Palm oil is called differently. How and from what products is palm oil produced? Using palm oil

The appearance of refined palm oil

Since 2015, palm oil has taken the 1st place in the production of vegetable oils, ahead of all types of vegetable oils, for example, sunflower oil by 2.5 times. Everyone knows that palm oil is very often used in the preparation of various food products. Let's see what palm oil is made of, and palm oil is harmful or beneficial.

What is palm oil made from?

Palm oil is produced from the fleshy part of the oil palm fruit. The seeds of this type of palm are used to obtain palm kernel oil.

Oil palm plantation

Untreated palm oil is red-orange in color, semi-hard in consistency and has a melting point of 33 to 39 ° C.

In industry, it is more often not "raw" that is used, but refined palm oil, which is subjected to refining, deodorization and discoloration. After cleansing, the usefulness of palm oil is drastically reduced.

The manual technique for producing palm oil is a fairly simple process: the harvested palm is crushed and then heated to separate the molten palm oil from the pulp.

In the industrial production of palm oil, the same processes take place, only on a larger scale and with the use of machine labor.

Palm oil harm and benefit

For many years, there has been a debate about the dangers and benefits of palm oil. Like any other food product, palm oil has its own beneficial and harmful properties that it has on the human body.

The benefits of palm oil

Untreated palm oil (red) is rich in vitamin E and surpasses sunflower oil in its quantity. It ranks first among products in terms of the amount of carotenoids, even overtaking fish oil! Red palm oil is recognized as the richest plant source of vitamin A.

The industry uses refined palm oil, which does not contain carotene, and the vitamin E content is no more than 16 mg per 100 grams.

Red Palm Oil Packaged

Palm oil, like sunflower oil, does not contain cholesterol. Some opponents of palm oil have tried to convince the public that the palmitic acid content of palm oil increases the natural production of cholesterol in the human body. Recent studies have shown that the effect of palm oil on the generation of cholesterol in the body can be compared to that of olive oil.

The digestibility of palm oil is 97.5%.
The calorie content of palm oil is 884 kcal per 100 grams.

The harm of palm oil

Many parents are concerned about the harm of palm oil to newborns in baby food. Indeed, scientists have shown that palm oil in infant formula reduces the absorption of calcium by the infant's body.

Impaired absorption of calcium by the child's body is due to the fact that palmitic acid is easily separated from palm olein in the children's intestine, after which it binds calcium, which is very abundant in baby food, forming calcium palmitate (insoluble salts, which are insoluble soap).

Calcium palmitate is not absorbed by the child's body and comes out with the stool, but the frequency of the stool decreases, and its density increases, which can cause painful sensations to the child.

When using structured palm oil in baby food, there are no problems with stool in children, but the cost of a mixture with the use of such oil is higher!

Many opponents of using palm oil also talk about a large amount of saturated fatty acids in its composition, but, for comparison, their content in butter is 2 times higher!

As you can see, palm oil cannot be said to be harmful or healthy, as it contains both beneficial and harmful properties.

The use of palm oil

One of the main uses of palm oil is in food production. In addition to food, oil is used in the manufacture of cosmetics and creams.

This article does not call for avoiding foods containing palm oil, but it is up to you to decide whether to consume foods containing palm oil. It's not a problem for me!

Shrouded in many rumors.

Due to its cheapness, as well as the influence of the media, most believe that it is very harmful and diligently avoids it.

In reality, everything is far from so simple. How is it done?

The following are the various species harvested from the palm tree, in brief the process of obtaining them and.

What types are there?

By processing the fruit of the palm tree, called the oil palm, two types of oils are extracted: palm kernel and raw palm... Crude oil is made from the pulp of the fruit, which contains fats up to 70%.

Palm kernel oil is extracted from the kernels inside the fruit. These kernels or seeds contain 10 to 30% fatwhich is considered more valuableand is similar in composition to coconut oil.

How is it mined?

How it's done? Palm oil is obtained through pressing fruit pulppreviously sterilized. Further, the resulting crude oil centrifuged for separation and other unnecessary inclusions.

Before this, the oil must first be preheated to 100 degrees... Palm kernel oil - by pressing the kernels from or by extraction.

Resources used

The birthplace of the oil palm is considered Western guinea... Today tree imported and growing throughout West Africa, Southeast Asia, South America, Indonesia and Malaysia.

The most large producers palm oil - Malaysia and Indonesia.

In these countries, the oil palm is grown plantations.

On plantations, fruits are collected, and then transported to plantwhere the oil itself is obtained directly.

The fruits hang in the form of bunches, 3-4 cm each. dry hot steam treatment, in order to separate the fruit from the bunch. Then they are exposed pressingto obtain oil.

Further processing

The oil obtained after pressing is considered technical... For power applications, more than deep processing.

The oil goes through five stages refining:

1. Getting rid of mechanical impurities.
2. Stage hydration... Through this process, phospholipids are extracted.
3. Getting rid of free fatty acids, the process neutralization.
4. Whitening.
5. Deodorization.

The result is a finished refinedpalm oil used all over the world.

Chemical constituents

The main component palm oils are palmitic and stearic acids. They belong to saturated fatty acids and constitute 50% composition... Are considered harmfulfor the body in large quantities.

Up to 40% palm oil - monounsaturatedfatty acids (oleic).

They are useful acids that help cleanse excess cholesterol and increase vascular tone.

Up to 10% take polyunsaturatedacids (linoleic).

Such fats improve metabolism and are considered very important for normal human life.

Palm oil is enriched with a significant amount tocotrienols- one of the modifications of vitamin E.

In addition, it is the source vitamin A... But during processing, a significant part of these vitamins is lost. There are more gentle technologies that allow save useful itemsin the composition. The oil produced in this way is called redpalm.

Compositionally, palm kernel oil resembles coconut... The main composition includes saturated lauric and myristic acids. Unsaturated oleic and linoleic acids are present up to 33%, due to them, palm kernel oil has a higher iodine number.

Loot myths

The most common myth about palm oil mining is rumor that it is made from the trunks of palm trees... In fact, such suspicions are absolutely groundless- the sources of oil are fruits. Moreover, both the pulp and the kernel.

This product has found such popularitydue to its ease of extraction. Locals get it even today manuallyand eaten. They drop the fruits into boiling water and collect the floating oil, and then squeeze the pulp extracted from the water. But the oil obtained in this way edible short time, but received in production differs in storage length.

Thus, it turns out that palm oil not so harmful... In any case, no more harmful than the usual creamy... Cheapness is determined by the ease of its production, and popularity among manufacturers - at the costand the possibility of long-term storage.

There are very useful components, especially in red palm and palm kernel oils.

However, it cannot be called harmless either, the presence of saturated fatty acids in a large volume harm the body.

Don't be scared, if the inscription palm oil is found in the composition, you just need to wisely approach the amount of its consumption.

How and where produce palm oil, you can find out by watching the video:

In various information sources, the "palm" topic is discussed ambiguously. The subject of the question is whether palm oil is useful or harmful to the human body, because it is imported to our country in huge quantities (about 500 tons annually).

What is the melting point of palm oil? Where is this product used? What are the benefits? This article is about this, as well as about the features of production and other facts.

Palm oil: application, description, composition

The source of palm oil is the fleshy parts of the fruit (Elaeis guineensis). In its raw form, it is red-orange in color, which is due to the high content of carotenoids. After undergoing special processing, the product becomes red or yellow. Red is inherent in the preservation of nutrients (up to 80%), in yellow they are significantly lost. Yellow varieties are rich in saturated fatty acids (up to 50%), which are harmful to the body. In red varieties there are 38% of them, moreover, it is famous for tocotrienols (modified vitamin E), vitamin A and resistance to oxidative reactions.

What is palm oil? What is this product made from? To obtain a hard core (seeds) of the fruit is taken. It is characterized by yellowness, the level of saturated fatty acids is as much as 80% (i.e., carotenoids are practically absent). Refined products become light.

The main composition of the product includes saturated fatty palmitic acid and the percentage of oleic (monounsaturated fatty) acid 40%, linoleic (polyunsaturated) - up to 10%. The latter contribute to a good metabolism and are important for health. The composition of palm kernel oil contains lauric and myristic and linoleic acids in it about 33%. In a refined product, most of the nutrients are lost during processing.

Edible and technical palm oil, application

The main suppliers of palm oil are Asia (southeast), Latin America. The harvested fruits are kept warm for a month before fermentation begins. After boiling, separating the pulp, press the resulting mass. The unprocessed product is called technical oil and is not suitable for human consumption. The main area of \u200b\u200bapplication is mechanical engineering, machine tool construction (as a lubricant for units).

As a result of purification, edible oil is obtained, an independent food product. In trade, its share is up to 50%. This is explained by the increased demand for vegetable oils due to the limited natural resources of solid and semi-solid fats. In the food industry, palm products are widely used in the manufacture of bakery and confectionery products, combined dairy products, semi-finished products, and infant formula.
Cosmetology (soap, cream, etc.), manufacturers of washing powders, household candles use palm oil, its components in large volumes. It is also used in pharmacology and the production of compound feed for agricultural livestock and poultry.

Features of production

What is the melting point of palm oil? Before answering this question, let's talk about the features of the production of this product. In the factory, bunches of palms are treated with dry steam to separate the fruits. Then the raw material is pressed to obtain its technical variety.

When obtaining food grades, the raw materials are sterilized, then refined (purified). Refining includes several stages:

• when pressed, crude oil comes out from the starting material;
• the centrifuge cleans from water and mechanical impurities;
• hydration (water purification) is carried out with the extraction of phospholipids;
• during neutralization, free fatty acids are removed;
• the product is bleached and deodorized.

Hydrogenation (hydrogen is added to the substances) is carried out in order to remove polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA).

Having the property of rapidly oxidizing, PUFAs do not contribute to long-term storage of the product (no more than six months), therefore, they get rid of them. So that after hydrogenation there is no characteristic aftertaste, the oil is refreshed (deodorized). When carrying out a complete cleaning, a widely used one is obtained due to a fairly low cost, but not entirely beneficial to health.

Palm oil: melting point, properties

Palm and other vegetable oils contain triacylglyceroids (compounds of glycerol esters and fatty acids). Each mixture has its own chemical-physical characteristics and degree of melting. Based on the melting point of palm oil, they talk about three fractions (varieties) of the product.

1. The standard product fraction is characterized by a melting temperature of 36 ° C - 39 ° C. When roasted, it does not smoke, does not burn. However, it quickly hardens, so it is recommended to eat food cooked on it hot or warm.
2. The hardest fraction - stearin - is included in the components of margarine. The melting point of palm oil is - 48 ° C - 52 ° C.
3. For as the most liquid variety, the degree of remelting is 16 ° C - 24 ° C. The consistency is similar to cream, freezes in the refrigerator.

Cosmetology is successfully using stearin and olein.

What foods contain palm oil

"Palm" products are distinguished by high refractoriness and long shelf life.

1. Palm oil is an ingredient in dairy products: milk substitutes (including dry), margarine, hard cheese, processed cheese, margarine and butter, spreads, many types of cottage cheese and ice cream, yogurt.
2. Flour, confectionery products with palm oil (derivatives) do not sour and are not subject to fermentation. Eating all kinds of cookies, gingerbread, biscuits with cream layers, the consumer uses it to one degree or another. It is also used in candy fillings and chocolate.
3. Olein is found in deep-fried foods, chips, fried nuts, corn sticks, and instant noodles. It is also available in ready-made snacks, soup mixtures, mayonnaise.

Thus, most of the commercial products that are in great demand among the population contain palm oil.

How to determine the presence of palm oil in food

The consumer needs to remember: palm oil tastes good, improves the color of products, is much cheaper than natural products. Products with its content are stored for a long time. This makes manufacturers happy and attracts buyers. When buying, you need to pay attention not only to the price tag, but also to the shelf life: the cheerful-looking eight-month roll clearly contains palm oil.

Note: the indication on the label "vegetable fats" often implies the use of palm oil. Substitution is signaled by variable "cheese products", "curds", "sour cream", "curd masses", "mayonnaise sauces", "condensed milk". Manufacturers usually do not call natural (according to GOST) products a "product".

Most often, palm ingredients are substituted for milk products. Quite often the “fake” is sold under the guise of butter. Natural products (20 types) are characterized by different fat content and a lot of useful qualities. One of the advantages is the low melting point of butter (from 24 to 37 degrees). It is known: the lower the degree of processing, the easier it is to assimilate fats in the body.

Are the melting points of butter and palm oil different? Yes, with a high melting point, the product of oil palms is significantly inferior to creamy, being difficult to digest. On the cut, the real product has a characteristic shine, when frozen, it breaks in pieces. Fake oil does not harden well in the refrigerator, is too bright in color, does not break. The melting point of palm oil is 48 ° C - 52 ° C.

Palm oil: benefits

Of the edible varieties of palm oils, red is considered the most useful, retaining most of the nutrients after processing.

1. Vitamins in its composition are useful: A has a positive effect on the visual organs, E is needed for good vision and stimulation of the gonads.
2. A decrease in cholesterol levels is due to oleic, linoleic acids. Palm oil regulates the activity of the bile ducts and the digestive system as a whole. They cleanse the nasal passages with congestion.
3. Some nutritionists recommend the product as a weight loss aid (2 tsp on an empty stomach).
4. When frying in this oil, nothing burns or smokes, and the products are covered with an attractive crispy crust. Added to the dough, it gives the products crispness and delicate flavor.
5. "Palm" masks are used for shine, hair growth and health.
6. On its basis, cosmetic creams and soaps are produced. Due to its biological value, it is used for the care of problem skin, its rejuvenation and smoothing.
7. A bathroom with a small amount of oil drops relieves stress, regulates the work of blood vessels.
8. Washing powders with its content are not harmful to health.

Red edible (processed) oil should be distinguished from technical (untreated) oil with an identical shade. The use of special technologies and fractionation is food-safe. Products of Zlata Palma and Royal are considered to be of high quality, according to consumers.

Palm oil: harm

Hydrogenated oils become harmful. Liquid oil, saturated in the process with hydrogen atoms with nickel and platinum catalysts, turns into solid fat. It is hydrogenation that causes the appearance of trans fats that cause health disorders:

• neuropsychiatric diseases, decreased mental activity are associated with the fact that trans fats slow down metabolic processes in the brain;
• trans isomers provoke blood vessel sclerosis, ischemic disease, heart failure, strokes;
• trans fat molecules negatively entails the release of digestive enzymes, hence the problems with the assimilation and processing of the product;
• such fats provoke aging and cell mutation, which is fraught with immune disorders and cancer.

Hydrogenated packages must be accompanied by the appropriate label ("trans-fat").

For your information: in fact, the higher the degree during processing, the harder the finished product is for assimilation. But the correct functioning of the digestive system cannot depend only on temperature: do not trust the myth of the total clogging of the body with "palm plasticine". Non-hydrogenated palm oil can only harm if consumed excessively.

The essence of the palm question

In general, the "palm problem" boils down to the following:

• quality products are safe for consumption;
• consuming even the best product in huge quantities is undoubtedly harmful to health;
• industrial oil should in no way enter the body.

Violation of the rules of transportation (for example, in tanks for oil products), raw materials processing technologies contrary to Russian legislation - these are the reasons for the appearance of low-quality palm oil on the shelves. But it is unlikely that crafty manufacturers admit their flaws to an ordinary consumer.

Palm oil is actively used in the food industry today. This is the subject of intense discussion and debate. Some unanimously chant that palm oil slowly but surely poisons and destroys the human body, while others argue that the devil is not so terrible as he is painted.

In the State Duma, the question was even brought up for discussion, is it not worth banning it in products that are distributed on the territory of Russia.

Today we are trying to understand whether palm oil is so dangerous for our body, as the headlines in the media claim, or whether it will not bring any harm to health in moderation.

What is palm oil

In order to consider the issue as fully and objectively as possible, it is necessary to understand, what is this substance? Palm oil is a vegetable oil that is obtained from the flesh of the oil palm fruit. The largest palm oil exporters are Malaysia and Indonesia.

By the way, this product is not that new. At least, it cannot be called revolutionary for the food industry. There is evidence obtained as a result of archaeological excavations, according to which palm oil was used as food in ancient Egypt. Moreover, scientists argue that at that time it was already an object of import, because it was not produced on the territory of Egypt.

Today, the use of palm oil as an ingredient in certain foods is controversial. The public's reaction is very mixed. Many questions regarding the properties of this product remain unexplored, which undoubtedly does not clarify the situation.

Palm oil is used not only in the food industry. It is an integral component of a variety of cosmetics. For example, face and body creams, hair care products. Palm oil can be used in the manufacture of any other goods and products.

The world consumption of palm oil is estimated by the USDA at 49 million tons. The leaders in the consumption of products that contain this oil are America, China and India. Japan and the EU countries are slightly behind. Russia ranks 6th in the ranking.

The use of palm oil

In Russia, palm oil began to be used quite recently. However, this question is already concerned a large number of consumers. State Duma deputy and actress Maria Kozhevnikova personally put forward an initiative to introduce a ban on distribution inin your country of products that contain palm oil.

Of course, the decision of whether or not to eat palm oil is yours. Nevertheless, it is important to know in which products it can be found. These are special fats that are used as substitutes for milk fat and cocoa butter, filling and icing fats. Butter can also be found in mayonnaise, soup mixes, margarine, processed cheeses, and curd masses. Thus, confectionery, especially those with long shelf life, are the main sources of palm oil.

At the same time, the taste of the products practically does not change, and the shelf life becomes much longer. What does palm oil carry, we will understand below.

Palm oil: benefits

It is believed that palm oil is well digested by the body and is especially useful for losing weight, athletes and those whose body does not accept other fats. And oleic and linoleic acids help regulate blood cholesterol levels. They are also involved in the structuring of bones and joints. Palm oil is also useful for vision, as it is involved in the production of visual pigment in the retina.

Palm oil is included in the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) food grade oils list. Studies in 2009, for example, prove that the palm oil content of a product does not directly increase blood cholesterol, but rather increases the content of good and lowers the contentbad.

Palm oil is a type of vegetable oil that is produced from the pulp of the fruit of the oil palm. Palm kernel oil is obtained from the seeds of this tree.

The oil palm is grown in Africa, Indonesia and Malaysia. Palm oil extracted from its fruits has a low price, which makes it one of the most demanded agricultural products in the world market. The greatest demand for palm oil is in the food industry, and cosmetics corporations are in second place for its use.

It is interesting to know that according to archaeological evidence, a product such as palm oil was known more than 5,000 years ago, as evidenced by the remains of oil in one of the amphorae found during excavations in Egypt.

Nutritional value and chemical composition of palm oil

Nutritional value of 100 g:

• Caloric value: 899 kcal
• Fat: 99.9 g

• Water: 0.1 gr
• Saturated Fatty Acids: 48g
• Unsaturated fatty acids: 10 g

Macronutrients:

• Phosphorus: 2 mg

Vitamins:

• Vitamin E (TE): 33.1 mg
• Vitamin A: 2.75 mg

Palm oil has the characteristic flavor and aroma of oil palm fruits, as well as a red-orange color. It is a semi-solid consistency with a melting point of 33-39 degrees Celsius.

With its high oxidative stability (OSI 20-30), palm oil retains its qualities for a long time and does not deteriorate. For comparison, the OSI index of sunflower oil is only 3-6, and soybean oil is 4-12.

Palm oil is assimilated within 97%.

It contains a record number of:

1. consisting of tocopherol and tocotrienols. As you know, tocotrienols are very difficult to find in plant sources. Exceptions are wheat germ, rice bran, and palm oil. It is thanks to the content of tocotrienols that palm oil helps to effectively fight free radicals (one of the causes of cancer).
2. ... According to the 2001 WHO, the concentration of this vitamin in palm oil is fifteen times higher than that in carrots!

Palm oil contains saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, including oleic, palmitic, linoleic and arachidic acids. It should be noted that the proportion of unsaturated acids in palm oil is twice as high as in butter. That is, butter supplies the body with more saturated fatty acids than palm oil.

The benefits and harms of palm oil for the body

With its record-breaking vitamin E content, palm oil is an excellent aid in the fight against free radicals and minimizes the risk of cancer.

In addition, it has a beneficial effect on the condition of the skin, moisturizes it, preventing the appearance of wrinkles. It should be noted that palm oil is popular among the people and as an excellent tool that accelerates the healing of wounds of various origins.

Palm oil can also act as a preventative for vitamin A deficiency.

This product, according to the American doctor Bruce Fife, promotes better absorption of vitamins D, K and E, calcium and magnesium. Although repeated studies show that calcium is less absorbed from infant formulas that contain palm oil.

Also, a lot of studies have been carried out that confirm the negative effect on the human body of saturated fats that are part of palm oil (the same fats are also found in butter). Consumption of these fats in excess of the norm contributes to the occurrence and development of ailments of the cardiovascular system, and also increases blood cholesterol. For example, according to the 2010 Diet Guidelines for Americans, published by the USDA, the saturated fat content of adults and children aged 2 years and older cannot exceed 1/10 of the total fat consumed. And people who have had a stroke or are ill should reduce their saturated fat intake by up to seven percent (see the American Heart Association / American College of Cardiology Guidelines for Secondary Prevention for Patients with Coronary Artery Disease).

The disadvantages of palm oil include the fact that in order to increase its production, companies cut down wild rainforests and plant oil palms in their place, thereby condemning such rare species of animals as orangutans, tigers and rhinos to death.

Varieties of palm oil and its uses

The most natural is red palm oil, for the extraction of which gentle technologies are used to preserve most of the nutrients. It is worth noting that the benefits listed above fully relate to red oil.

In the food industry, as a rule, a slightly different product is used - refined and deodorized oil, which has neither color nor smell. This variety has the same beneficial properties as red oil, but with a reduction factor.

Palm oil is used by manufacturers in the manufacture of:

• oils for frying;
• spreads, confectionery fats, bulk margarines;
• mayonnaise;
• milk fat substitutes;
• curd masses and processed cheeses;
• soft varieties of table oil and others.

Technical palm oil is also produced, which is used in cosmetology. This is the cheapest product that is completely unhealthy for the human body.