In over-ripe fruits or during harvesting,
a very active lipase, most probably originating from yeast cells, will be responsible for
increased production of FFA and partial acylglycerols. The acidity of crude palm oil is
on average about 3.5%. There is no strict correlation between the free fatty acid content
and the amount of partial acylglycerols; diacylglycerols found in crude palm oil are also
residual by-products of the biosynthesis of triacylglycerols (Jacobsberg & Oh, 1976).