Assessment of proximate and physicochemical properties of crude palm oil from south-west and South-south Nigeria

Crude palm oil is most worlds widely used oil, due to its nutritional and economic advantages. The proximate and physicochemical properties of fifty samples from local mills in Southern Nigeria were analyzed to determine their applicability as food and industrial usage applying standard procedures. The obtained results were: Moisture content (1.51 to 2.46%), ash content (0.30 to 0.50%), crude lipids (68.82 to76.77%), crude protein (2.44 to 3.25), carbohydrate (17.34 to 22.02%), energy value (697.80 to 716.04 Kcal/g), melting point (31.11 to 34.03°C), refractive index (1.465 to 1.469), specific gravity (0.8980 to 0.9140 g/mL), while viscosity ranged from 24.698 to 63.823 mPs. Others were saponification value (199.22 to 203.55 mg KOH/g), acid value (1.526 to 2.190 mg KOH/g), ester value (197.75 to 201.99 mg KOH/g), free fatty acid (0.719 to 1.090 mg KOH/g), peroxide value (3.186 to 5.450 mEq/g) and iodine value (45.57 to 50.60 Wij’s). The results showed good food and industrial applications except high moisture content which was above 0.29% recommended standard and may lead to short shelf life, therefore proper monitoring of local mills for effective standard operating procedures are required to reduce contamination which might have adverse health and economic effects.