Abstract—Oil palm Fresh Fruit Bunch (FFB) sterilization process was studied using different degree of FFB ripeness (i.e. underripe, ripe, overripe) and loose fruits. The experimental runs were conducted using laboratory scale sterilizer at varied process condition. With application of Response Surface Methodology (RSM), the obtained results were used for analyzing interrelation between heating parameters and Deterioration of Bleachability Index (DOBI) of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) and performing sterilization process optimization. Both temperature and time were found to have influence on the DOBI of extracted CPO. However, sterilization time was found exerted greater influence as compared to temperature. By using numerical optimization method, optimum sterilization conditions with corresponding to DOBI were determined.

Index Terms—DOBI, FFB ripeness, optimum FFB sterilization condition.

Junaidah Mat Jusoh, Norizzah Abd Rashid, and Zaliha Omar are with Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia (e-mail:silver_chenille@yahoo.com, norizzah850@salam.uitm.edu.my, zaliha@mpob.gov.my).

Cite:Junaidah Mat Jusoh, Norizzah Abd Rashid, and Zaliha Omar, "Effect of Sterilization Process on Deterioration of Bleachability Index (DOBI) of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) Extracted from Different Degree of Oil Palm Ripeness," International Journal of Bioscience, Biochemistry and Bioinformatics vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 322-327, 2013.