Palm oil which is extracted from the flesh of the palm
fruit is the most commonly used vegetable oil in the world today. Since its
cost is very cheap, it is the most preferred oil in the food industry. After
the banning of trans fatty acids due to their negative cardiovascular effects,
palm oil has been used as a substitute all over the world instead of soybean
oil.
Based on researches, palm oil has both negative and
positive effects on health. Palm oil is about half saturated and half
unsaturated oil, so it occurs in nature as a semisolid at room temperature. The
palm oil fractionation has two different components which are palm olein
(liquid) and palm stearin (solid). The fatty acid composition of palm
olein is approximately 45% saturated fat and 54% unsaturated fat. The main
saturated fatty acids are 40–44% palmitic acid and 4–5% stearic acid. The
unsaturated fatty acids are 43% oleic acid and 12% linoleic acid.
When compared to other vegetable oils, palm oil has much more amount of saturated
fats. It leads to an increase in the blood level of
low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (Kadandale, Marten, & Smith, 2019). According to
the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO), the consumption of a high amount of saturated fat causes cardiovascular
diseases (2003). Also, palm oil consists of tocotrienols which are unsaturated
fats and a rich source of vitamin E. Thus, they can act as an antioxidant and
it can reduce the blood glucose level and stroke risk. In addition to fat fraction,
palm oil consists of carotenoids which are pigments giving orange-red color as
a minor component. It can be used as a natural source of β-carotene.
Palm oil is very attractive for the food processing industry. Palm and palm
kernel oils are ideal for the production of special fats such as Cocoa Butter
Equivalent (CBE), Cocoa Butter Substitute (CBS), Toffee fat, non-dairy Fat,
cream filling fat, RBD Palm oil, HPK oil. It is known that these kinds of fats
are generally used in chocolates, candies, cakes, coffee whiteners, coatings,
whipped topping on cakes, creams, fried snacks.
Nutella is the most well-known snack whose ingredient is palm oil and it has been controversial for years if it is harmful to health. In 2017, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) stated that palm oil used in many products, especially Ferrero's popular brand Nutella, may cause cancer. EFSA announced that if palm oil is refined at temperatures higher than 200 degrees, it produces more carcinogenic substances than other vegetable oils. However, according to the statement made by Ferrero, they stated that Nutella does not contain carcinogenic substances and that it is not harmful to health because they heat the oil at 80 degrees. Producers prefer palm oil since it does not contain trans fat, its melting point is high and its production is relatively much cheaper.
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CONTENT: Ceyda İpek Selçuk
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REFERENCES
Budin, S. B., Othman, F., Louis, S. R., Bakar, M. A., Das, S., & Mohamed, J. (2009). The effects of palm oil tocotrienol-rich fraction supplementation on biochemical parameters, oxidative stress and the vascular wall of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Clinics, 64(3), 235-244.
Delisle, H. (2017). The nutritional value of red palm oil. In Achieving sustainable cultivation of oil palm (pp. 217-231). Burleigh-Dodds Science Publishing, Cambridge.
Hossain, M. (2013). Applications of palm oil and palm kernel oils in different food products of Bangladesh.
Kadandale, S., Marten, R., & Smith, R. (2019). The palm oil industry and noncommunicable diseases. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 97(2), 118.
Manorama, R., & Rukmini, C. (1992). Crude palm oil as a source of beta-carotene. Nutrition Research, 12, S223–S232. doi:10.1016/s0271-5317(05)80466-x