Abstract

The chemical constituents of palm kernel oil were evaluated in this study. Palm kernel oil is produced traditionally or industrially from the kernel of fruits of tropical palm tree. It is used for different purposes in industries, nutrition and medicine. For the purpose of this study, palm kernel oil was produced traditionally. Its chemical constituents were determined with the use of GC (model No. 7890B) and MS detector (model 5977A). Different constituents as contained in table 1, which possess different properties were detected in the palm kernel oil. Some of the chemical constituents detected in it have been reported to possess deleterious effect when used in excess, while many of the constituents have been reported to possess different important nutritional, industrial and medicinal/pharmaceutical properties. The constituents showed palm kernel oil to be good for industrial, medicinal and nutritional purposes.

Keywords:Chemical constituents; Food additive; Industrial; Nutrition; Palm kernel oil