Oil Palm Deseeded Fruit Head Ash: Fractionation and Characterization

Abstract

The processing of palm oil from the fruits of the African oil palm generates an increasing amounts of solid waste. The production of beneficial products for various applications from the oil palm wastes would reduce the amount of unwanted materials produced and contribute to a healthier environment. In this research, fractions were derived from the filtrate of the oil palm deseeded fruit head ash by fractional crystallization. Their physicochemical properties, cation, and anion compositions were determined by standard methods. Three hygroscopic oil palm ash fractions, namely crystals, anhydrous, and sediment, were obtained from the filtrate of the soaked ash. The crystals fraction showed significantly higher mean values than the anhydrous and sediment in conductivity and total organic matter (p<0.0001 each), salinity (p<0.01 and p<0.0001), and total organic carbon (p<0.01), while anhydrous had higher total dissolved solids than the crystals (p<0.01) and sediments (p<0.05). pH and melting points for the crystals and anhydrous compounds were similar (11.07 and <330) and higher than that of the sediment (10.29 and 284.2). Compared to the crystals, anhydrous fractions reveal significantly lower values in iron, phosphate (p<0.01 individually), zinc, chloride, nitrate, and sulphate (p<0.05 each), while sediments had significantly higher zinc (p<0.05) and nitrate (p<0.0001) and lower iron, chloride (p<0.05 each), sulphate and phosphate (p<0.0001 respectively) mean values. From this study, the isolation of three fractions from the oil palm empty fruit bunch ash with different physicochemical properties and ionic compositions was achieved. These fractions may serve as useful resources for utilization in various fields of research and production processes.