulation functionality
Serves global food and chemical markets

Cooking Oils
Frying Oils
Margarine
Shortening
Bakery Fats
Confectionery Fats
Chocolate-Type Coatings
Ice Cream
Cream Fillings
Food Manufacturing
Soap
Detergents
Surfactants
Shampoo
Hair Care

Skin Care
Cosmetics
Toothpaste
Home Care
Industrial Cleaning
Fatty Acids
Fatty Alcohols
Glycerine
Esters
Emulsifiers
Lubricants
Specialty Chemicals
Biodiesel
Animal Feed
Industrial Oleochemicals

Why is oil palm considered highly versatile? Oil palm produces palm oil from the fruit mesocarp and palm kernel oil from the kernel. Both oils can be refined, fractionated and processed into numerous food and industrial products.

What two oils come from oil palm fruit? Palm oil is extracted from the fruit mesocarp, while palm kernel oil is extracted from the kernel or seed.

What is palm oil used for? Palm oil is used in cooking, frying, margarine, shortening, bakery fats, confectionery, ice cream, specialty fats and numerous other food applications.

What is palm kernel oil used for? Palm kernel oil is used in specialty confectionery fats and as an important feedstock for soaps, cosmetics, detergents, surfactants and oleochemicals.

What oleochemicals can be produced from palm-based feedstocks? Palm-based feedstocks can produce fatty acids, fatty alcohols, methyl esters, glycerine, fatty amines and numerous downstream chemical derivatives.