Palm oil stripping through cellulolytic microorganism fermentation

Abstract

Abstract Fresh fruit bunch (FFB) is sterilised to inactivate the enzyme, facilitate the release of fruit from fruit bunch, and soften the fruit for ease of oil release from mesocarp. Nevertheless, sterilisation heat can damage the oil. In this study, a modification of the oil palm processing was done to facilitate the release of fruit from FFB by using cellulolytic microorganisms through the fermentation process. This study aims to obtain the optimum inoculum and fermentation time in the processing of palm fruits to produce palm oil with high quantity and quality. The types of inoculum used were Bacillus subtilis, Aspergillus niger, Trichoderma harzianum, and a combination of B.subtilis + A.niger, and B.subtilis + T.harzianum. Fermentation was carried out for 20, 40, and 60 hours. The fruit that has been separated from the fruit bunch was then extracted using n-hexane. The results showed that the interaction between inoculum types and fermentation time had a significant effect on oil yield, free fatty acid content, deterioration of bleaching index (DOBI), beta carotene content, and peroxide value. The effective treatment to produces an oil with optimum quantity and quality was using T.harzianum, fermented for 20 hours.