Calcium soap from palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) for ruminant feed: quality of calcium source

Calcium soap is potentially used as fat supplements for ruminants since it contains high concentration of fat and calcium that are useful for ruminants. The consumption of calcium soap may increase the yield and the fat content of milk, as well as increase the ruminant’s fertility. Calcium soap can be produced from palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD), which is a by-product of crude palm oil (CPO) refining process, and calcium oxide (CaO). In this study, the effect of CaO quality on the acid value of the product has been observed. It was found that the reaction with lower concentration of active calcium of CaO resulted in products with a higher acid value, which indicates a lower reaction conversion. Thus, the produced calcium soap requires further treatment in order to remove the unreacted calcium and free fatty acid. Washing with hexane followed by either vacuum or convection drying has been found to be able to reduce the acid value of the product significantly.