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Biological hydrogen production was investigated using biomass in palm oil mill effluent (POME) and artificial wastewater containing 10g glucose under anaerobic fermentation in a batch process. Activated POME sludge and different types of composts were collected as sources of inocula for the study. The anaerobic microflora was found to yield significant amounts of hydrogen. The experimental results show that the gas composition contained hydrogen (66-68%) and carbon dioxide (32-34%). Through out the study, methane gas was not observed in the evolved gas. The hydrogen production was accompanied with the formation of acetate and butyrate. Furthermore, the cumulative hydrogen data were fitted to a simple model developed from Gompertz Equation, where the lag phase time, hydrogen production potential and hydrogen production rate at various conditions were quantitatively estimated.

Immobilized PS-C 'Amano' II lipase was used to catalyze the interesterification of palm olein (POo) with 30, 50, and 70% stearic acid in n-hexane at 60 degrees C. The catalytic performance of the immobilized lipase was evaluated by determining the composition change of fatty acyl groups and triacylglycerol (TAG) by gas liquid chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography, respectively. The interesterification process resulted in the formation of new TAGs, mainly tripalmitin and dipalmitostearin, both of which were absent in the original oil. These changes in TAG composition resulted in an increase in slip melting point, from the original 25.5 degrees C to 36.3, 37.0, and 40.0 degrees C in the modified POo with 30, 50, and 70% stearic acid, respectively. All the reactions attained steady state in about 6 h. This type of work will find great applications in food industries, such as confectionery.

This study was conducted to determine the gossypol content in Bt cottonseed (Seeni-1) oil by using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy with an Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) element. The wavelengths used were selected by spiking refined, bleached deodorized palm oil (RBDPO) to gossypol concentrations of 0-5% and noting the regions of maximal absorbance. Absorbance values of the wavelength regions 3700-2400 & 1900-750 cm-1 and a partial least squares (PLS) method were used to derive calibration models for Hamid cottonseed oil, Seeni-1 cottonseed oil, and gossypol-spiked RBDPO. The coefficients of determination (R2) for the calibration models were computed for the FTIR spectroscopy results against those found by using the wet chemical method AOCS method Ba 8�78. The R2 was 0.8916, 0.9581, and 0.9374 for Hamid cottonseed oil, Seeni-1 cottonseed oil, and gossypol-spiked RBDPO, respectively. The standard error (SE) of the calibration was 0.053, 0.078, and 0.062, respectively. The calibration models were validated using the cross-validation technique within the same set of oil samples. The results of FTIR spectroscopy as a useful technique determining gossypol content in crude cottonseed oil showed that there is a significant difference (p <0.05) in the amount of gossypol content in Hamid and Bt Seeni-1 cottonseed oils.