Article
The role of palm oil in nutrition: myths and facts
- By Ángel San Miguel Rodríguez, Ángel San Miguel Hernández, Julia San Miguel Rodríguez - 18 Jan 2022
- Journal of Applied Health Sciences and Medicine, Volume: 1, Issue: 2, Pages: 1 - 11
- Received: 29 May 2021; Accepted: 15 June 2021; First Online: 18 January 2022
Abstract
Palm oil is a vegetable oil with a high content of saturated fats. It is obtained from the plant Elaeis guineensis or palm from Guinea, originating in Africa. It is fast growing and aggressive, requiring large spaces for growth. Harvesting palm oil from the mesocarp of the fruit goes back 5000 years. This comprehensive review will study palm oil, its uses, and its implications for health as well as the nutritional implications of smaller and larger components derived from palm oil. The intense exploitation of palm oil has contributed to the greenhouse effect and climatic change by the destruction of palm oil plantations, almost taking the species to extinction.
Keywords: Palm oil, saturated fatty acids, palmitic acid.