Oil palm frond as a sustainable and promising biomass source in Malaysia: A review

As the world second largest producer and exporter of palm oil after Indonesia, Malaysia's palm oil industries generate huge amount of biomass especially after pruning or harvesting the fresh bunch. The generated oil palm biomass includes empty fruit brunch (EFB), palm kernel shell, oil palm trunk (OPT), oil palm frond (OPF), palm oil mill effluent (POME), and mesocarp fiber. Among the generated oil palm biomass, OPF is by far the highest in quantity, accounting for more than 50% of the total biomass generated in the oil palm industries. Therefore, OPF appears to be a very promising source of raw materials in Malaysia. Considerable amount of researches have been carried out to investigate the nutritional value and economic viability of OPF and its suitability for reused as recycle energy, nutrients, or being transformed into value-added end products. Thus, this article aims to present an overview on the current scenario in Malaysian's palm oil industries, covering topics on the availability and the characterization of OPF. This article also emphasizes on the superior recycling of OPF in various fields and major challenges in the utilization of OPF. Based on the findings presented, it is definitely clear that OPF has the potential to serve as sustainable and promising biomass source for Malaysia, not only to reduce the environmental problem caused by openly burnt or landfill disposal of OPF but also to generate extra revenue for the country. (c) 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 36: 1864-1874, 2017