Production of furfural from oil palm biomass fibres

Researcher: Dr. Nur Eliyanti Ali Othman

 

Introduction

Furfural is a natural product formed from the dehydration of xylose, a monosaccharide in the hemicellulose fraction of lignocellulosic biomass. It has been exclusively produced from lignocellulosic waste materials since industrial production by the Quaker Oat Company in 1922. Since Malaysia is the largest exporter for palm oil in the international market, there are abundance of oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB) which were generated during the extraction of palm oil from the fresh fruit bunches. The OPEFB biomass containing cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin is estimated to have 24-26% of xylan, a pentose sugar xylose in OPEFB biomass (Rahman et al. 2006). Many plant materials contain a large amount of poly saccharide hemicellulose a pentose (five carbons) of sugar, that can serve as a raw material for furfural production. In this project, furfural from OPEFB in introduced.

 

Objectives

• To analysis furfural content in oil palm EFB fibre.

• To design experimental procedure and equipment for furfural production.

 

 

 

Combine Production System of Tocotrienols, Squalene and Phytosterols from PFAD

Researcher: Cik. Nor Faizah Jalani

 

Introduction

Palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) is a by-product of palm oil refinery, generated at the stage of deacidicafication-deodorization. Biologically active components of PFAD, particularly Vitamin E (tocopherols and tocotrienols), pyhtosterols and squalene, if isolated, would be useful for multi-billion dollar nutraceuticals or functional foods industries. Palm Vitamin E, a Tocotrienol-rich Fraction (TRF) has been reported to have potential as an antioxidant, hypocholesterolemic and anti-cancer agents. Squalene, a natural emollient finds wide utilizations in cosmetics industries. The use of phytosterols and its hydrogenated forms, pyhtostanols, as such or as esters in functional foods as a cholesterol lowering agent.

 

Objectives

• To undertake the development of an appropriate inter-related system for the production of palm-based pyhtochemicals (tocotrienol, squalene and phytosterols) from PFAD. 

• To demonstrate the technical and commercial feasibility for the production of palm-based pyhtochemicals.