ABSTRACT

Four palm oil samples were processed traditionally from palm fruits harvested from a farm at Akpaa Mbaa-atoo in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State. The processing methods used included, (i) pressing out the oil manually after boiling and pounding, (ii) the aqueous rinsing extraction method where the pounded fruits is dispensed in excess water and oil is scooped out and then boiled, (iii) the addition of red mud into the pounded fruits and subsequently squeezing out the oil with hand and (iv) putting the pounded fruits into a bag and squeezing out the oil manually. The yield and physical quality indices analyzed were moisture content, smoke point, flash point and fire point while the chemical quality indices analyzed were free fatty acids (FFA), saponification value, peroxide value and iodine value. The oil sample extracted using the red mud has the highest yield (31.75%) and lower value of FFA (2.58%), it was followed by oil sample produced using the aqueous rinsing method with a yield of (28.03%) and FfA (3.05%) and the bag pressed method with a yield ol (26.07%), FFA (2.75%) with the least value of peroxide value (6.92 MEq/g). The hand press method had the lowest percentage yield (9.42%), FFA (3.18%) and it had the highest peroxide value showing the higher possibility of rancidity.