Palm oil is obtained from the fruit of the oil palm tree, Elaeis guineensis. The majority of palm oil is produced in Malaysia and Indonesia where growing conditions are ideal. Typically, a palm plantation produces about 6,000 lbs. of palm oil per acre per year. The life cycle of a palm plantation is about 30 years, after which the old trees are removed and replaced with new tree varieties. The latest varieties are expected to yield up to 50% more palm oil per acre, greatly increasing palm oil output on the same acreage of planted land.
Fruitful details
A palm fruit has about a 2-in. diameter and consists of a hard nut called a kernel, surrounded by a fleshy fruit layer. Palm oil is obtained from the fleshy layer without solvents or chemicals by treatment with steam followed by pressing. The pressed oil, called crude palm oil, is bright-red in color, due to a high content of natural beta-carotene, a vitamin A precursor. For food use, crude palm oil is further refined to remove color and odor using steam, vacuum and natural clay. Also present is a group of natural antioxidants called tocotrienols, which contribute to the stability and shelf life of the oil. Tocotrienols also help protect the body against the effects of oxidation and free-radical formation.
Palm oil’s natural balance of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids is composed mainly of an equal amount of palmitic acid (C16:0) and oleic acid (C18:1), and contains no trans fat. For every gram of saturates consumed, a gram of unsaturated fat will also be consumed. Recent nutrition research has shown that the saturated fat in palm oil raises human levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or “good”) cholesterol, partially counteracting saturated fat’s well-known effect of raising low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or “bad”) cholesterol.
A functional palm reading
Palm oil is naturally semisolid at room temperature (melting point, or MP, of approximately 39°C), making it an excellent shortening for many food applications without the need for further processing. Palmitic acid, the main saturated fat in palm oil, naturally forms small, stable crystals (called beta-prime) that are excellent at stabilizing small air cells and imparting a smooth, creamy texture to shortening with enhanced functionality for baked goods.
