CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction

This literature review provides an overview of palm oil and covers palm oil
production methods; the traditional method of palm oil production and the modern
method of palm oil production. It also covers palm oil processing equipment
maintenance procedure, the factors hindering large-scale production of palm oil,
rationale for the adoption of modern method of palm oil production and the research
gap filled by the study.

2.1 Overview of palm oil

Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil extracted from from the ripe mesocarp (reddish
pulp) of the palm fruits produced by oil palm (Elaeis guineensis). (Bankole &
Hammed, 2024; Gavdeo, 2018). Palm oil fruit belongs to the class of fruit called
‘drupe’. Several numbers of palm fruits are usually attached in a bunch (Mba et al.,
2016). Palm oil is used to prepare different soups preparation as it is a good source
of vitamin E and carotenoids. Palm oil has its origin in West Africa, specifically,
Guinea (Gavdeo, 2018). Aside from its fatty acid composition, palm oil is one of the
most important oils among frying oils (Mba et al., 2016). It is a source of income to
farmers, and also serves as a foreign exchange to a nation. Palm oil farming is a
productive endeavor in terms of empowering rural communities, fostering economic
growth, and improving the livelihood of people in rural areas (Syahza et al., 2020).

The oil is used in food manufacturing, cosmetics and beauty products such as soap,
in engine lubricants and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils
produced from oil crops in 2014 (Ritchie, 2021). Palm oils are easier to stabilize and
maintain quality of flavor and consistency in ultra-processed foods, so they are
frequently favored by food manufacturers (Verdict Media, 2024). Globally, humans
consumed an average of 7.7 kg (17 lb) of palm oil per person in 2015 (Raghu,
2017). Demand has also increased for other uses, such as cosmetics and biofuels,
encouraging the growth of palm oil plantations in tropical countries (Murphy et al.,

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 2021). The biggest global producers of palm oil are Indonesia, who produced 60%
of it in 2022, (World Agricultural Production, 2023) followed by Malaysia,
Thailand, and Nigeria. Indonesia produces biodiesel primarily from palm oil (BBC
News, 2021).

2.2 Palm oil production methods

There are two major categories of palm oil production; traditional method (use of
human power) and modern method (use of machines). The traditional means is a
palm oil production method that mainly uses human efforts i.e it is labor intensive.
It is cheap and always readily available. It is however associated with some
shortcomings such as; low quantity and quality products, human fatigue, impurities,
and others (Taiwo et al., 2020). The modern method on the other hand is a palm oil
production technique where the production is achieved mainly with the use of
machines. It makes work easier and faster, and enhances commercialization of palm
oil (Anyaoha et al., 2018). However, this method is capital-intensive and also
generates pollution. The modern is the preferred method when purity and
commercial production are prioritized. It is quite unfortunate that a larger percentage
of Nigerian palm oil producers are smallholder farmers who constantly embrace
traditional methods. Consequently, this leads to low productivity that could not meet
the exportation demand (Bankole & Hammed, 2024).

2.3 Traditional method of palm oil production

The traditional method of palm oil production is as follows:

Step 1: Harvesting palm fruit bunches from oil palm tree

Oncde the ripeness of palm fruits is confirmed, then the farmer commences the
harvesting of oil palm bunches on the oil palm tree. The process of harvesting palm
fruits involves a cumbersome and tedious task, especially when the tree is tall
(Ayodeji et al., 2020). Shorter trees can be harvested with a cutlass while the farmer
is standing on the ground. For tall trees, the farmer must climb the tree using ropes
woven from raffia palms, which is risky and requires technicality and physical
strength (Hudzari et al., 2020). The farmer cuts off old fronds and bunches and

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descends to cut the fronds into pieces. The farmer gathers all bunches to a central
point and carry them with a head pan or wheelbarrow (Bankole & Hammed, 2024).

Step 2: Splitting off the bunch of palm fruits into smaller pieces (spikelets).

The farmer uses his axe or cutlass to carefully split the bunches of palm fruits from
their stalks into smaller pieces known as palm fruit spikelets. Extra care must be
taken at this stage because the sharp axe could mistakenly cut off the farmer’s hand
if adequate care is not taken (Bankole & Hammed, 2024).

Step 3: Removal of palm fruits from spikelets

For the palm fruits to be easily detached from their spikelets, they are kept for two
days (Onu et al., 2022). This weakens the bond that exists between the palm fruits
and the spikelets. After this, some palm fruits will detach on their own, while others
will easily be removed from their spikelets. Care must always be taken at this stage
as the spikelets have needle-like pointed branches which could cause injury to
human hands if not carefully handled. After the palm fruits have been properly
separated, they are kept in a local basket or sack bag (Bankole & Hammed, 2024).

Step 4: Boiling (sterilizing) of the palm fruits

This stage involves boiling the palm fruits to soften their mesocarps. This is done by
pouring the palm fruits into a drum, adding some water and subjecting it to
extensive heat for about two hours. The heat is usually generated with firewood. To
avoid heat loss to the surroundings, it is necessary to cover the drum properly. It is
important to ensure the palm fruits are well-boiled to ease the process (Bankole &
Hammed, 2024).

Step 5: Removal of the palm fruits mesocarp from its endocarp and grinding
(pounding and maceration) After the proper boiling of the palm fruits, the bond
between the mesocarp and endocarp becomes so weak that they easily get separated
on the application of little pressure. The mesocarp part of palm fruits constitutes the
palm oil and other fibrous materials, while the endocarp part contains the palm
kernel and its shell. Mesocarp is the most important part of palm fruit in palm oil

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production. The separation of the mesocarp from the endocarp involves the
application of mechanical energy only to the outer mesocarp. This is achieved by
either traditional methods or mechanical means (Bankole & Hammed, 2024). Some
years back, a larger percentage of Nigerian palm oil producers employed the
traditional method, using either their legs (matching on the boiled palm fruits) or
mortar and pestle (Onu et al., 2022; Adebo et al., 2016). The gradual emergence of
technology at this stage has not only been a great relief to some farmers but also
enhanced their production per unit of time (Wondi et al., 2021).

Step 6: Separation of palm oil from other constituents

This involves the separation of palm oil from the solid components such as fibers
and palm kernels. This process is labor intensive; there is a tendency to have some
impurities in the final products. A shallow concrete pit is prepared, into which water
is introduced. The crushed mesocarp is then added to the pit. The mixture is
thoroughly stirred by an individual, typically a woman, using both hands and feet to
achieve a homogenous blend. Due to its lower density relative to other components,
the palm oil rises to the surface of the water, where it is easily collected into a drum.
Although the primary objective of this process is the extraction of palm oil, several
other valuable by-products are also generated and must be appropriately processed
and collected. Following the extraction of the palm oil, the remaining mixture
consists of water, fibers, and palm kernels. The fibers, being less dense than the
palm kernels, are collected first, while the denser palm kernels are gathered last
(Bankole & Hammed, 2024).

Step 7: Heating the crude palm oil to obtain refined palm oil

This stage involves heating the crude palm oil to eliminate residual water and obtain
the refined product (Abebe, 2022). The crude palm oil is placed in a drum and
subjected to extensive heating, using firewood as the heat source. While electrical
methods could be employed to generate heat more efficiently and fasten the process,
such technology is not accessible to the majority of palm oil producers in Nigeria
(Adebo et al., 2016). After about two hours of heating, the refined palm oil is
separated from the remaining water and impurities. The refined oil is then allowed

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 to cool for about forty-five minutes before being transferred into plastic containers
(Bankole & Hammed, 2024).

Step 9: Packaging of the palm oil

Packaging is a very essential part of the production process. It prevents wastage and
contamination and enhance its physical appearance (Ojo et al., 2014). Once the palm
oil is produced and cooled, it must be carefully stored in well-sealed containers,
such as plastic kegs or drums, to protect it from wastage and contamination. This
ensures the product is ready for distribution to the market (Bankole & Hammed,
2024).

2.4 Modern method of palm oil production

The modern method of palm oil production is as follows:

Step 1: Harvesting

Harvesting involves the cutting of the bunch from the tree and allowing it to fall to
the ground by gravity. Fruits may be damaged in the process of pruning palm fronds
to expose the bunch base to facilitate bunch cutting. As the bunch (weighing about
25 kg) falls to the ground the impact bruises the fruit. During loading and unloading
of bunches into and out of transport containers there are further opportunities for the
fruit to be bruised (FAO, 2024).

Step 2: Bunch reception

Fresh fruit arrives from the field as bunches or loose fruit. The fresh fruit is
normally emptied into wooden boxes suitable for weighing on a scale so that
quantities of fruit arriving at the processing site may be checked. Large installations
use weighbridges to weigh materials in trucks. The quality standard achieved is
initially dependent on the quality of bunches arriving at the mill. The mill cannot
improve upon this quality but can prevent or minimise further deterioration (FAO,
2024).

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Step 3: Threshing (removal of fruit from the bunches):

Threshing is the process of separating the palm fruits bunches. Threshing in modern
palm oil production is done by using a rotating drum or fixed drum equipped with
rotary beater bars detach the fruit from the bunch, leaving the spikelets on the stem
(FAO, 2024).

Step 4: Sterilisation

Sterilisation involves the utilization of an extremely high-temperature pressurized

steam to treat loose fruit. Moreover, it is crucial to make sure that air is removed
from the sterilizer because it acts as an obstacle to heat transfer and also increase
oxidation at high temperature (Biodun et al, 2021). Over-sterilization can also lead
to poor bleach ability of the resultant oil. Sterilization is also the chief factor
responsible for the discolouration of palm kernels, leading to poor bleach ability of
the extracted oil and reduction of the protein value of the press cake. From the
foregoing, it is obvious that sterilization (cooking) is one of the most important
operations in oil processing (FAO, 2024).

Step 5: Fruit digestion

Digestion is the process of releasing the palm oil in the fruit through the breaking
down of the oil-bearing cells. The digester commonly used consists of a steam-
heated cylindrical vessel fitted with a central rotating shaft carrying a number of
beater (stirring) arms. Through the action of the rotating beater arms the fruit is
pounded. Pounding, or digesting the fruit at high temperature, helps to reduce the
internal friction of the oil, destroy the fruits’ outer covering (exocarp), and
completes the disruption of the oil cells already begun in the sterilization phase
(Akinlabi et al., 2019; FAO, 2024).

Step 6: Pressing (Palm oil extraction)

There are two distinct methods of extracting oil from the digested material. One
system uses mechanical presses and is called the ‘dry’ method. The other called the
‘wet’ method uses hot water to leach out the oil. In the ‘dry’ method the objective of

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the extraction stage is to squeeze the oil out of a mixture of oil, moisture, fibre and
nuts by applying mechanical pressure on the digested mash. There are different
types of presses but the principle of operation is similar for each. The presses may
be designed for batch (small amounts of material operated upon for a time period) or
continuous operations (FAO, 2024).

Step 7: Clarification and drying of oil

The main purpose of clarification is to separate the oil from its entrained impurities.
The fluid coming out of the press is a mixture of palm oil, water, cell debris, fibrous
material and ‘non-oily solids’. Because of the non-oily solids the mixture is very
thick (viscous). Hot water is therefore added to the press output mixture to soften it.
The dilution (addition of water) provides a barrier causing the heavy solids to fall to
the bottom of the container while the lighter oil droplets flow through the watery
mixture to the top when heat is applied to break the emulsion (oil suspended in
water with the aid of gums and resins). Water is added in a ratio of 3:1 (FAO, 2024).

The diluted mixture is passed through a screen to remove coarse fibre. The screened
mixture is boiled from one or two hours and then allowed to settle by gravity in the
large tank so that the palm oil, being lighter than water, will separate and rise to the
top. The clear oil is decanted into a reception tank. This clarified oil still contains
traces of water and dirt. To prevent increasing free fatty acids (FFA) through
autocatalytic hydrolysis of the oil, the moisture content of the oil must be reduced to
0.15 to 0.25 percent. Re-heating the decanted oil in a cooking pot and carefully
skimming off the dried oil from any engrained dirt removes any residual moisture.
Continuous clarifiers consist of three compartments to treat the crude mixture, dry
decanted oil and hold finished oil in an outer shell as a heat exchanger (FAO, 2024).

Step 8: Palm oil storage

In large-scale mills the purified and dried oil is transferred to a tank for storage prior
to dispatch from the mill. Since the rate of oxidation of the oil increases with the
temperature of storage the oil is normally maintained around 50°C, using hot water
or low-pressure steam-heating coils, to prevent solidification and fractionation. Iron

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contamination from the storage tank may occur if the tank is not lined with a
suitable protective coating (Biodun et al, 2021; FAO, 2024). Small-scale mills
simply pack the dried oil in used petroleum oil drums or plastic drums and store the
drums at ambient temperature (FAO, 2024).

Kernel recovery

The residue from the press consists of a mixture of fibre and palm nuts. The nuts are
separated from the fibre by hand in the small-scale operations. The sorted fibre is
covered and allowed to heat, using its own internal exothermic reactions, for about
two or three days. The fibre is then pressed in spindle presses to recover another oil
that is used for soap-making. The nuts are usually dried and sold to other operators
who process them into palm kernel oil (FAO, 2024).

Large-scale mills use the recovered fibre and nutshells to fire the steam boilers. The
super-heated steam is then used to drive turbines to generate electricity for the mill.
For this reason it makes economic sense to recover the fibre and to shell the palm
nuts. In the large-scale kernel recovery process, the nuts contained in the press cake
are separated from the fibre in a depericarper. They are then dried and cracked in
centrifugal crackers to release the kernels. The kernels are normally separated from
the shells using a combination of winnowing and hydrocyclones. The kernels are
then dried in silos to a moisture content of about 7 percent before packing. During
the nut cracking process some of the kernels are broken. The rate of FFA increase is
much faster in broken kernels than in whole kernels. Breakage of kernels should
therefore be kept as low as possible, given other processing considerations (FAO,
2024).

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 PALM OIL PROCESSING UNIT OPERATIONS

BUNCH RECEPTION

THRESHING

STERILISATION

FRUIT DIGESTION

PRESSING NUT & FIBRE KERNEL RECOVERY

OIL CLARIFICATION

OIL DRYING

OIL STORAGE

Source: (FAO, 2024)

2.5 Maintenance of Palm Oil Operating Unit

Below are some of the vital equipments used in modern palm oil processing that
requires maintenance.

i. Fruit Cage: This is where the fruits are kept. To maintain the palm oil
production, the operators cleaned and saved the fruit cage for use, and it
should be continuously washed to prevent contamination to the fruit
(Bankole & Hammed, 2024).

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 ii. Sterilizer: Foams or soft cloth materials should be used to remove residues
from the outlet of this equipment to prolong the shelf life. Furthermore, the
wire connection should be protected (Bankole & Hammed, 2024).
iii. Clarification tank: This is generally used to remove solid particulates or
suspended solids from liquid for thickening; therefore it must be cleaned
daily with soap and water and dried before use (Bankole & Hammed, 2024).
iv. Oil purifier: This should be clean with water and soap to eliminate stuck oil,
and another residue. Warm water can also be mixed with soap to enable easy
cleaning (Bankole & Hammed, 2024).
v. Centrifugal sludge, vacuum dryer, and nutcracker: The centrifugal sludge
and vacuum dryer need to be cleaned continuously with water. Also, the nut
cracker needs to be oiled daily because of the rotating part, so it will not
break down with use or when in use (Bankole & Hammed, 2024).

2.6 Factors that hinder the production of palm oil in large quantity

Despite the potential of the palm oil sub-sector in boosting Nigeria's economy, some
factors have limited its potentials. Factors that impede its viability includes: the use
of crude tools, poor yield fruits, poor infrastructural facilities, predominance of
small-holder farmers, over-reliance on crude oil, land tenure system, and poor credit
facilities (Ikuenobe, 2016).

The quantity and quality of palm oil production in Nigeria are low due to some
factors. Among the major factors that are responsible for the low level and palm oil
production in Nigeria are the high cost of labor, poor transportation system
(including bad roads), poor power supply, poor water availability, and inadequate
credit facilities (Olagunju, 2018). According to Bankole & Hammed (2024),
political instability and inappropriate government policy also constitute significant
hindrances to the production of palm oil in large quantities and excellent quality.

The traditional method is predominantly employed in palm oil production in

Nigeria, as a result, the production remains low. Apart from this, the process is
usually very tedious and laborious compared to the mechanized method (Nwalieji
and Ojike, 2018).

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2.7 Rationale for Adopting Modern Palm Oil Production Methods

The modern method of palm oil production surpasses the traditional method in
several key aspects. Firstly, modern methods boast higher efficiency and
productivity, enabled by mechanized tools and advanced technology (Herdiansyah,
2020). In contrast to the labor-intensive traditional methods, modern production
reduces manual labor requirements, minimizing fatigue and increasing worker
safety (Murphy et al., 2021). Additionally, modern mills incorporate better waste
management systems, reducing environmental degradation and pollution (Meijaard,
Brooks, & Carlson 2020).

Furthermore, modern palm oil production also offers improved food safety and
hygiene. Advanced processing techniques minimize contamination risks, ensuring a
cleaner and healthier final product (Murphy et al., 2021). Modern methods provide
increased quality, oil yield, income generation, better scalability and
competitiveness. With increased production capacity and consistency, modern palm
oil producers can tap into global markets, generating higher revenue and
contributing to national economic growth (Murphy et al., 2021). Lastly, modern
methods facilitate easier maintenance and repair of equipment, reducing downtime
and increasing overall productivity (Alhaji, Almeida, Carneiro, Da Silva, Monteiro,
& Coimbra 2024). In conclusion, the modern method of palm oil production offers
numerous advantages over traditional methods, including improved efficiency,
quality, safety, scalability, and sustainability.

2.8 Research Gap

Despite the extensive literature on palm oil production, there exists a significant
knowledge gap regarding the comparative analysis of traditional and modern
methods of palm oil production, particularly in Burutu Local Government Area.
Previous studies have primarily focused on the technical aspects of palm oil
production, processing, and marketing. However, there is a dearth of research
investigating the factors influencing the adoption of modern palm oil production
methods, the relationship between education level and income, and the perceptions
of farmers regarding the advantages of modern and traditional methods.

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 NEW REFERENCE OF CH1 & CH2

Alhaji, A. M., Almeida, E. S., Carneiro, C. R., Da Silva, C. A., Monteiro, S., & Coimbra, J.
S. (2024). Palm Oil (Elaeis guineensis): A Journey through Sustainability,
Processing, and Utilization. Foods,13, 2814. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13172814

Embrandiri, A., Quaik, S., Rupani, P. F., Srivastava, V. & Singh, P. (2015). In: Waste
management sustainable utilization of oil palm wastes: opportunities and
challenges.

Meijaard, E., Brooks, T. M. & Carlson, K. M. (2020). The environmental impacts of palm
oil in context. Natural Plants, 6, 1418–1426 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-020-
00813-w

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