RBD Palm Kernel Oil

About This Product

RBD palm kernel oil is extracted from the kernel, or seed, of the fruit of Elaeis guineensis, then refined, bleached and deodorised. It should not be confused with palm oil, which is pressed from the fleshy mesocarp of the same fruit and has a completely different fatty-acid profile. It carries CAS number 8023-79-8 and is supplied as a white to cream solid that melts to a clear liquid at around 24 to 26 degrees Celsius. Palm kernel oil is a lauric oil. Lauric acid, a twelve-carbon saturated chain, accounts for roughly 45 to 52 percent of its fatty acids, with myristic acid at 14 to 18 percent and smaller fractions of palmitic, oleic, capric and caprylic acids. The chains are short and highly saturated, which produces a low iodine value, a high saponification value and, most importantly for food use, a sharp melting curve. A fat that melts over a narrow range close to body temperature gives a cool mouthfeel and a clean break rather than a waxy residue, which is exactly what confectionery coatings require. That property makes it the base for cocoa butter substitutes and compound coatings, and it is used in biscuit creams, fillings, non-dairy creamers, filled milk and ice cream coatings. Its lauric content also makes it a principal feedstock for soap and for C12 to C14 fatty alcohols and surfactants. Bio Green Oils and Fats supplies RBD palm kernel oil to specification on free fatty acid, peroxide value, moisture, colour, iodine value and melting point.