Palm Oil Palm Research Paper

2.2 Oil Palm Facts and Use

Palm oil that deserves attention due to its high concentrations of saturated fat and phenomenal nutrient profile: Palm oil is extracted from two types of oil palm fruit: Elaeis guineensis, which is common in African regions, and Elaeis oleifera, which is found in South America. Historical accounts suggest that palm oil was a part of the diet of indigenous populations. At present, it has become the second most traded oil crop in the world, after soya, with Malaysia and Indonesia as its main producers. Palm oil is not to be confused with palm kernel oil. Both are obtained from the fruit, but the latter is derived from the seeds of the oil palm. Palm kernel oil has a higher amount of saturated fat, which makes it ideal

Oil from this attractive palm, which grows wild in West Africa and Equatorial Africa, has been used as a food and energy source for millennia. Palm oil, a fruit-oil, since over 5,000 years has been used in food preparations. Today it is consumed worldwide as a cooking oil, margarine and shortening. It is also used as an ingredient in many fat blends and in a vast array of food products. Nature has been generous in endowing palm oil with a balanced fat composition, between its saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. Palm oil is also said to beckon on its users by its price and technical superiority among multitude of edible oil applications due to its availability all year round (Ugwu, 2009). Palm oil, a well-balanced healthy edible oil is now an important energy source for mankind. Today it is widely acknowledged as a versatile and nutritious vegetable oil, trans fat free with a rich content of vitamins and antioxidants. The commercially grown oil palm planted in large plantations in Malaysia, Indonesia and other tropical countries within10˚ N and S of the equator, is the highest oil bearing crop in the world. It has an economic life of 20 to 25 years with an average annual oil yield of 3.5-5 tons per hectare. A palm bears 8-12 fruit bunches annually, each weighing 15-25 kg and containing 1000-3000 fruits. The oil palm fruit is unique in producing two oils. Palm oil is obtained from the fleshy mesocarp and palm kernel oil

This is “Malaysia’s gift to the children of the world”, simply because its consumption can restore vision in children at risk of going blind due to vitamin A deficiency. Spearheaded by such research efforts, there exists a world-class compilation of this ability of red palm oil in combating vitamin A deficiency in malnourished populations. Palm oil/olein when consumed as part of a recommended fat diet (~30% energy) has been shown effective in maintaining desirable plasma cholesterol and lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Over the past five decades, dietary recommendations have thus targeted lower levels of saturated fat intake in order to help reduce total and LDL-cholesterol, which is suggested or associated with increased coronary heart disease (CHD) risk. Such typical stereotyping aimed at discrediting palm oil was recently highlighted in the Singapore Straits Times (http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/the-oily-truth) based on a publication from the National University of Singapore (NUS);