Palm Oil

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Palm oil or palm oil is edible vegetable oil derived from mesocarp of palm fruit trees, generally of the species Elaeis guineensis, and few of the species Elaeis oleifera and Attalea maripa.

Palm oil is naturally coloured because of its high beta-carotene content. Palm oil differs from palm kernel oil produced from the same fruit core. Palm oil is also different from coconut oil produced from coconut core (Cocos nucifera).

 The difference is in colour (palm kernel oil does not have carotenoids so it is not red), and its saturated fat content. Palm oil contains 41% saturated fat, 81% palm kernel oil, and 86% coconut oil.

palm oil - www.healthnote25.com

Palm oil includes oils that have high levels of saturated fat. Palm oil is half dense at room temperature and has some saturated lauric acid (0.1%), myristic acid (1%), stearic acid (5%), and palmitic acid (44%). Palm oil also has unsaturated fats in the form of oleic acid (39%), linoleic acid (10%), and alpha-linoleic acid (0.3%).

 Like all vegetable oils, palm oil does not contain cholesterol  although the consumption of saturated fats is known to cause an increase in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and high-density lipoproteins due to the metabolism of fatty acids in the body. Palm oil is also GMO-free, as there is no genetically modified palm oil (GMO) cultivated to produce palm oil.

Palm oil is a common cooking ingredient in tropical countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, and parts of Brazil. Its use in the commercial food industry in other parts of the world is driven by its low production costs and its oxidative stability when used for frying.

palm oil - www.healthnote25.com

The rise of oil palm plantations has attracted environmentalists' concerns over the massive destruction of forests to monoculture agricultural oil palm. This oil palm plantation has caused the loss of orang-utan habitat in Indonesia, which is an endangered species. In 2004, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was set up to address these concerns. Malaysia since 1992 has restricted the expansion of oil palm plantations in its territory by applying a minimum state land boundary rule as a forest.