Quality Attributes of Fresh Palm Oils Produced from Selected Communities around Anyigba, Kogi State, Nigeria

Objective: To determine the physical and chemical qualities of fresh red palm oils produced from four selected communities around Anyigba town. Materials and Methods: Freshly prepared red palm oils were collected from four selected palm oil processing communities (Agbeji, Dekina, Agala-ate and Egume) around Anyigba town. The oils were analyzed for their physical (refractive index, impurities, density, smoke point, flash point and fire point) and chemical (moisture, free fatty acids, peroxide value, saponification value iodine value and unsaponificable matter) qualities using standard methods. Palm oil processors in the selected communities were interviewed on the methods of processing palm oil. Results: The palm oils had similar refractive index which ranged from 1.455 to 1.460. The Egume (0.08%) and Dekina (0.59%) palm oils contained lower impurities than the Agala-ate (1.95%) and Agbeji (1.58%) oils. The density did not differ significantly (p>0.05) among the oil samples. However, the Agala-ate oil had lower smoke, flash and fire points than the other oil samples. All the oil samples had low contents of moisture (0.25 to 2.29%) and free fatty acids (1.98 to 3.63%). The peroxide values of the oils varied from 7.1 to 8.8 meg/kg, with Dekina (8.8meg/kg) and Egume (7.1meg/kg) having the highest and lowest values, respectively. Agbeji oil had the highest saponification value (235mg KOH/g) while Agala-ate oil showed the lowest value of 191mg KOH/g. The iodine values of the Agala-ate (42.8) and Agbeji (40.3) were higher than those for the Dekina (30.4) and Egume (38.6) oils. Higher amount of unsaponifiable matter was obtained for Dekina (20.8g/kg) and Agbeji (17.8g/kg) than the Agalaate (9.3 g/kg) and Egume (7.9g/kg) oils. Egume oil was not significantly different (p>0.05 from NIFOR oil (control) in all the parameters assessed. Conclusion: All the oil samples had low levels of impurities, moisture, free fatty acids, peroxide value and iodine. However, Dekina and Agbeji palm oils contained substantial amounts of unsaponifible matters with respect to the other palm oils. Egume palm oil was comparable to NIFOR palm oil (control) in all the quality determining parameters and thus, was considered superior to the other palm oils produced around Anyigba town. Keywords: Palm oil, quality, extraction, adulteratio