Palm Fatty Acid Distillate: Generation, Composition, and Applications

Posted by Vimal Kumar on September 16th, 2021

PFAD palm fatty acid distillate is a by-product of crude palm oil’s physical refining. Heavily used as animal feed and one of the most important components of laundry soap products, PFAD (palm fatty acid distillate) is composed of:

• Free fatty acids (81.7%)
• Glycerides (14.4%)
• Squalene (0.8%)
• Vitamin E (0.5%)
• Sterols (0.4%) and
• Other substances (2.2%). 

PFAD is also extensively used as raw material in the oleochemicals industry. Extracted from PFAD, Vitamin E, squalene and phytosterols are value-added products having a great value for the nutraceutical as well as cosmetic industries.

How is PFAD generated?

The generation process of palm acid oil distillate is very interesting. The fat contents present in oil palm fruit start degrading during bruising and handling of palm fruits. The handling includes harvesting and also transportation. The more the transportation period, the more the fat contents degrade. Since the oil-producing companies have to meet the standards of the food industry, they carry out a refining process in which food-grade fats and PFAD are separated. 

How is PFAD used? 

Although PFAD (palm fatty acid distillate) is not food-grade fat, it is 100% usable in a large number of applications. It is extensively used in biofuels production as a renewable raw material, apart from laundry soaps, candles, and various other oleochemical products as well as animal feed. Since PFAD is more or less used 100% and has a considerable value, its production is being encouraged across the globe, particularly in European countries.

Reasons behind the ever-growing use and popularity of PFAD (palm fatty acid distillate):

• PFAD is cheaper than all other mainstream fats and is a residue generated through the physical refining of crude palm oil.
• When used as animal feed, it proves to be a very good feed for animals that are tamed to get milk. The properties of palm acid oil distillate are very animal-friendly and play a very crucial role in increasing the milk production in them.
• PFAD has also proved to be one of the cheapest raw materials for producing biofuels – the need of the hour at a global scale. Even though biofuels can be manufactured with other resources or raw materials also, all of them are costlier than palm acid oil distillate.  

Production in India

In the past 5 years, the government of India has taken many initiatives to increase the production of palm oil and allied products because of their potential value. Palm acid oil distillate processing has also become more sophisticated than ever before with the devisal of new tools and machines in the field of vegetable oil refining. The country aims at being reliant in terms of palm oil production in the next 10 years. 

Concluding Remarks 

Mectech is one of the leading oil refining solutions providers in India offering state-of-the-art facilities for the effective and efficient processing of palm acid oil distillate and palm fatty acid distillate. The company is also well-known as the leading manufacturer, exporter, importer, and service provider of a superior quality range of Dewaxing Plant, Degumming Oil Plant, Edible Oil Bleaching Plant, and Oil Refining Plants.