Two types of oil from palm fruit

The palm bears its fruit in bunches varying in weight from 10 to 40 kg. The harvested bunches are termed fresh fruit bunches (FFBs). The individual fruit ranging from 6 to 20 gm are made up of an outer skin, a pulp containing the palm oil in a fibrous matrix; a central nut consisting of a shell and the kernel itself contains an oil, quite different to palm oil.

Palm oil
Flesh pericarp of palm fruit contains about 49% of palm oil. It is extracted promptly after harvesting from fleshy mesocarp of the palm fruit using continuous screw presses. It consists of a liquid fraction about 75% known as olein and a solid fraction about 25% known as stearin.

Palm oil is rich in carotenoids from which it derives its deep red color, and the major component of its glycerides is the saturated fatty acids palmitic; hence it is a viscous semi-solid, even at tropical ambient and a solid fat in temperate climates.

Palm kernel oil
Palm kernel oil is the seed oil contained in the kernel of the palm fruit. It contains about 50% oil. It is white or yellowish or light brown in color depending on the quality of the kernel stearin. Palm kernel oil is used in edible fats, in making ice-cream and mayonnaise, in baked goods and confectionaries.

Palm oil is an oleic oil, which is distinguish by its high percentage of the saturated palmitic acid. Palm-kernel oil is a lauric oil and to some degree exchangeable with coconut oil due to a similar fatty acid composition.
Two types of oil from palm fruit