2.1. The sterilization process
The first step in the sequence of processes to extract the oil in
palm oil mill is the sterilization process, which is a heat pretreatment process subjected to the fruits. Pre-treatment refers to
the solubilization and separation of one or more of the four major
components of biomass-hemicellulose, cellulose, lignin and extrac-
tives: to make the remaining solid biomass more accessible to fur-
ther chemical and biological treatment (Graf and Koehler, 2000).
Pre-treatments are sometimes crucial in order to make material
handling easier through subsequent processing steps. The steriliza-
tion process functions in supplying heat for fruits softening and
encourage loosening and easier detachment of the fruits from fresh