Palm oil: a healthful and cost-effective dietary component.

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Palm oil: a healthful and cost-effective dietary component.

 

Ong AS, Goh SH.

 

Institute of Advanced Studies, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur,

Malaysia.

 

Palm oil is an excellent choice for food manufacturers because of its

nutritional benefits and versatility. The oil is highly structured to

contain predominantly oleic acid at the sn2-position in the major

triacylglycerols to account for the beneficial effects described in

numerous nutritional studies. Oil quality and nutritional benefits have

been assured for the variety of foods that can be manufactured from the

oil directly or from blends with other oils while remaining trans-free.

The oxidative stability coupled with the cost-effectiveness is

unparalleled among cholesterol-free oils, and these values can be

extended to blends of polyunsaturated oils to provide long shelf-life.

Presently the supply of genetic-modification-free palm oil is assured at

economic prices, since the oil palm is a perennial crop with

unparalleled productivity. Numerous studies have confirmed the

nutritional value of palm oil as a result of the high monounsaturation

at the crucial 2-position of the oil's triacylglycerols, making the oil

as healthful as olive oil. It is now recognized that the contribution of

dietary fats to blood lipids and cholesterol modulation is a consequence

of the digestion, absorption, and metabolism of the fats. Lipolytic

hydrolysis of palm oil glycerides containing predominantly oleic acid at

the 2 position and palmitic and stearic acids at the 1 and 3 positions

allows for the ready absorption of the 2-monoacrylglycerols while the

saturated free fatty acids remain poorly absorbed. Dietary palm oil in

balanced diets generally reduced blood cholesterol, low-density

lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and triglycerides while raising the

high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Improved lipoprotein(a) and

apo-A1 levels were also demonstrated from palm oil diets; an important

benefits also comes from the lowering of blood triglycerides (or reduced

fat storage) as compared with those from polyunsaturated fat diets.

Virgin palm oil also provides carotenes apart from tocotrienols and

tocopherols that have been shown to be powerful antioxidants and

potential mediators of cellular functions. These compounds can be

antithrombotic, cause an increase of the prostacyclin/thromboxane ratio,

reduce restenosis, and inhibit HMG-CoA-reductase (thus reducing)

cholesterol biosynthesis). Red palm oil is a rich source of

beta-carotene as well as of alpha-tocopherol and tocotrienols.

 

 

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