Dear Ms Priscilla, You have not told me where you re based or the average temperature of your store. It is always good practice to store at reduced temperature and if you can afford it, do go ahead. On the other hand, if you have had no problems with shelf life so far and a cool store is expensive, you can carry on with out it. But bear in mind that temperature and time are linked so reduced storage time is as good as reduced storage temperature. Regards, FP (17.02.2012)

Dear Mr Nair, Acid oil can be from any oil and can have virtually any consistency, but palm acid oil (PAO) is solid at room temperature (20C), like PFAD. Their MPs are not given in any specification I have seen, but I expect them to be very similar at about 38C. Their main difference is in their FFA , min 50% for PAO and min 70% for PFAD, assuming PORAM standard. Regards, FP (22.02.2012)

Dear Mr Faizal, There is no average production figure published for FFB per tree, but I estimate it is about 170 kg per tree. Of course this varies according to the age of the trees and the standard of plantation management. Yangambi is a high yielding variety produced by a Malaysian company. They gave it an African name in recognition of the fact that the oil palm tree originated in Africa. But exports of oil palm seed from Malaysia are prohibited and so it will only be available to you operate in Malaysia. If you plant 1year old seedlings, you should get FFBs to harvest in 2-3 years. Regards, FP (15.02.2012)

Dear Mr Khosravy, As far as soap making is concerned, PO and PS can be considered the same, except that PS is harder and will make a harder soap. Both oils are available in crude or RBD grades. The crude grades are dark red with a strong smell, though not unpleasant and their soap is brown. You can make good soap with these ois at 100%The specification values are different for each oil and grade and the seller will tell you the values for his oils, but better also ask to see a sample. As to prices, these will depend on whether you are buying one drum or 10,000 tonnes and whether you are in Indonesia or Nothern Siberia, but PS is normally cheaper. Regards, FP (06.02.2012)

Dear Mr Esmaailifar, Your costs cannot be calculated without knowing far more details than you give here as every country and province in a country has different costs of inputs, materials, labour, etc. In regard to applications, RBDPO is used mainly in foods and biodiesel, while PFAD is used mainly in oleochemicals, soap and animal feeds. Regards, FP (02.02.2012)

Dear Mr Kheng, There are many factors which affect the oxidative stability of RBDPO, but temperature is probably the most important. Yours at 70 - 80C is far too high and you should reduce it to 40 - 45C. The degree of improvement you get will depend on oxygen access and storage time, but it will be an improvement. Regards, FP (01.02.2012)

Dear Mr Beni, You are not saying what kind of PO factory you are, or whether you are referring to CPO or RBD PO. The Anisidine Value (An V) test measures the aldehydes and ketones which are secondary products of oil oxidation and it is analogous to the PV which measures the primary oxidation products. It used to be specified for Malaysian CPO of special quality in the early days of that industry and it is still being used today by some researchers and and end users, but I have never seen it in the specifications of mass produced RBD PO supplied from Malaysia/Indonesia. From what I remember from my experience it was 0-5, but I never found it much good and you cannot be doing every test any one can ask. If it is not in your selling specification, I recommend you do not give it to your customers as you could be making a rod for your own back. Just say our specification is x,y.z, we do not test the AnV, but I will gladly send you a sample of our oil for your approval. Regards, FP (27.01.2012)

Dear Mr Seth, There is PKO, HPKO of various melting points, PK Stearin (PKS), PK Olein (PKL) and HPKL of various melting points. All of them except PKO and PKL can be called CBS but will have different properties and cost. Besides CBS they are very good for for biscuit creams, cake coatings, margarine, toffees and caramels, coffee creamers etc. A very large use is also for oleochemicals and soap. Lauric products should not be called CBR because that term is usually used to denote non-lauric substitutes. It makes life a little simpler. CBR are now very little used in the West because of their high trans fatty acid content which is associated with heart disease. Regards, FP (25.01.2012)

Dear Mr Oitahaki, The name of this website is palmoil.com. and your question has absolutely nothing to do with palm oil or any other oil or fat even. But there are fuel efficiency experts who could help you for a fee, if you care to make enquiries. Regards, FP (19.01.2012)

Dear Mr Taher, The information from your friend was completely wrong. CBSs are made from different oils in different ways and their analytical values depend on that. The IV indicates the fats which have been used in that CBS and there is no ideal value. The colour value also depends on the oils used and should be as low as possible given those oils. The melting point should not be higher than mouth temperature 37C, otherwise the product will taste taste waxy. But it is really a compromise between two opposing requirements, high solid fat content at 20C and low melting point. Finally, what you make with CBS is not chocolate, it is substitute chocolate or coating which is always vastly inferior to it in taste and price. Regards, FP (19.01.2012)

I have not come across the formulation you mention, but I think it is quite reasonable, depending on how much of the other ingredients you add to the soap noodles. Up to 6% stearic acid can be considered as super-fatting, but beyond that it will reduce lathering too much. The other ingredients can be considered as fillers, or replacements for water, although water is cheaper. Any way it is worth making a small batch to test it, but ask the person who gave you that formula what its advantages are supposed to be, because using just soap noodles and water is cheaper and needs no more equipment. It is good to know that small companies such as yours can hold their own against the multinationals in England. Good luck. Regards, FP (14.01.2012)

Dear Mr Samuel, In the analysis of any material there are two important differences. One is the difference between two values obtained in the same laboratory, which is called repeatability. The other is the difference between two values obtained in different laboratories, which is called reproducibility and is always much bigger than repeatability. The Anisidine value is not a very common test and I am not an analyst, so I do not know if some one has determined these two quantities. But purely as a matter of opinion, I would say that the difference between 0.78 and 0.88 is quite acceptable, especially between two different laboratories. Regards, FP (13.01.2012)

Dear Mr Beni, The titre and sap. value are very important tests for fats used by soap makers because the titre indicates reasonably well the hardness of the soap, while the sap value determines exactly how much alkali will be required for saponification. The titre is increased by hydrogenation but the sap value is not. Hydro Palm Stearin (HPS) is a speciality product and its selling specification is what the seller wishes to guarantee. You can also include other advisory values which may be helpful to users but not part of the specification and you must make sure this is clearly understood. Good recognised methods for the titre and sap values are published by AOCS, ISO and MPOB. I can let you have copies of the MPOB methods by email or post, but there will be a charge payable in advance. Regards, FP (13.01.2012)

Dear Mr Balu, I have problems understanding your question. If you mean, is it possible to have fatty acid with 1% FFA, then I would say "no, what is the other 99%"? The description is inadequate and the seller does not know what he is talking about. Regards, FP (12.01.2012)

Dear Mr Lee, The technology of confectionery fats is much more complicated than you appear to know and most of it is covered by brand names and kept secret. Nevertheless I have already simplified matters for you as much as possible and gave you my answer. There is nothing more I can add until you tell me the IV and the full FAC (GLC) including the trans fatty acids and the SFC (NMR) Regards, FP (12.01.2012)

Dear Mr Lee, Cocoa butter substitutes fall into two groups: High sat or High trans. If this product claims to be not to be High sat, it must be High trans. However that is theory and in order to be sure we must confirm it by IV and FAC. The country of sales would also be useful to know too, because in Europe a high trans product would not have much chance in the market. Regards, FP (05.01.2012)

Dear Mr Dang, Every brand of Magnesium silicate has different impurities, behaves differently and I have no idea what R60 does. But as you have tried it and found it gives a taste, that should be enough to keep you off it. I do not understand why you want to know the reason as well, that will need some research and it will be expensive. I have already warned you about the legal situation. Regards, FP (03.01.2012)

Dear Mr Dang, I happen to know that Magnesol R60 is the brand name of a grade of magnesium silicate used to filter swimming pools and also biodiesel. But when asking questions you should always use the chemical names as well, because there are millions of brand names, different in each country and no one is familiar with them. I do not even know if it is food grade, it is for you to check. But if you have found that it gives a taste to the oil then you better change to something else, try filter paper. I cannot recommend any thing beyond that because RBD oils are made to be used as delivered to the customer. But it is unwise to keep buying olein of such inferior quality and then try to put it right afterwards? (02.01.2012)

Dear Mr Prasad, I am not sure I should be answering this question. The amount of sulphuric acid needed for splitting the soap stock is equivalent to the amount of sod. hydroxide you used in the neutraliser. But this is usually not known accurately and so refineries start by adding a little less than last time, and then a more and more, until the soap splits and the acid oil separates out. If you wish to save pennies, you can take a sample of the soap stock and titrate it with your acid. But very importantly, sulphuric acid is a strong pollutant of the ground and its waters, the amount of arable land in India is shrinking while the population is expanding by leaps and bounds and you should change to hydrochloric acid. Companies have obligations not to be making holes in the boat they are travelling in. Regards, FP (02.01.2012)

Dear Mr Lee, Antioxidants only delay oxidative rancidity, not lipolytic rancidity. One is due to oxygen, the other is due to live moulds and yeasts. But for growth micro-organisms need moisture and so the best practice is to ensure all the raw materials you buy have low bacterial counts, the lowest possible moisture content and stored in a mould-free store room. Some cocoa powders are very heavily infected, while most buyers are under educated for their jobs, do not communicate with the technical people and concentrate too much on price. You can accelerate storage results by storing samples at 40C but any higher will run the risk of killing the organisms you are testing for and you better cosult a food bacteriologist. Regards, FP (29.12.2011)