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Red Palm Oil: A Review on Processing, Health Benefits and Its Application in
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DOI: 10.5650/jos.ess21108

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Journal of Oleo Science
Copyright ©2021 by Japan Oil Chemists’ Society
J-STAGE Advance Publication date : August 6, 2021
doi : 10.5650/jos.ess21108
J. Oleo Sci.

REVIEW

Red Palm Oil: A Review on Processing, Health

Benefits and Its Application in Food
Choon Hui Tan, Chao Jie Lee, Sze Ning Tan, Dickson Tik Sang Poon,
Cheryl Yi Ern Chong, and Liew Phing Pui＊
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Faculty of Applied Science, UCSI University, Jalan Puncak Menara Gading, 56000 Kuala Lumpur,
MALAYSIA

Abstract: This review is aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the physicochemical properties and
extraction processes of red palm oil, its nutritional properties and applications in food. Crude palm oil is
firstly extracted from the fruit mesocarp and processed into red palm oil using pre-treatment of crude palm
oil, with deacidification steps, and deodorization via short-path distillation. These processes help to retain β-
carotene and vitamin E in red palm oil. Palmitic, stearic and myristic acids are the saturated fatty acids in
red palm oil, while the unsaturated fatty acids are oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids. It is reported to
overcome vitamin A deficiency, promote heart health and have anti-cancer properties.

Key words: red palm oil, extraction, physicochemical properties, vitamin A deficiency, nutrition

1 Introduction decreased tremendously during this refining process4）.

Oil palm, Elaeis guineensis, has been cultivated in Ma-
laysia since 1917 and is now the most important economic
crop in Malaysia, with export revenue from the crop reach-
ing more than RM 67.12 billion in 20181）. Other leading
palm oil-producing countries are Indonesia and Thailand.
The crop produces almost ten times higher oil per hectare
than any other leading vegetable oil crops2）. Palm oil and
its derivatives are mainly used for cooking, frying oils, mar-
garine, shortenings, vanaspati and specialty fats3）. Palm oil
or its blends with with palm kernel or with other vegetable
oils were the different product available in market.
Crude palm oil is extracted from palm mesocarp and rich
in minor components, including carotenoids （precursor of
vitamin A）, tocopherols and tocotrienols（ vitamin E）,
sterols, phospholipids, squalene, aliphatic hydrocarbons
and aliphatic alcohols4）. More research has been focusing
on carotenoids and vitamin E in palm oil in recent years
with its antioxidant properties. Despite their nutritional
values, palm carotenoids are removed during the refining
process, this is to gain clear oil which is better for consum-
er acceptance and industry purposes5）. The concentration
of carotenoids is reduced to more than half with applica-
tion of high temperature and steps such as deacidification
and deodorization. Goh et al. stated that tocopherols’level
Red palm oil is a refined palm oil, in which although it
has similar properties as refined, bleached, deodorized
（RBD） oil, it still retains its content of carotenoids and the
vitamin E6）. It did not go through a few processes, such as
refining and bleaching with causes carotenoid, vitamin E
and sterol reduction7）. Red palm oil has a distinctive red
colour because it contains high level of carotene and low
free fatty acid level8）. Nagendran et al. reported that this
process was patented and used to commercialize various
red palm oil fractions and products9）.
2 Beneficial Compounds and Properties
2.1 Physicochemical properties
From Table 1, the free fatty acids content of red palm
oil, red palm olein and crude red palm oil are 0.1％, 0.1％
and 11.4％, respectively 10−12）. The iodine values of red
palm oil and red palm olein range from 51 to 56, while the
slip melting points of these two oils range from 23-37℃10−12）.
Moisture and impurities of red palm oil and red palm olein
are 0.04％ and 0.50％, respectively 10, 11）. The peroxide
value of crude red palm olein（7.2 meq O 2 per kg）was
higher than red palm olein （1.5 meq O2 per kg） 10, 11）
.

＊
Correspondence to: Liew Phing Pui, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Faculty of Applied Science, UCSI University, Jalan
Puncak Menara Gading, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA
E-mail: puilp@ucsiuniversity.edu.my ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5305-4334
Accepted May 9, 2021 (received for review March 27, 2021)
Journal of Oleo Science ISSN 1345-8957 print / ISSN 1347-3352 online
http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/jos/ http://mc.manusriptcentral.com/jjocs

1
 C. H. Tan, C. J. Lee, S. N. Tan et al.

Table 1 Physicochemical properties of red palm oil, red palm olein and crude red palm
olein.
Crude red palm
Red palm oil10) Red palm olein11)
olein12)
Free Fatty Acids (%) 0.1 0.1 11.4
Iodine Value (g I2/100 g) 51.6 56.7 55.7
Moisture & impurities (%) 0.04 0.5 －
Slip melting point (℃) 37.0 23.8 23.0
Peroxide value (meq O2 per kg) － 1.5 7.2
Acid value (mg KOH/g) － 0.3 －
Refractive index (40℃) － 1.5 1.5

Table 2 Fatty acid composition and phytonutrient content of red palm oil, palm olein and palm stearin.
Red palm oil Palm olein Palm stearin
Nagendran Loganathan Malaysian Malaysian
References Delisle15) Cassiday14)
et al.9) et al.17) standards59) standards60)
Lauric acids (12:0) (%) 0.2 － 0.27 － 0.2－0.4 0.1－0.3
Myristic acid (14:0) (%) 1.0－1.5 0.8 1.09 － 0.9－1.2 1.1－1.7
Palmitic acid (16:0) (%) 42.0－47.0 42.0 40.93 － 38.2－42.9 49.8－68.1
Palmitoleic acid (16:1) (%) － － － － 0.1－0.3 ＜0.05－0.1
Stearic acid (18:0) (%) 4.0－5.0 5.1 4.18 － 3.7－4.8 3.9－5.6
Oleic acid (18:1) (%) 37.0－41.0 42.0 41.51 － 39.8－43.9 20.4－34.4
Linoleic acid (18:2) (%) 9.0－11.0 10.0 11.64 － 10.4－12.7 5.0－8.9
Linolenic acid (18.3) (%) 0.4 － 0.40 － 0.1－0.6 0.1－0.5
Arachidic acid (20:0) (%) － － 0.37 － 0.2－0.5 0.3－0.6
Total saturated fatty acids (%) 49.9 50 － － － －
Total monosaturated acids (%) 39.2 42 － － － －
Total polyunsaturated fatty acids (ppm) 10.5 － － － － －
Total carotenes (ppm) 500－700 513 513 600－750 500－1200 300－500
Total tocopherols & tocotrienols (ppm) 600－1000 707 707 717－863 － －
Phytosterols 65% 325－365 ppm 109－170 ppm 325－365 ppm － －
Ubiquinone (ppm) － － － 18－25 － －
Squalene (ppm) － － － 14－15 － －
Co-enzyme Q10 (ppm) － － － 18－25 － －

2.2 Fatty acid composition
Table 2 shows the fatty acid composition and phytonutri-
ent content of red palm oil. Red palm oil has a balanced
percentage of fatty acids, which comprise 50％ of saturated
fatty acids, 40％ monosaturated 10％ polyunsaturated fatty
acids13）. This balanced composition of fatty acid allows red
palm oil to stay at a semi-solid state and is more resistant
to lipid oxidation than other vegetable oils that contain
high monounsaturated acids. From 50％ of saturated fatty
acids, 45％ are palmitic acid, and 5％ are stearic acid13）.
Other studies reported that approximate 0.2 and 1.0％ to
1.5％ of lauric acids and myristic acid are also present in
red palm oil as saturated acid, respectively14, 15）. The only
2
J. Oleo Sci.
monounsaturated acid within red palm oil is oleic acid, and
the two polyunsaturated fatty acids are linoleic acid and
linolenic acid14, 15）.
2.3 Carotenoids
Carotenoids are one of the key compounds highly re-
tained after a special refining process and give red palm oil
its orange-red color. Studies have shown that the amount
of retained carotenoids after refining ranges from 500 to
786 parts per million depending on the condition of crude
（red）palm oil before refining16）. About 80％ of the carot-
enoids retained were found to be consisted of 0.2％ phy-
toene, 0.6％ phytofluene, 41.3％ α-carotene, 10.2％
 Red Palm Oil Processing, Benefits and Applications

Fig. 1 Simple processing flowchart of red palm oil and refined, bleached and deodorized palm oil.

cis-α-carotene, 41.0％ β-carotene, cis-β-carotene, 0.6％
ζ-carotene, 0.8％ γ-carotene, 0.8％ δ-carotene, 0.2％ neu-
rosporene, 0.5％ α-zeacarotene, 1.3％ β-zeacarotene and
1.0％ lycopene17）. However, α-carotene and α-carotene
represents 90％ of the refined carotenoids in red palm
oil15）. Among the 13 carotenoids retained, only α-carotene,
β-carotene and γ-carotene can show provitamin A activity
and is has 15, 44 and 300 times more retinol than carrots,
leafy vegetables and tomatoes respectively17）.
minor phytochemicals such as phytosterols, ubiquinones,
coenzyme Q10, squalene and polyphenols were detected to
be present in small quantity14）. In red palm oil, the amount
of phytosterols ranges from 325 to 365 parts per million,
and squalene is 14 to 15 parts per million, coenzyme Q10 is
18 to 25 parts per million ubiquinone is 18-25 parts per
million17）.

2.4 Tocopherols and tocotrienols
Other than carotenoids, tocopherols and tocotrienols
also contribute to the oxidative stability of red palm oils.
About 85％ of tocopherols and tocotrienols are retained
after the refining process, ranging from 600 to 1000 parts
per million15）. The tocopherols and tocotrienols present are
in the form of 19％ α-tocopherol, 29％ α-tocotrienol, 41％
γ-tocotrienol and 10％ δ-tocotrienol with 70％ are tocotri-
enols, and 30％ are tocopherols14）. As an antioxidant, it
may prolong food products’shelf-life, stabilize oils and fats,
and lower free radical damage18）.
2.5 Other phytonutrients
Other than carotenoids and vitamin E in red palm oil,
J. Oleo Sci.
3 Processing and Production of Red Palm Oil
The processing of oil palm fruit into edible oils involves
many different and complex steps. Besides using tradition-
al ways of processing, there are also application of small,
medium and large scall mills19）. The processing steps of oil
palm fruit can be broken into a few steps: bunch reception,
fruit sterilization, fruit digestion, pulp extraction, and oil
（Fig. 1）. Bunch reception involves grading the oil palm
fruit and the threshing process, removing fruit from the
bunches19, 20）. After the fruits have been graded, the steril-
ization process will take place in the sterilizer. Sterilization
is a crucial step that inactivates and destroys the enzymes
to prevent free fatty acids （FFA）by using high-temperature
steam. This process also softens and loosens the fruit
3
 C. H. Tan, C. J. Lee, S. N. Tan et al.
structure for easier fruit digestion and extraction of oil.
The mesocarp （flesh） （seed）
and the kernel are separated in
the digester. The steam-heated vessels with attached rotat-
ing shafts, and a few stirring arms that help destroy the
exocarp of the fruit and reduce the oil’ s viscosity.
Palm oil extraction has two common methods: the“dry”
method and the“wet”method.“Dry”method uses me-
chanical presses such as hydraulic press and screw press
to extract the oil from the digested material. The hydraulic
presses are usually used in the batch system, while the
screw press is used in a continuous system more often19）.
The“wet”method, on the other hand, uses water to draw
out the oil from the fruit. The hot water introduced to the
fruit will break down gums and resins that cause foaming
of the oil during high-temperature frying. The gums and
resins will soon remove through the oil clarification
process. The mesocarp fiber will retain about 5-6％ of oil
after the pressing19, 21）.
Oil clarification is to separate the impurities from the oil.
A mixture of oil, water and solids from the bunch fibers is
transferred to the tank, and the separation of the oil is
based on the density of the materials. Hot water is added
to provide a barrier to the lighter oil droplets and the heavy
solids. The oil droplets will stay at the top of the tank, and
the solids will sink to the bottom. The crude palm oil （CPO）
is decanted into a reception tank and the moisture content
reduced to 0.15％ to 0.25％ to prevent FFA increase
through the autocatalytic hydrolysis of the oil. CPO is sub-
jected to centrifugation for purification, followed by drying
step. The purified and dried oil is then transferred to the
oil storage tank19, 21, 22）.
Red palm oil can be obtained from the mild processing of
crude palm oil while the refined, bleached, deodorized
（RBD） palm oil is obtained by physical refining or chemical
refining of the crude palm oil9）. There are two stages of
processing for the refining of red palm oil from crude palm
oil. The first stage involves the CPO’ s pre-treatment, which
uses phosphoric acid for degumming of the oil and treat-
ment with bleaching clay. The main purpose of the pre-
treatment is to remove the impurities in the CPO while re-
taining the carotenes. The bleaching clay is removed by
filtration. The next stage of the process is deacidification
and deodorization. The pre-treated oil is passed through
the short-path distillation unit at about 150℃ to 170℃
under vacuum to remove the free fatty acids （FFA） without
destroying the carotenes23）.
For the RBD palm oil, physical refining involves a few
degumming steps, bleaching, and deodorization. In the de-
gumming process, the phospholipids are reduced, and
gums are removed from the oil 24）. The next step is the
bleaching process that uses bleaching clay to remove the
color pigments and residual soaps from the oil25）. Physical
refining is usually carried out at high temperatures and
pressures in the deodorization step to remove the odor and
4
J. Oleo Sci.
impurities such as the FFA, volatile oxidation products and
phospholipids. However, high temperatures may also
destroy the carotenes and tocopherols; hence, a lower de-
odorization temperature is highly recommended to reduce
carotenes’ losses. The oil becomes bland and light yellow26, 27）.
On the other hand, chemical refining is similar to physi-
cal refining but involves the alkali neutralization process.
The alkaline neutralization process removes FFA and phos-
pholipids from the crude palm oil and forms a byproduct
named soapstock, a mixture of fatty acids, impurities and
phospholipids28）. Besides, chemical refining is carried out
at a low temperature and uses a shorter time than the
physical refining process. The losses of tocotrienols and to-
copherol usually higher in the physical refining process,
and physically refined oil have a lower shelf life compared
to chemically refined oil29, 30）.
The processing steps refining red palm oil are shorter
and consume less time compared to the refining process of
RBD palm oil. The mild processing steps of refining red
palm oil allow it to retain most of the carotenes, tocotri-
enols, and the oil color. However, all the refining steps for
red palm oil could not remove the volatile compounds
hence red palm oil will have a slightly distinctive taste and
odour. The consumers may find the taste and smell of the
red palm oil unique and different from other vegetable
oils58）. In contrast, RBD palm oil can only retain some caro-
tenes and lost most of the tocotrienols contents during the
refining, bleaching and deodorization process9, 23）.
4 Health Benefits
4.1 Relieve Vitamin A deficiency
Red palm oil is well known as an excellent source of ca-
rotenoids for pro-vitamin A（PVA）. It is frequently supple-
mented in diets to help to relieve vitamin A deficiency
（VAD）disease. In developing countries, VAD is the
common health issues faced by the public. Insufficient
dietary intake and poor absorption are factors that will lead
to a low level of vitamin A stores in the body31）. Red palm
oil, other than supplying the essential carotenoids, is also
an excellent source in providing fats to enhance the bio-
availability of dietary PVA carotenoids32）. Consequently, fat
intake coupled with carotenoids is assumed to be essential
as it reported to improve the bio-efficacy of dietary PVA
carotenoids up to more than 80％ that correlate to a retinol
equivalent value of 0.433, 34）.
There are few studies have reported the potential of
RPO as the precursors of vitamin A and its effect in alleviat-
ing VAD is similar compared to vitamin A supplements35−38）.
The effects of mean serum retinol after consuming red
palm oil are shown in Table 3. According to a meta-analysis
studied by Dong et al., the results showed that supplemen-
tation with a low level of red palm oil（≤ 8 g RPO）to chil-
 Red Palm Oil Processing, Benefits and Applications
Table 3 Mean serum retinol changes in different subjects after consuming Red
Palm Oil.
Mean serum retinol (μmol/L)
Subjects
Baseline (T0)
Total participants 0.82±0.30
Girls 0.83±0.30
Boys 0.81±0.29
Mothers 1.34±0.04
Infants 0.64±0.03
Children 0.55
Mothers 0.69
Children 1.01
dren and adults lead to an increase in serum retinol levels
and β-carotene levels, but the serum α-carotene levels
have no significant differences upon consumption of
RPO36）.
4.2 Increase serum retinol and lower cholesterol
Few studies were found incorporating red palm oil into
the diet as a source of β-carotene. Research by Zeba et al.
found that by adding 15 mL of RPO to school children’ s the results that total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol con-
diet three times a week for a year, the serum retinol had
increased significantly32）. Additionally, another study in
Burkina Faso by Zagré et al. using childbearing age women
and children as subjects for 24 months shows that individu-
als with a lower initial concentration of serum retinol
showed an improvement in serum retinol response after
the intake of RPO38）. These results supported that a small
amount of RPO can help combat VAD by using serum
retinol as a reference for vitamin A status in the body. The
fatty acids profile of RPO is similar to the palm oil, which
contains almost 50％ saturated fatty acids and the effect of
these saturated fatty acids present in palm oil on the heart
is controversial. There are arguments on the saturated
fatty acid composition of palm oil that will increase blood
cholesterol, particularly lower-density lipoprotein（LDL）,
which will increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
However, the high antioxidant contents in red palm oil,
which comprise carotenoids, vitamin E, and other polyphe-
nols, seem beneficial to our heart.
Scholtz et al. conducted a study on the effect of red
palm olein on lipids and hemostatic factors in hyper-fi-
brinogenaemic subjects and compared it with refined palm
olein intake39）. They found that the total cholesterol and
LDL cholesterol increased significantly in the subject that
consumed palm olein compared to RPO and sunflower oil.
This study found that RPO did not show any hypercholes-
terolaemic properties and RPO intake resulted in de-
creased tissue plasminogen activator antigen, which has a
significant association with cardiovascular heart disease40）.
J. Oleo Sci.
References
Endline (T1)
0.98±0.33 Zeba et al. 32)
0.96±0.26
0.96±0.26
1.41±0.06 Canfield et al.35)
0.74±0.04
0.64 Zagré et al.38)
0.95
1.16 Van Stuijvenberg et al.37)
A high level of tissue plasminogen activator antigen is also
found to precede type 2 diabetes development. The risk of
diabetes increased linearly with the concentration of tissue
plasminogen activator antigen; therefore, the tissue plas-
minogen activator antigen lowering effect of RPO is benefi-
cial; however, more studies need to be carried out to deter-
mine this relationship41）.
Additionally, the findings of Wilson et al. also support
centrations in a hamster fed with RPO containing diets are
significantly lower compare to diets containing coconut
oil42）. Hamsters fed with RPO containing diets also show
the highest high-density lipoprotein（HDL）concentrations
compared to refined, bleached and deodorized palm oil
（RBD-PO） coconut oil. Lower levels of aortic total, free and
esterified cholesterol were observed in the hamsters fed
with RPO（74％, 50％ and 225％, respectively）, RBD-PO
（57％, 48％ and 92％, respectively）and the reconstituted
RBD-PO（111％, 94％ and 94％, respectively）compare to
the coconut oil-fed hamsters. Also, RPO containing diets
accumulate lesser aortic cholesterol concentrations com-
pared to hamsters fed coconut oil. RPO is found to be less
atherogenic than the RBD-PO and coconut oil.
4.3 Increase antioxidant level and reduce risk of cancer
Two recent studies by Bacova et al. and Katengua-Tha-
mahane et al. are found using spontaneously hypertensive
rats（SHR） as subjects to study the effects of using RPO on
the myocardial antioxidant enzyme, heart function and
nitric oxide synthase43, 44）. Both results reported that with
0.2 mL of RPO supplementation per day for continuously 5
weeks had resulted in a significant reduction of elevated
blood pressure and total NOS activity. RPO intake have
positive effect on systolic and diastolic heart function,
while suppress the heart rate elevation and reduces coro-
nary flow, during the early-phase of post-ischemic reperfu-
sion. Antioxidant-rich RPO is beneficial to SHR in these
studies; however, the research for humans’effect is still
5
 C. H. Tan, C. J. Lee, S. N. Tan et al.
not clearly stated; therefore, more studies for the cardio-
protective and blood pressure-lowering effect of RPO
should be considered in the future.
According to Loganathan et al. and Oguntibeju et al.,
RPO, other than playing an important role as vitamin A
precursor and lowering cholesterol, also shows potential
activity reducing cancer risk17, 45）. The vitamin E tocotri-
enols and carotenoids of RPO both can act as antioxidants
that play a significant role in maintaining the immunity of
the human body46）. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy
are some of the treatments available for cancer; however, it
will generate reactive oxygen series（ROS）that will induce
DNA damage47）. Antioxidant-rich RPO is said to have a
beneficial effect on the consequences of chemotherapy.
Loganathan et al. reported in his review paper that by a
colonic tumor biomarker（aberrant crypt foci）on the rat
subjects with azoxymethane-induced colon cancer, supple-
mentation of RPO for 13 weeks could decrease the number
of aberrant crypt foci and activity in the subjects17）. In con-
trast, glutathione S-transferase activity was found to in-
crease in the liver. Oguntibeju et al. had also supported
RPO’ s anticancer properties by reporting that RPO that is
rich in tocotrienol can induce apoptosis in highly malignant
mouse mammary epithelial cell at treatment doses45）.
5 Application of Red Palm Oil in Food Products
5.1 Cooking oil
Palm oil is gaining worldwide acceptance due to its spe-
cific properties that promote its use in a wide range of end
products. Numerous fractions and refined forms that are
available on the market that renders these properties even
versatile. Currently, Malaysia’ s most significant type of
product is refined palm olein, which is commonly used in
households as cooking oil. Changing lifestyle trends and
people generally being more health-conscious led to other
areas of application for palm oil and its fractions to contrib-
ute to their overall well-being. The Malaysian Palm Oil
Board research and development team made an effort to
formulating red palm oil related products and introducing
them into niche markets. At present, red palm oil is still
gaining acceptance due to its red color as the primary hin-
drance for widespread market adoption14）. Another reason
RPO may not be commonly used is that it is more expen-
sive than other fat sources for its high Pro-Vitamin A
content57）. The market acceptance of RPO is dependent on
whether or not consumers view RPO as a value-added
commodity. Hence, the authorities play an important role
on substantiating health claims and on the flexibility for a
wide range of food applications.
Nevertheless, RPO can reduce the prevalence of some
diseases due to their desirable nutritional and functional
properties. Red palm oil having properties like high smoke
6
J. Oleo Sci.
point and oxidation resistance had become a satisfactory
alternative to refined palm olein to be used as cooking or
frying oil, shortenings, and fat substitute and confectionary
fats48）.
5.2 Gravy oil
Wu et al. fully substituted vegetable oil and animal fat
with red palm oil（RPO）in commercial gravy oil sachets49）.
They analyzed these RPO gravy’ s physicochemical proper-
ties and sensory characteristics of oil flavorings. Compared
to other palm oils and commercial oils and fats, the content
of RPO carotenoid, β-carotene, and vitamin E in the gravy
was found to be in higher content.
5.3 Margarine
Red palm oil has potential as a margarine replacement
material due to its compositions of fatty acids similar colors
and textures for the end product. A study by Harianti dem-
onstrated the use of red palm oil to produce high antioxi-
dant cake products to discover its potential to be a func-
tional food50）. Full substitution of RPO suggests the best
organoleptic results, the highest β-carotene level with a
value of 40.74 ppm/100 g and 470.44 mg/100 g antioxidant
activity.
5.4 Spread
RPO also raises carotenoid, phytosterol, tocopherol, and
tocotrienol amounts varying from 3-27 folds. On the other
hand, the cholesterol level had reduced significantly by
about 10-50 percent, which could be a healthier alternative
to the spreads currently available on the market. Besides,
the blends’radical scavenging behavior improved with an
improvement in the quantity of PRPOL, suggesting the
action of potent antioxidant potential. Another research
performed by Kumar et al. found that the inclusion of 20
percent retained palm olein（PRPOL）phytonutrients with
butterfat in a chocolate spread has demonstrated optimum
market acceptability on sensory attributes51）.
5.5 Cereal bars
Red palm oil is also often found in different types of pro-
cessed foods, commonly like protein bars, baked goods and
cereals48）. In Wan’ s study, palm tocotrienol-rich fraction
（TRF） was incorporated into the formulation of cereal bars
to enrich the vitamin E content52）. After baking, the granola
bar’ s enrichment with 0.6％ （w/w）liquid palm TRF or 3.57
mg/g vitamin E showed around 10％ loss in vitamin E. Nev-
ertheless, the final product enriched vitamin E still had a
significant difference in proximate composition and caloric
value than other commercial granola bars.
5.6 Snacks
Research by Sidhu et al. discovered that in the process-
ing of snacks, biscuits and bread, the addition of red palm
 Red Palm Oil Processing, Benefits and Applications

Table 4 Application of red palm oil in food products.

Applications in food
Extruded snacks, digestive
biscuits and pan bread
Gravy oil sachets
Cooking/ frying oil
Margarine
Shortening
Confectionary fat
Fortification of cassava flour
Salad oils and dressing
Spreads
Granola Bars
Major Findings Reference
Increased antioxidant provitamin A (β-carotene) and other phytonutrient Sidhu et al.53)
contents in producing antioxidant-rich functional foods.
RPO carotenoid, β-carotene and vitamin E content improves nutritional Wu et al.49)
value and sensory properties in flavoring oil gravy for instant noodles.
Suitable for stir-frying as most of the carotene is retained in the cooked Nagendran et al.9)
food.
Contributes to the color to the final product and the desired level of Nagendran et al.9)
provitamin A.
Carotino shortening used in baking could provide from 15% to 200% of Benadé55)
the RDA for β-carotene per portion of the product.
Cake products with red palm oil (RPO) can be categorized high in Harianti et al.50)
β-carotene functional food options.
Decrease prevalence of Vitamin A deficiency in preschool children Mosha et al.56)
and help pregnant and lactating women increase their plasma retinol
concentrations.
Replacement of corn oil with RPO significantly increases α, γ and δ El-Hadad et al.11)
tocotrienols (29 folds) and carotenes (15 folds) and positive effects on
stability due to the presence of natural antioxidant.
Butterfat in conventional chocolate spread replaced with red palm olein El-Hadad et al.11)
had a significant increment in tocopherols, tocotrienols and carotenes with
longer shelf life stored at room temperature.
Tocotrienol-rich fraction enhances the granola bar's functionality, having Wan52)
a proximate composition and caloric value comparable to that of the
commercial granola bar.

olein increased its contents phytochemicals in these
foods53）. In comparison, the content of β-carotene was ex-
tremely low in snacks made with red palm shortening
（RPS）. This analysis shows that RPOL and RPS may be
used to generate antioxidant enhanced functional confec-
tionary foods.
5.7 Ice cream
Related research was performed by Isa and found that
5％, 8％ and 10％ of red palm olein mixed with non-milk
fat solids in ice creams had higher scores in terms of color,
taste, body texture and meltability54）. Such aspects added
benefit to the food produced from ice cream since the
amount of β-carotene and pro-vitamin A allows the food to
be more nutritional. Other applications of red palm oil in
food products are shown in Table 4.
Therefore, its carotenoids can be retained, and the oil can
be used to relieve vitamin A deficiency disease. Besides,
the oil is rich in vitamin E（Tocopherols and tocotrienols）
and contains phytonutrients. The data collected indicates
the potential efficacy of RPO in promoting various health
benefits, including antiatherogenic and anticancer. RPO
can be used as a dietary supplement or incorporated in
various food products such as salad dressing, chocolate
spread and non-dairy products. It can be concluded that
red palm oil can replace butterfat or hydrogenated oil, pro-
viding nutritional benefits. More attention in future re-
search can be given to study red palm oil’ s health effects in
large-scale human clinical studies. Research on the bio-
availability of nutrients in red palm oil upon conversion to
processed food is also warranted.

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（2016）
al Science Procedia 9, 209-216 . CC BY 4.0（ Attribution 4.0 International）. This
59）Malaysian Standard（2007） . Palm Olein – Specification license allows users to share and adapt an article,
even commercially, as long as appropriate credit is
（Second Revision）MS 816:2007. Department of stan-
given. That is, this license lets others copy, distrib-
dards Malaysia.
ute, remix, and build upon the Article, even com-
60）Malaysian Standard（2007）. Palm Stearin – Specifica- mercially, provided the original source and Authors
tion（Second Revision）MS 815:2007. Department of are credited.
standards Malaysia.

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