Abstract—Sterilization is a key process in palm oil production because it can affect the production capability and crude palm oil quality. Due to extensive development of steamless (dry heating) palm oil extraction technology in Thailand, efforts of using dry sterilization process have been made. More specifically, several studies in microwave heating on oil palm fruits have been conducted due to its advantages. In the current work, the effects of controlling the residual moisture content in oil palm fruits and its application as a quality guideline in microwave sterilization process were studied. The results of the study revealed that a promising residual moisture content of 5 - 15% wet basis of microwave-treated palm fruits could preserve the fruits with relatively good physical appearances without fungi or destructive effects from microwave energy. In addition, enzymatic lipolysis was also inactivated by optimal microwave heating, which can be obviously seen by the negligible increment of free fatty acid during 15 days of retention compared to improperly treated palm fruits.

 

Index Terms—oil palm sterilization, microwave sterilization, microwave-treated palm fruit, residual moisture content, preservation, palm oil quality

Cite: Pornpipat Yoosa, Ekkachart Hattha, and Tanakorn Tantanawat, "The Effects of Controlling the Residual Moisture Content in Oil Palm Fruits under Microwave Sterilization," Journal of Advanced Agricultural Technologies, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 63-68, March 2018. Doi: 10.18178/joaat.5.1.63-68