From the recent trend of medicinal research, which has to do with plants and their extract, and the results obtained and published so far, it can be said that nature (God of creation) has given man everything he needs . Palm kernel oil, for example, is used in African medicine (Nigeria) to treat a number of ailments that affect babies, such as seizures. Every little plant we see around us is likely to contain one or more substances (components) that are likely to cure one or more ailments. Although research has shown that some of them are poisonous. For example, the Yoruba of Nigeria-West Africa claim that the roots of maize can be used as a poison.
Palm kernel oil (PKO), which is obtained from palm oil, is the second oil that can be extracted from the tree. While palm oil is extracted from the mesocarp, the fleshy covering of the oil palm kernel, PKO is extracted from the endocarp, the kernel itself after cracking. Of the approximately 200 edible oils, PKO and coconut oil (CNO) are the only two that contain lauric acid, which is why they are called lauric oil. Both palm oil and palm kernel oil are obtained from the same tree known as Elaeis guineensis. The two trees that produce PKO, CNO, and palm oil are also similar in that they are both called palms, even though they are different species. Traditionally, PKO production involves the following: the nuts obtained after palm oil production are broken into kernels, the kernels are heated in a clean pot until the oils are extracted from the kernels, and then the oil (decanted) from the pot to clean bottles for use or sale. Somewhere in Nigeria, 750 ml of oil costs 200 naira in Nigerian currency, which is equivalent to around 1.5 US dollars. The oil obtained is very dark in color.
PKO can be used to treat ailments such as cold, flu, cough, seizures, skin infection, and upset stomach, among other conditions that affect children (as well as adults).
• For catarrh, catarrh and convulsions, particularly in children; just rub the oil all over the child’s body constantly, say three times a day for about 7 days and make sure the oil is gone in about 10 days. By doing this, evidence abounds that such a child’s skin will be prevented from becoming infected with some skin pathogens.
• For cough and stomach upset/upset, taking 5 ml twice a day orally will suppress cough and stomach upset. Added to this is the fact that it has a purgative effect, this may not be unrelated to the oily nature of the extract, although the phytochemical components may also be responsible for this effect.
• Finally, although as a superstitious belief is the claim of its use in some parts of Akwa-Ibom in Nigeria, as a repellant for witches. The claim is that when burned the aroma of the oil drives away witches.
In conclusion, traditionally extracted palm kernel oil has great medicinal value not only for children but also for adults, and its healing potential for the ailments mentioned above is an indication of its antimicrobial properties for the microbes that cause some of those ailments.