Chapter 4: Palm oil

industries

By: Pn. Noraini Razali

AIChE Career Services Department
2002

Content:

Introduction (Plant growth, plant oil fruits,

CPO and PKO characteristics)

Plantation and harvesting

Palm oil mills

Palm kernel oil mills

Palm oil processing (refining and

fractionation).

Oleochemical industry

Introduction :

The commercial name is Elaise Guineensis which

is a tribe of the coconut family

Originated in the tropical rain forest region of West

Africa

Palm oil is rich in carotenoids, (pigments

found in plants and animals) which derives
its deep red colour

the major component of its glycerides is the

saturated fatty acid palmitic

solid fat in temperate climates.

Malaysia is the largest producer and exporter of

palm oil in the world, accounting for 30% of the

Introduction :

Palm oil is one of the 17 major oils and fats

produced and traded in the world.

The Malaysian palm oil industry has experienced

significant growth since the crop (oil palm species
Elaeis guineensis) was first introduced into the
country from West Africa in the late 1870s.

Today, oil palm has emerged as the most

remunerative agricultural commodity, where
Malaysia is becoming the worlds leading
producer and exporter of palm oil, accounting for
more than half of the world total output and
exports.

Introduction :Plant growth

1.
2.
3.
4.

First nurtured at nursery after pollination using polybags

All polybags with soil are watered before sowing.
The seeds are sown at 1.8 cm below the soil surface
Once reached 8 inches in height (after 12 months), they are
transferred to the plantation
5. Planting of seedlings in the field beginning of rainy
season. The best grown area is, plenty of rainfall but good
drainage system
6. Successful cloning of the tree has made it possible now to
harvest the tree after 30 mths planting until 20-30yrs
7. Each ripe bunch is commonly known as Fresh Fruit Bunch
(FFB)

Introduction :Plant oil fruit

1. Oil palm is a crop that bears both male and female flowers on
the same tree,
2. Each tree produces compact bunches weighing between 10
and 25 kilograms with 1000 to 3000 fruitlets per bunch.
3. Each fruitlet is almost spherical or elongated in shape.
Generally the fruitlet is dark purple, almost black and the
colour turns to orange red when ripe.
4. Each fruitlet consists of a hard kernel (seed) inside a shell
(endocarp) which is surrounded by the fleshy mesocarp.

Introduction :Plant oil fruit

Kernel

Mesocarp
Fresh fruit bunch (FFB)

The fruit made up of:

- exocarp (skin)
- mesocarp (contains palm
oil &
water in a fibrous matrix)
- endocarp (shell)
- kernel (seed which

PALM OIL AND PALM KERNEL OIL

The oil palm produces two types of oils;
i. Crude palm oil (CPO) from the fibrous
mesocarp
ii.Crude palm kernel oil (CPKO) from the
kernels.
Although both oils originate from the same fruit,
palm oil is chemically and nutritionally different
from palm kernel oil.
Palm Kernel Oil (PKO) is a light yellow crude oil,

extracted from the palm kernels, containing

mainly lauric acid.
Palm Kernel Oil is used in :

PALM OIL AND PALM KERNEL OIL

Palm oil

Palm Kernel Oil

Fractionated into
palm olein and
stearin
Palm olein food
Palm stearin
nonfood /
oleochemicals

Fractionated into
palm kernel olein
and
kernel stearin
Palm kernel stearin

solid = palm Stearin

food
Palm kernel olein
nonfood /
oleochemicals

CRUDE PALM OIL

CPO is deep orange red in colour due to the high
content of natural carotenes. Palm oil is rich
source of carotenoids and vitamin E which confers
natural stability against oxidative deterioration.

Fractionation separates oil into liquid and solid

fractions. Palm oil can be fractionated into liquid
(olein) and solid (stearin) components.

Palm oil has a balanced ratio of unsaturated and

saturated fatty acids. It contains :40% oleic acid (monounsaturated fatty
acid),
10% linoleic acid (polyunsaturated fatty
acid ),

Palm Olein

Palm olein is the liquid fraction obtained by

fractionation of palm oil after crystallization at
controlled temperatures.

widely used as a cooking oil. It also blends

perfectly with other popular vegetable oils. For
example, in Japan, refined palm olein is blended
with rice bran and in Malaysia, it is blended with
groundnut oil.

used as a frying oil and much of its popularity is

due to its good resistance to oxidation and
formation of breakdown products at frying
temperatures and longer shelf life of finished
products.

Palm Stearin

solid fraction obtained by fractionation of palm

oil after crystallization at controlled
temperatures.

source of fully natural hard fat component for

products such as shortening and pastry and
bakery margarines.

It is always traded at a discount to palm oil and

palm olein; making it an cost effective
ingredient in several applications.

Introduction :Malaysian Oil Palm Planted Area (hectare)

Introduction :The oil palm industry can be divided into several main
sectors according to their activities:
a)

Plantations
- planting of the oil palm and harvesting of the
fresh fruit
bunches(FFB)
b)

Palm oil mills

processing of the FFB into crude palm oil
(extraction of oil)
and palm kernels
c)

Palm kernel mills

extraction of the palm kernel oil

Introduction :d) Palm oil processing

refining and fractionation as well as
production of downstream products
e) Bulking installation
storage and shipment of palm oil products
to importing countries all over the world

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7425928/Palm-Oil-

(a)
Planting and harvesting of fresh fruit bunch and
transporting it to palm oil mill

Palm oil :Planting :1. Planting of seedlings in the field beginning

of rainy season.
2. The seedlings are transferred to the
plantation after 12 months in the nursery.
3. Planting holes are prepared 2 weeks before
planting.
4. About 300g phosphate fertilizer is applied in
the hole.
5. Polybag is removed before placing the
seedling in the hole.

Palm oil:Harvestin
g :-Oil palm starts bearing fruits bunches 2 to 3
1.
years after field planting.
2. A good and convenient time to harvest is
when the ripeness of the bunch has reached a
stage where at least some loose fruits drop
from the bunch.
3. The usual frequency of harvesting round is 2-3
times a month.
4. Operation: 7 a.m to 12 noon in cutting of the
bunch from the tree
5. The time from harvesting until sterilizing of

Palm oil:Transporting fruit

bunch
:All harvested
bunches together with the looses
fruits at the platforms are transported by
tractors to the loading ramp/collection centre
on the same day they are harvested.
Transportation of crops from the platforms to the
loading ramp is done not later than 5.00 p.m.
Each cage hold about 2 tons of fruits.
These are pushed in a train of three by a
locomotive or skid loader to the sterilizer yard.

Palm oil:Transporting fruit

bunch
:The procedure
in the ramp operation is to
ensure that old fruits are first taken out for
processing.
This is essential to avoid accumulation of old
fruits which otherwise will rot over a short
period and thus creating high (free fatty acid)
FFA problem.
Loose fruits on the ramp top, ramp bottom and
around the marshalling yard should be removed
to avoid being crashed and prevent
unnecessary problems arising.

AIChE Career Services Department

2002

Palm oil:Bunch reception:

The fruits are first graded to ensure a high

standard of harvesting.

Grade as follows :
fruits bunch with less than 10 loose fruitlets
unripe
fruits bunch with 10 or more loose fruitlets
ripe
bunch with excessive loose fruits detached
overripe
bunch with loose fruits completely detached
rotten
bunch with long stalk and consignment with
excessive trash are also noted.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7425928/Palm-Oil-

(b)
Palm oil mills

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7425928/Palm-Oil-

Palm oil milling

process (Extracting
crude palm oil)
Harvesting
of FFB

Purification
- high speed centrifuge
to clean the oil from
impurities

Vacuum
drying

Sterilization

Stripping

- steam-heat
treatment at pressure
3 kg/cm2 and T=140oC

- fruits are separated

from the
spikelets/bunch stalk

Clarification
- clarification tank
for oil separation (T
= 90oC)

Cooling at
45oC

Digestion
- fruits are heated
under steam
- The mesocarp
loosened from the
nuts

Screening
- vibrating screen of
30-40 mesh to remove
the major part of the
fibre and residue

Storage

Pressing
-

pressing the fruits

by using Twin Screw
Press under high
pressure

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7425928/Palm-Oil-

Palm oil milling process :(1) Sterilization :Sterilization means the use of high-temperature
wet-heat treatment of loose fruit
Purposes:
i. Prevention of further rise in fresh fruit bunch
due to
enzymatic action.
ii. Facilitation of stripping of the fruits from the
spikelets
iii. Preparation of the fruit mesocarp for
subsequent
processing by coagulating the mucilaginous
material which
facilitates the breaking of the oil cells

Palm oil milling process :(1) Sterilization :

The FFB must be allowed to heat thoroughly and

become cooked.
- the time depending on the weight of the
individual bunches
- usually 60 minutes.
An important factor in sterilization is keeping in
time with sterilizing cycle.
Inefficient sterilization will give rise to several
problems in the subsequent process :
(i) stripping of the fruits fruits are not loosed
enough
(ii) digestion and pressing pericarp is not
softened enough
(iii) cracking higher tendency of nuts cracking
and thus broken

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7425928/Palm-Oil-

Palm oil milling process :(2) Bunch stripping :The containers with the sterilized bunches are
emptied into a rotary drum threshers where the
fruits are separated from the bunch stalk
The empty fruit bunch completely stored for
minimize the mass of residue

AIChE Career Services Department

2002

Palm oil milling process :(3) Digestion :After the bunches have been stripped, the sterilized
fruits must be reheated and the pericarp loosened
from the nuts and prepared for pressing.
Carried out in steam heated vessels provided with
stirring arms known as digesters or kettles.
Within a temperature of close to 100C :
the arms stir and rub the fruits
loosening the pericarp from the nut
breaking open as many of the oil cells as possible
The digester converts the stripped fruits into a
homogeneous mash.
The digester is kept full, as the digested fruit is drawn

Palm oil milling process :(4) Pressing and screening:

Palm oil extraction by pressing in the screw press

system
Three methods :
a) mechanical presses and is called the dry
method
b) the wet method uses hot water to leach out
the
oil (direct solvent extraction).
c) Pre pressing followed by solvent extraction
The fibre and nuts are carried out by the steam
jacketed conveyer before each goes their
separate ways whereas the crude oil is then
passed on to the vibrating screens to be

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7425928/Palm-Oil-

Palm oil milling process :(5) Clarification and purification :

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

Crude oil contains :

(i) varying amounts of water together with
impurities
consisting vegetable matter
(ii) insoluble solids
(iii) some dissolved in the water.

An average composition of crude palm oil

contains :

Palm oil milling process :(5) Clarification and purification :To give a clear stable product of acceptable
appearance, water and impurities removed.- carried
out in the clarification section of the mill.
Clarification systems used for palm oil are gravity
settling or direct process.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7425928/Palm-Oil-

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7425928/Palm-Oil-

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7425928/Palm-Oil-

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7425928/Palm-Oil-

Palm oil milling process :(6) Vacuum drying:

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 :
a) treat the crude mixture
b) dry decanted oil
c) hold finished oil in an outer shell

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7425928/Palm-Oil-

Palm oil milling process :(7) Storage: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 50C, using hot
water or low-pressure steam-heating coils, to
prevent solidification and fractionation

(c) Palm kernel mills

extraction of the palm kernel oil

Palm oil mills

(Extracting crude palm kernel oil)
Pressing

Press cake

Depericarper

pressing the fruits

by using Twin
Screw Press under
high pressure

Nut

Rotating
drum

Fibre

Nut
cracker

Boiler house
Boiler fuel

Silo dryer
Kernel oil with moisture < 7%

Kernel
(oil)

Hydrocyclone
Shell

Nut and Kernel Station

The nuts are normally not processed for the oil

content in the same mill.
The nuts need to separate the shell from the
kernel.
Before that, separation of the nuts from the
accompanying fibre is done in the depericarper
station.
Other functions of the depericarper include :
nut polishing
partial drying of the fibre
transport of the fibre to the boiler house
grading out of oversize foreign material
the wet nuts are elevated to the nut bin which is
maintained at 60-77C.
upon drying, the dry nuts are then transported by

Kernel process
1)

Nut Recovery- the nuts contained in the press

cake are separated from the fibre in a
depericarper

2) Nut Drying & Nut Cracker - dried and cracked in

centrifugal crackers to release the kernels
3) Kernel Seperation - The kernels are normally
separated from the shells using a combination of
winnowing and hydrocyclones
4) Kernal Storage - . The kernels are then dried in
silos to a moisture content of about 7 percent
before packing.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7425928/Palm-Oil-

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7425928/Palm-Oil-

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7425928/Palm-Oil-

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7425928/Palm-Oil-

Solid waste products

The

solid wastes that result from the

milling operations are:
a) Empty fruit bunches
b) Palm fibre
c) Palm kernel shell

Aqueous effluent
Large- and medium-scale mills
produce copious volumes of liquid
waste from the sterilizer, clarifying
centrifuges and hydrocyclones.
This effluent must be treated before
discharge to avoid serious
environmental pollution.

d) Palm oil processing

refining and fractionation as well as production
of downstream products

Refining of crude palm oil :-

Reasons why refining process is

important
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)

To stabilize the oil

It produces lighter colour of oil
Better appearance of oil
Blandness in taste
To remove of almost all unwanted
impurities

Refining of crude palm oil :The purpose is to produce a clean and attractive looking
oil or fat by removing impurities which cause the oil to
have an unattractive colour and taste.
2 types :a) Physical refining
- it is the common process in Msia due to its higher
efficiency,
low operating and capital cost and negligible
effluent
handling
b) Chemical refining
- it is not very popular process because of high
operating cost
and high refining losses
- the inherent problems of pollution due to the

Refining of crude palm oil :a) Physical refining flow chart

Crude palm oil
Degumming
Impurities,
odour, colour
component
FFA,
Impurities,
odour, colour
component

0.1-0.2% ortho-phosphoric
acid, Temp.:85oC, 15 min.

Bleaching

0.5-2% bleaching earth

Temp: 95oC, 30 min.

Filtration

Temp: 60-70 oC

Deodorization

Refined, bleached
and deodorized
palm oil

Steam
Temp: 240 270oC, time: 30 min

a) Physical refining
Degumming

Purpose: to ensure a light colour and stable finished

product.
Some of the gums in palm oil are not hydratable gums
or phosphatides which cannot be removed from oil by
water degumming
Concentrated phosphoric acid 0.1% by weight is used
to removed a significant amount of the non-hydratable
phosphatides
The crude oil is heated to 85oC before the acid is
added, and allowed to react for at least 15 min before
removal of gum at next stage

a) Physical refining
Bleaching
The functions of bleaching process:
i - to adsorb the undesirable impurities such as trace metals,
moisture,
insoluble matter and part of carotenoids and other pigments
ii - to reduce the level of oxidation products
iii - to adsorb the phospholipids precipitated by the phosphoric acid
iv - to remove any excess phosphoric acid present in the oil after
degumming
v - to obtain the lightest colour possible
vi - to remove traces of soap present from the alkaline process
which can
effect hydrogention by making it erratic, non selective and
difficult to control
vii -to remove traces of nickel from hydrogenated oil (nickel will
disturb
deodorisation process later by changing the flavor and colour of
the final product
Carried out under a steam or nitrogen blanket or under vacum20

a) Physical refining
Filtration

eral types of equipment are used :te and frame filter, vertical leaf pressure filter and horizonta

a) Physical refining
Deodorization

Function: to remove all oxidative products that impart

(reduces) odour or flavour to the oil.
Therefore, it removes tocopherols, sterols and other useful
minor constituents, as well as other undesirable materials. This
processs also remove the relatively volatile odiferous and
flavoured subtances (aldehydes, ketones, FFA) which impact
undesirable odour and taste to the oil
The oil is subjected to a high temperature (240-270oC) and
vacuum (2-5 mmHg)
Deodorization is principally steam distillation under vacuum
stripping through packed column or falling film evaporator
If soap present, high losses will be encountered due to foaming
in the deodoriser

b) Chemical refining flow chart

Degumming
Soap stock

Neutralisation

Acidulation
using H2SO4

Pretreatment
Bleaching

Acid oil

Deacidification/
Deodorisation

NaOH

Bleaching
earth

Steam
Temp: 240 270oC

b) Chemical refining
Neutralisation
The process involves the use/ addition of alkali; caustic soda
(sodium hydroxide) to neutralised the oil
The reaction:

NaOH + FFA

soap stock

The resulting soapstock is separated from oil by centrifuging and

washing with water
The losses which occur during neutralisation of palm oil can
normally be attributed to the following factors:
- the PFA
- the mucillage and colouring matter as well as other
impurities in the oil
- the saponification losses which arise through saponification
of neutral oil
Any soap retained in the washed oil is removed by adding citric or
phosphoric acid to the final wash prior to drying of the oil
The soap stock is reacted with sulphuric acid to convert the soap

b) Chemical refining
Pretreatment
Bleaching

Deacidification/
Deodorisation

Bleaching and deodorization in chemical

refining are similar to the steps in physical
refining.
But as most of the unwanted components such
as free fatty acids and volatile components are
already removed during neutralization and
bleaching, milder conditions can be used in the
deodorization process.

Fractionation of crude palm oil :

Palm oil is made up of a mixture of triglycerides

and it is semi-solid at tropical temperature.

Therefore, the purpose of fractionation is to

separate the low melting triglycerides from the
high melting ones.

For instance, an olein fraction with low cloud

point and good cold stability can be obtained
from fractionation process

To separate palm oil into two fractions, Olein

and Stearin,
without the addition of chemicals or solvents.
Same plant can be used for producing super

Fractionation of crude palm oil :3 types of fractionation process:

1) Dry Fractionation - crystallization of palm oil followed by
separation of fractions filtration (the simplest method)
2) Solvent Fractionation - crystallization of palm oil in the
presence of solvent e.g. hexane
3) Detergent fractionation - partial crystallization of palm oil and
mixing a water solution of surface active agent followed by
centrifuging

Fractionation of crude palm oil :Dry Fractionation

Crude palm oil
RBD Palm oil

Crystallization
(supercooling)
Filtration/Centrifuge

Filter
press

Crude palm olein

Crude palm stearin

RBD Palm olein (Yield: 65-85%)

RBD Palm stearin (Yield: 15-35%)

Fractionation of crude palm oil :Crystallization

(supercooling)
Palm oil is chilled at controlled temperature
and crytallized to crystals of certain sizes prior to filtration.
Crystallisation under preset controlled conditions of temperature
& agitation to form stable, uniform sized filterable crystals.
The crystallization process is carried out to remove the higher melting
glycerides which cause liquid oils to become cloudy and more
viscous at low temperature.
There are 3 factors (temperature, time and agitation),
have a fundamental importance on the formation and
character of the crystal:

Fractionation of crude palm oil :Crystallization

(supercooling)
There are 3 factors (temperature, time and
agitation), have a fundamental importance on the
formation and character of the crystal:
1.The lowering of temperature causes,
because of supersaturating the higher melting
component to separate from a solution.
2.Agitation facilitates the formation of small
crystals.
3.Time with a gradual decrease in
temperature and stillness, promotes the formation
of longer crystals.
the crystal formation then cooled in the jackets or
cooling coils of the crystallizer.

Fractionation of crude palm oil :Filtration/Centrifuge

Function: To separate the olein from the solid

phase
Two systems: Vacuum and filter press
Filter press offers higher efficiency, better
protection against oxidation, faster filtration
and much lower energy consumption.
Filtering on membrane press filter (or Rotary
Drum Vacuum filter) to separate the
solid/liquid fractions.
The Palm Olein and Palm Stearin are
separated.

Oleochemical industry

Oleochemical industry
In

view of the availability of oil palm as

raw material, Malaysia has now become a
growing center for production and supply
of oleochemical products

Oleochemicals

are chemicals derived from

natural oils and fats via the splitting of
triglycerides into fatty acid derivatives
and glycerol or via modifications of
oils/fats.

PALM OIL/PALM KERNEL OIL

PRETREATMENT
FAT SPLITTING

METHANOLYSIS

Sweet water
PRE-TREATMENT

Crude methyl esters

Crude fatty acids

EVAPORATION

DISTILLATION

Distilled methyl
esters
HYDROGENATION
Fatty alcohol

DISTILLATION

ESTERIFICATION

HYDROGENATION

DISTILLATION

Hydrogenated
fatty acids

Distilled fatty acid

FRACTIONATION
Fractionated fatty alkohol

Soap

Fractionated
Fatty acid
ESTERIFICATION

Distilled esters
NEUTRALIZATION

FRACTIONATION

Distilled
hydrogenated
fatty acids

BLEACHING

DISTILLATION
USP grade
glycerine
Distilled
fractionated ester

Process for the production of basic oleochemicals

There are 5 groups of basic oleochemicals:

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)

fatty acids
methyl ester
fatty alcohols
fatty amines
glycerol.

BASIC OLEOCHEMICALS

FATTY ESTER

FATTY ALCOHOL

GLYCERINE

FATTY AMINE

FATTY ACID

DIRECT USES OF BASIC

OLEOCHEMICALS
Application
Fatty Acids

Soap, candles, cosmetics, plastic

and rubber processing

Fatty Methyl Biofuel, solvents, cleaning agent,

adjuvants
Esters
Fatty
Alcohols
Glycerine

Viscosity modifier, anti-drying

agents
Emulsifiers, moisturizing agent in
cosmetics

Surfactants in
agrochemicals e.g. in
pesticide formulation
Surfactants in
detergent and
softener
formulation

Cosmetics and skin

care products

Oleochemical
uses
Soaps

Candles

Lubricant and
grease

Pharmaceuticals

ect of this industry towards the environment

Products

Raw materials

Waste/by-Products

Solid waste

Wastewater

Greenhouse gas

 In a well run palm oil mill, it is expected that each 100 tonnes of
Solid waste

FFB processed yields 20 to 24 tonnes of crude palm oil and about 4

tonnes of palm kernels.

Thus between 72 to 76 percent of the FFB comes out at various

stages of the process as waste.
The solid wastes that result from the milling operations are:
- Empty fruit bunches,
- Palm fibre,
- Palm kernel shell.
Residual shell is disposed of as gravel for plantation roads
maintenance. Blacksmiths also buy the shells to use as fuel
material in their casting and forging operations.
Palm nut shell is also used in the preparation of pozzolana, a
cement substitute material that has been developed by the Kwame
Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
The fibre recovered from the nut/fibre separation stage is a good
combustible material and finds ready use as fuel to boil the fruit.
The fibre constitutes the bulk of material used to fire the large

Wastewater
Liquid waste treatment involves anaerobic fermentation
followed by aerobic fermentation in large ponds until the effluent
quality is suitable for discharge.
In some of the mills the treated effluent is used on the farm as
manure and source of water for irrigation.
The sludge accumulating in the fermentation ponds is
periodically removed and fed to the land.
To manage the amount of oil entrained in the effluent, while at
the same time improving the efficiency of oil recovery, the large
mills use de-watering and decanting centrifuges at various
locations in the process line.

ct of this industry towards the environment

Palm oil sustainability

Biodiversity loss and the potential extinction of charismatic

species is one of the most controversial issues in oil palm
cultivation. Large areas need to be cleared to make way for
plantations.

Major effects: Open burning of plantation wastes and

release of palm mill pollutants such as palm oil mill effluent
(POME)
Demand for palm oil has increased due to its use as a
biofuel, but recognition that this increases the
environmental impact of cultivation as well as causing a
food vs. fuel issue has forced some developed nations to
reconsider their policies on biofuel to improve standards and
ensure sustainability
The solid wastes that result from the milling operations are:
a) Empty fruit bunches, b) Palm fibre ; c) Palm kernel shell

Palm oil sustainability

Large- and medium-scale mills produce copious
volumes of liquid waste from the sterilizer, clarifying
centrifuges and hydrocyclones. This effluent must be
treated before discharge to avoid serious
environmental pollution.
POME can be a good source for biogas (CH4)
production and electricity generation.
Anaerobic treatment of POME has been practiced in
Malaysia and Indonesia
POME is rich in nutrient can be used as fertilizers
EFB & empty kernels can be turned into raw material
for its fiber, or to make roads.