PALM OIL. A fatty oil obtained from the fleshy part of the fruit of the oil-palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.), a tree in digenous to the west coast of Africa'. Palm oil must not be confounded with the oil from the kernel (palm-kernel oil) , which differs widely from palm oil and resembles coconut oil in its constitution, properties and applications. (See OIL PALM.) The ripe palm-fruit is gathered by natives and stored for three or four days ; the fruits are then detached from the bunches and placed in a pit in the ground lined with leaves; water is sprinkled on the top, and the mass covered and allowed to ferment for one or two months. Under this treatment the fruit softens, so that the hard kernel can easily be separated. The softened flesh is beaten to a pulp, and roughly squeezed in bags; a further quantity of oil is obtained by boiling the pressed pulp with water. Chop oil is a special grade of oil prepared by the natives for food, by boiling the fresh fruits with water and skimming off the oil which rises to the surface. Owing to the fermentation occurring when the fruits are treated by the first method, the oil becomes hydrolysed, giving rise to large amounts of free fatty acids. Since
the introduction of machinery, and with improved cultivation of the trees, better quality oils have been produced, and oils with as little as 2% of free fatty acids can be prepared in bulk.
Palm oil, which is liquid in the Tropics but a semi-solid fat in temperate climates, varies in colour from yellowish-red to dark brownish-red ; before use it is bleached, either by blowing air through the heated oil or by treating the oil with sodium bichro mate and hydrochloric acid. By these means an almost white fat is produced. Large quantities of palm oil are employed in the soap and candle industries; it is also used in tin-plate manufacture for protecting the heated steel plates before tinning, and for edible purposes. Attempts have been made to use palm oil as a fuel for the internal-combustion engines of motor boats on the Congo and other West African rivers. (See also OILS AND FATS.) Imports of Palm Oil, 1926