Phospholipids from palm-pressed fiber

Palm-pressed fiber, a by-product of palm oil milling, was extracted successively with hexane and 95% ethanol; the ethanol extracts yielded 46,800 ppm of phospholipids. The phospholipid composition, as analyzed by HPLC coupled with an ELSD, was found to be predominantly PC, PE, phosphatidylglycerol, and PA; as expected, the FA were more unsaturated than the TAG. Palm-pressed fiber is estimated to be able to provide 21,645 tonnes of palm lecithin based on the present total world production of fresh fruit bunches and thus be an alternative source of lecithin, which is normally obtained from soybeans.