Preparation of unsaponifiable fraction from crude palm oil: A short review

Crude Palm Oil (CPO) is one of vegetable oil obtained by extracting palm fruit mesocarp and has a red color because of the high content of beta carotene. Other bioactive ingredients in CPO include Vitamin E, squalene, and phytosterol found in the unsaponifiable fraction. To obtain multi-component bioactive, a saponification and extraction process is needed. Saponification generally uses strong bases, there are sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide. The use of sodium hydroxide as a base catalyst can produce vitamin E and phytosterol which is higher than potassium hydroxide. The use of potassium hydroxide as a base catalyst is able to produce higher yields, beta carotene, and squalene compared to sodium hydroxide.