Solubilization of methanol and ethanol in crude palm oil, refined, bleached and deodorized palm oil (RBD PO) and RBD palm olein (POL) was studied using medium- and long-chain alkanols (C-4-C-12). Ternary phase diagrams were constructed to determine the solubilization (isotropic) region. The results showed that methanol and ethanol are solubilized to a greater extent in an unsaturated palm olein than the saturated CPO and RBD PO in the presence of long-chain alkanols. The minima of the solubilization curves for dodecanol, decanol and octanol were 27%, 30% and 33% of alkanol respectively in the methanol system, whereas in the ethanol system, the minima for the same alkanols were found at 22%, 24% and 27%. The longer chain-length alkanol (dodecanol) requires a lesser amount (21% and 32%) to achieve miscibility compared with 53% and 57% for butanol in mixtures containing 70:30 and 50:50 wt ratios respectively. The kinematic viscosity of the isotropic solutions increases with the chain-length and percentage of alkanols. Solubilization using a POL/methanol/butanol system significantly reduced the kinematic viscosity of POL from 72.7 mm(2)s(-1) to the value allowable for No 2 diesel fuel (1.9-4.1 mm. 2 s(-1)) or about a 96% reduction from the initial kinematic viscosity Of POL.