Is palm oil and palm kernel oil the same?

Ah, palm oil. The mighty fruit of the palm tree that has taken over our lives in more ways than we can imagine. From cooking to beauty products, from biofuel to animal feed – there seems to be no end to its versatility (Seriously, it’s everywhere!). But as we look deeper into this magical elixir, a question arises: is palm oil and palm kernel oil the same? In short (or long): nope! So let’s peel back the layers on these oils and find out what makes them so different.

What are Palms?

Before we dive into our debate about types of oil present in palms, let me first give you a quick rundown about what exactly palms are (Hint: they aren’t just trees). Palms are actually a type of flowering plant family called “Arecaceae”. This family includes around 200 genera (the plural form for genus – don’t worry I had to google it too) which contain over 2500 species (That’s like a whole Amazonian jungle full of plants!).

You may have seen some tall ones with swooshy leaves; they’re commonly used for landscaping purposes or providing shade in tropical regions (you know those umbrellas at your favorite resort by poolside?), but more importantly; their trunks can also produce valuable timber products such as rattan or other building materials.

And while all these plants can produce fruits between their leaves (which usually end up hiding inside their fronds), only two types have made headlines when it comes to producing oils- Elaeis guineensis aka African oil palm & Elaeis oleifera aka American Oil Palm.

What is Palm Oil?

Palm oil refers specifically to the extracted oil obtained through pressing fruit from Elaeis guineensis’ bunches (Remember that African oil palm?). This fruit, which is orangey-red in color and about the size of a tennis ball, consists of 90% mesocarp (the fleshy part that we eventually get our hands on as an edible vegetable oil (or throw into every other product under the sun)) and 10% kernel.

Palm oil has become incredibly popular in recent years because it’s cheap to produce compared to other oils like coconut or soybean oil. But its rise in popularity hasn’t been without controversy – there are significant concerns over the destruction of rainforests with biodiversity loss, human rights abuses such as displacement of indigenous communities living on those lands complete disruption of their cultures & livelihoods.

What is Palm Kernel Oil?

While palm oil is produced from the mesocarp (or fleshy flesh structure), palm kernel OIL comes from- you guessed it -PALM KERNELS! Yup,the hard round little seeds found within the fruit(Why don’t they use these fruits for baking contests?!).

Unlike palm fruit though, palms kernels contain higher levels (about 50%.)of lauric acid than most other types including animal sources; giving this humble seed some incredible properties used extensively in manufacturing products ranging lipstick flavors to popcorn. Roughly around five tonnes of processed high-quality PKO can be derived from one hectare (\~2 acre) land- making it both profitable viable through increased yields.

How Are They Different From Each Other?

To sum up what has already been said thus far: Palm Oil = mesocarp; Palm Kernel Oil= kernel. But unlike all-purpose flour Vs cake flour ,both aren’t simply interchangeable based solely on aroma or calorie content.

If your bottle contains nothing but Olive/Peanut(!)/Almond/Vegetable/Coconut/insert vegetable here then go ahead and mix ‘em all up for your kitchen experiments- but when it comes to chemically active ingredients (In simpler words – soaps and fats)you’d rather know the source.

The separation process of these two oils is done at a mill, either containing kernel crushers or presser; oil obtained through pressing dry kernels among other methods are commonly used in Tocotrienols extraction for Vitamins E (I just found out that vitamins have subcategories with cool names!)and fine chemicals manufacturing. Industrial commodity’s price fluctuates on global demands while being renowned as palm’s value-added product.

The Bottom Line

At the end of it all, both palm oil and palm kernel oil can be useful in their specific niches (As long as they aren’t cutting down any more rainforests than necessary). Palm oil leads the way by having a higher yield per hectare due its multi-purpose properties although gaining notoriety along negative attention garnered from certain incidents challenging its sustainability factor albeit high social advantages brought about by same industries involving various stakeholders helping to offset balance some concerns unlike before. Meanwhile PKO has mostly been limited to individual ‘niche industry’, yet still managing several year-end reports showcasing good numbers.

So I hope this article demystifies some doubts you had about these fascinating subjects…now if only we could genetically modify plants into creating unicorn tears everything would be perfect!

Elaeis guineensis’ Bunch Palms Kernel
Mesocarp (90%) Lauric acid (>50%)
Kernel (10%) Protein (~19%)

Here ends your Biology & Chemistry classes for today folks! Hope you liked it 😉

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