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Palm Oil
Palmolein
is the liquid fraction of palm oil.
- Long
Record of Safe Use:
Palm
oil has been safe and nutritious source of edible oil for healthy
humans for thousand of years.
- Consumed
Worldwide:
Palm
oil and its liquid fraction, palmolein are consumed worldwide as
cooking oils and as constituents of margarines and shortenings;
these oils are also incorporated into fat blends used in the
manufacture of variety of food products as well as home food
preparations.
- Excellent
Dietary Energy Source
Like
other common edible fats and oils, palm oil is easily digested,
absorbed and utilized in normal metabolic processes. It plays a
useful role in meeting energy and essential fatty acid needs in
many regions of the world.
- Free
of Cholesterol and Trans Unsaturated Fatty Acids
Palm
oil like other vegetable oils is cholesterol free. Having a
naturally moderate level of saturation, it does not require any
hydrogenation for use as a fat component in foods and, as such,
does not contain trans fatty acids.
- Rich
in carotenoids
Crude
(unprocessed) and red or golden (specially refined) palm oils are
the richest natural sources of carotenoids. Beta-carotene, a major
carotene in crude palm oil is a potent antioxidant and precursor
of vitamin A.
- Vitamin
E Anti-oxidants
Palm
oil and palm oil products are naturally occurring sources of the
anti-oxidant vitamin E constituents, tocopherols and tocotrienols.
These natural oxidants acts as scavengers of damaging oxygen free
radicals and are hypothesized to play a protective role in
cellular aging, athero-sclerosis and cancer.
- Balanced
Fatty Acid Composition
Palmolein
contains a mixture of polyunsaturated, mono-saturated and
saturated fatty acids. The relative concentrations are 44% oleic
acid, 10% linoleic acid, 40% palmitic acid and 5% stearic acid.
The concentrations of palmitic and oleic acids are reversed in
un-fractioned palm oil i.e. 44% and 40% respectively. The fatty
acid composition of palm oil is similar to that of adipose tissue
in most people in ordinary diet.
- Provides
Linoleic Acid: An essential Fatty Acid
Palm
oil tri-glycerides linoleic acid predominantly in the 2-position,
which favours absorption and availability for use in the body.
- Palm
oil is not Palm Kernel oil
Palm
oil from the fruit of the palm is physically and chemically
different from the either palm kernel oil which is derived from
the seed and from coconut oil both of which are highly saturated.
- Favorable
Nutritional Studies
Human Feeding studies and epidemiological data have shown
that palm oil or palmolein do not
ordinarily raise
blood cholesterol levels in direct comparison with olive or
canola and peanut oils. In
several such studies blood
cholesterol was reduced from entry-level values and palmitic
acid (16:0)
was found equivalent to oleic acid (18:1) in so
far as it affected cholesterol metabolism. A balance
between
linoleic acid (18:2) palmitic acid (16:0) may be required to
maximize HDL levels.
Substitution of palmitic acid (16:0) from palm oil or
palmolein for the lauric acid (12:0) and mystric
acid (14:0) combination from palm
kernel or coconut oil leads to a decrease in plasm and LDL
cholesterol. Of
several fats tested, including a fat blend approximating American
intake, a
palm oil-enriched diet fed to hamsters
induced the highest level of protective HDL-cholesterol and the
greatest
production of liver LDL-cholesterolreceptors, key to removal of
harmful LDL-cholesterol
from the blood.
- Anti-Thrombic
Rats fed a palm oil-enriched diet have a reduced tendency for
blood clotting.
- Inhibits
Cancer Growth
Red palmolein is major source of carotenoids which effectively
inhibit some types of cancer A diet
containing palm oil, compared to diets
based on other oils but which provide the same number of
calories,
exerted an inhibitory effect on the development and incidence of
experimentally induced
breast
cancer in the rats. It has also been shown that the tocotrienols
present in palm oil inhibit the
growth of
cancer cells in vivo as well as in vitro. |
