Calcium soap from palm fatty acid distillate for ruminant feed: Ca(OH)2 as calcium source

Abstract

PFAD can be utilized as raw material for producing calcium soap, a kind of ruminant feed supplement. It gives benefits to the ruminants’ health and increases the quantity and quality of cattle’s milk. This research evaluated the effect of stoichiometric mole ratio of Ca(OH)2 to PFAD and water temperature on calcium soap production using PFAD and calcium hydroxide as raw materials by applying modified fusion method. The result showed that the acid value of products decreased as the mole ratio of Ca(OH)2 to PFAD increased and the low water temperature lowered the acid value of products. The highest fatty acid conversion (98%) was achieved at the stoichiometric mole ratio of 3. However, the use of such high mole ratio is not preferable because the product will have excessive calcium, which may disturb the absorption of other minerals in ruminant’s digestion. Thus, further research related to operating condition and the use of other calcium sources in the calcium soap production is still required.