Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 21 No 4 (2017): 941 - 949

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17576/mjas-2017-2104-21

 

 

 

EFFECT OF VARIOUS POWER LEVEL AND DIFFERENT RATIO OF FRUIT TO WATER IN OIL PALM FRUITS MICROWAVE STERILIZER

 

(Kesan Pelbagai Tahap Kuasa dan Nisbah Berlainan Buah terhadap Air dalam Pensterilan Gelombang Mikro Buah Kelapa Sawit)

 

Norashikin Ahmad Zamanhuri*, Norazah Abd Rahman, Noor Fitrah Abu Bakar

 

Faculty of Chemical Engineering,

Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

 

*Corresponding author:  shikin282103@gmail.com

 

 

Received: 28 November 2016; Accepted: 5 February 2017

 

 

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of using various power level and different ratio of fruit to water in microwave sterilizer in order to acquire the shortest time of the fruit to be completely detached from the spikelet. Normally, the palm oil fruits processing uses steam heating for sterilization of oil palm fruit brunches. The conventional steam treatment of sterilization produces large amount of waste water from the palm oil mill process. Also, this process is classifying as crucial process with the intention of inactivate the lipolytic enzyme as prevention to the increase of free fatty acids (FFA) in oil. Therefore, microwave irradiation is used in this research for solving this problem and improving of palm oil fruit quality prior to extraction of crude palm oil (CPO). The optimal condition was 800W for 6 minutes of 100% strip of fruit from the spikelet with 1:0.5 ratio by means of 4.08% of FFA. It can be concluded that microwave radiation is suitable for quick detachment of the fruitlet from the spikelet and fruit loosening performed without kernels started to turn brown and appeared dehydrated. Throughout the trial, the quality of the oil extracted from the microwave sterilized spikelets in terms of the FFA percentage was acceptable. The quality of the oil is excellent, with free fatty acids of the crude oil generally below 5%. 

 

Keywords:  oil palm fruits, sterilisation, microwave, stripping, free fatty acids

 

Abstrak

Tujuan kertas ini adalah untuk mengkaji kesan menggunakan pelbagai tahap kuasa dan nisbah yang berbeza buah-buahan terhadap air dalam pensterilan gelombang mikro untuk memperoleh masa yang singkat buah-buahan terpisah lengkap daripada spikelet itu. Biasanya, pemprosesan buah kelapa sawit menggunakan pemanasan stim untuk tujuan pensterilan. Rawatan wap konvensional pensterilan menghasilkan sejumlah besar air sisa daripada proses kilang minyak sawit. Juga, proses ini diklasifikasikan proses sebagai penting dengan niat untuk menyahaktifkan enzim lipolitik sebagai pencegahan kepada peningkatan asid lemak bebas (FFA) dalam minyak. Oleh itu, penyinaran gelombang mikro digunakan dalam kajian ini untuk menyelesaikan masalah dan meningkatkan kualiti buah kelapa sawit sebelum pengekstrakan minyak sawit mentah (MSM). Keadaan optimum adalah 800W untuk 6 minit daripada 100% lerai buah dari spikelet dengan nisbah 1: 0.5 bagi 4.08% FFA. Dapat disimpulkan bahawa radiasi gelombang mikro adalah sesuai untuk peleraian cepat buah dari spikelet dan ia dapat dilakukan tanpa biji mula bertukar coklat dan kelihatan kering. Sepanjang ujikaji, kualiti minyak yang diekstrak daripada gelombang mikro disterilkan dari segi peratusan FFA boleh diterima. Kualiti minyak adalah yang baik, dengan asid lemak bebas minyak mentah biasanya di bawah 5%.

 

Kata kunci:  buah kelapa sawit, pensterilan, gelombang mikro, pelucutan, asid lemak bebas

 

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