Listing description
Palm oil (also known as dendê oil, from Portuguese) is
an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of theoil palms, primarily the African oil palm Elaeis guineensis,[1] and to a lesser extent from the American oil
palm Elaeis oleifera and the maripa palm Attalea maripa.
Detailed description
Palm oil is naturally reddish
in color because of a high beta-carotene content. It is not to be confused with palm
kernel oil derived
from the kernel of the same fruit,[2] or coconut
oil derived
from the kernel of the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera). The differences are in color
(raw palm kernel oil lacks carotenoids and
is not red), and in saturated fat content: Palm mesocarp oil is 41% saturated,
while palm kernel oil and coconut oil are 81% and 86% saturated respectively.[3]
Along with coconut oil, palm
oil is one of the few highly saturated vegetable
fats and is
semi-solid at room
temperature. Like most plant-based products, palm oil contains very little cholesterol.[4]
Palm oil is a common cooking
ingredient in the tropical belt of Africa, Southeast
Asia and
parts of Brazil. Its
use in the commercial food industry in other parts of the world is widespread
because of its lower cost[5] and the high oxidative stability (saturation) of
the refined product when used for frying.[6][7]
The use of palm oil in food
products has attracted the concern of environmental activist groups; the high
oil yield of the trees has encouraged wider cultivation, leading to the
clearing of forests in parts of Indonesia in order to make space for oil-palm monoculture. This
has resulted in significant acreage losses of the natural habitat of the orangutan, of
which both species are endangered; one species in particular, the Sumatran orangutan, has been listed as critically endangered.[8] In 2004, an industry group called theRoundtable on Sustainable
Palm Oil (RSPO)
was formed to work with the palm oil industry to address these concerns.[9] Additionally, in 1992, in response to
concerns about deforestation, the Malaysian Government pledged to limit the
expansion of palm oil plantations by retaining a minimum of half the nation's
land as forest cover.[10][11]
History
Human use of oil palms may date
as far back as 5,000 years; in the late 1800s, archaeologists discovered a
substance that they concluded was originally palm oil in a tomb at Abydos dating back to 3,000 BCE.[12] It is believed that Arab traders brought
the oil palm to Egypt.[13]
Palm oil from Elaeis guineensiss has long been recognized in West and Central
African countries,
and is widely used as acooking
oil. European merchants trading with West Africa occasionally
purchased palm oil for use as a cooking oil in Europe.
Palm oil became a highly
sought-after commodity by British traders, for use as an industrial lubricant for machinery during Britain's Industrial Revolution.[14]
Palm oil formed the basis of soap products, such as Lever
Brothers' (now Unilever)
"Sunlight" soap, and the AmericanPalmolive brand.[15]
By around 1870, palm oil
constituted the primary export of some West African countries such as Ghana and Nigeria although this was overtaken by cocoa in the 1880s.[citation needed]
Composition
Fatty acids
Palm oil, like all fats, is
composed of fatty acids, esterified with glycerol. Palm
oil has an especially high concentration of saturated
fat, specifically, of the 16-carbon saturated fatty acid palmitic acid, to which it gives its name.
Monounsaturated oleic
acid is also
a major constituent of palm oil. Unrefined palm oil is a large natural source
of tocotrienol, part of the vitamin E family.[16]
The approximate concentration
of fatty acids in palm oil is:[17]
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Fatty acid content of palm oil
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Type of fatty acid
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pct
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|
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1.0%
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43.5%
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|
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4.3%
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|||
|
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36.6%
|
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|
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9.1%
|
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Other/Unknown
|
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5.5%
|
||
|
black: Saturated; grey: Monounsaturated; blue: Polyunsaturated
|
||||
Carotenes
When unrefined or when
processed into red palm oil, it is naturally rich in carotenes, which give it
its characteristic dark red color. Like tomatoes, carrots and many other fruits
and vegetables but unlike most oils, palm oil naturally contains the nutrients alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and lycopene. Palm oil contains other carotenes including tocopherols andtocotrienols (members of the vitamin E family), CoQ10, phytosterols, and glycolipids.[18]
Processing and use
Refining
After milling,
various palm oil products are made using refining processes. First is fractionation, with crystallization
and separation processes to obtain solid (stearin), and liquid (olein)
fractions.[20] Then melting and degumming removes impurities. Then the oil is
filtered and bleached. Physical refining[clarification needed] removes smells and coloration to produce
"refined, bleached and deodorized palm oil" (RBDPO) and free sheer
fatty acids,[clarification needed] which are used in the manufacture of soaps, washing
powder and
other products. RBDPO is the basic palm oil product sold on the world's
commodity markets. Many companies fractionate it further to produce palm olein for cooking oil, or process it into other
products.[20]
Red palm oil
Since the mid-1990s, red palm
oil has been cold-pressed and
bottled for use as cooking oil, and blended into mayonnaise and salad oil.[21]
Antioxidants
Red palm oil antioxidants like tocotrienols and carotenes are added
to foods and cosmetics because of their purported health benefits.[22][23][24]
Butter and trans fat substitute
The highly saturated nature of
palm oil renders it solid at room temperature in temperate regions, making it a
cheap substitute for butter or trans
fats in uses
where solid fat is desirable, such as the making of pastry dough and baked goods. A recent rise in the
use of palm oil in the food industry has partly come from changed labelling
requirements that have caused a switch away from using trans fats.[25] Palm oil has been found to be a reasonable
replacement for trans fats;[26] however, a small study conducted in 2009
found that palm oil may not be a good substitute for trans fats for individuals
with already-elevated LDL levels.[27] The USDA agricultural research service states that
palm oil is not a healthy substitute for trans
fats.[28]
Biomass and bioenergy
Palm oil is used to produce
both methyl ester and hydrodeoxygenated biodiesel.[29] Palm oil methyl ester is created through a
process called transesterification.
Palm oil biodiesel is often blended with other fuels to create palm oil
biodiesel blends.[30] Palm oil biodiesel meets the European EN 14214 standard for biodiesels.[29] Hydrodeoxygenated biodiesel is produced by
direct hydrogenolysis of
the fat into alkanes and propane. The world's largest palm oil biodiesel plant
is the Finnish-operated Neste Oil biodiesel
plant in Singapore, which
opened in 2011 and produces hydrodeoxygenated NEXBTL biodiesel.[31]
The organic waste matter that
is produced when processing oil palm, including oil palm shells and oil palm
fruit bunches, can also be used to produce energy. This waste material can be
converted into pellets that can be used as a biofuel.[32] Additionally, palm oil that has been used
to fry foods can be converted into methyl esters for biodiesel. The used
cooking oil is chemically treated to create a biodiesel similar to petroleum
diesel.[33]
In wound care
Although palm oil is applied to
wounds for its supposed antimicrobial effects, research does not confirm its
effectiveness.[34]
Production
As of 2012, the annual revenue
received by Indonesia and Malaysia together, the top two producers of palm oil,
is US$40 billion.[35] Between 1962 and 1982 global exports of
palm oil increased from around half a million to 2.4 million tonnes annually
and in 2008 world production of palm oil and palm kernel oil amounted to 48
million tonnes. According to FAO forecasts by 2020 the global demand for palm
oil will double, and triple by 2050.
Indonesia
Indonesia is the largest producer of palm oil,
surpassing Malaysia in 2006, producing more than 20.9 million tonnes.[35][37] Indonesia expects to double production by
the end of 2030.[9] At the end of 2010, 60 percent of the
output was exported in the form of crude palm oil.[38] FAO data
show production increased by over 400% between 1994 and 2004, to over 8.66
million metric tonnes.
Malaysia
In 2012, Malaysia, the
world's second largest producer of palm oil,[39] produced 18.79 million tonnes of crude palm
oil on roughly 5,000,000 hectares (19,000 sq mi) of land.[40][41] Though Indonesia produces more palm oil,
Malaysia is the world's largest exporter of palm oil having exported 18 million
tonnes of palm oil products in 2011. China, Pakistan, the European
Union, India and theUnited
States are the
primary importers of Malaysian palm oil products.
Nigeria
As of 2011, Nigeria was the third-largest producer, with
approximately 2.3 million hectares (5.7×106 acres) under cultivation. Until 1934,
Nigeria had been the world's largest producer. Both small- and large-scale
producers participated in the industry.
1KG,2KG AND
50KG
PRICE
$0.7/KG
For more information:
mobile: +2348039721941
contact person: emeaba uche
website: www.franchiseminerals.com
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