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by Lyle Hurd, editor
The Functional Health Benefits
of Carotino Red Palm Oil
As our society becomes ever more health conscious there is a growing interest in and demand for less toxic, more nutritionally beneficial ingredients in the food we eat and personal care products we consume. Ingredients which, whether ingested or applied topically, play a functional role in supplementing either our basic nutritional needs or those of specific organs and the immune system.
Carotino red palm oil, derived from the fruit of the palm tree, is a prototypical example of an ingredient which delivers functional nutritional benefits through food and personal care products. Red palm oil is a non-GMO (genetically modified), cholesterol-free, trans-free oil that is loaded with phytonutrients such as beta carotene, alpha-carotene, vitamin E, tocotrienols (a powerful antioxidant) and other carotenoids. The bioavailability of its nutrients is excellent as these fat soluble vitamins are embedded in the oil medium. One tablespoon of red palm oil exceeds the U.S. recommended daily allowance of beta carotene, vitamin A and vitamin E.
Minor Components in Carotino Red Palm Oil
Sterols and ubiquinones, the minor components in read palm oil are also gaining prominence. Plant sterols or phytosterols are important because they have great potential in the nutritional and pharmaceutical industries and b-sitosterol is known to be hypocholesterolemic. Ubiquinone-10 is better known as coenzyme Q10. The quinol form of this compound has been shown to be even more potent as an antioxidant than vitamin E.
FUNCTIONAL FOODS
When red palm oil is utilized as a component or an ingredient in the food industries, it converts a normal food product into a functional food. Here red palm oil acts as a carrier of pro-vitamin A and vitamin E to the consumer. It is also free of trans-fatty acids, provides attractive natural color and extends shelf life.
Red palm oil can be used in all food applications wherever oils and fats are used.
Carotino Cooking/Salad Oil
Red palm oil based cooking/salad oil is marketed under the brand Carotino and is available in more than 10 countries worldwide. There are two varieties of Carotino cooking/salad oil. Carotino Premium consists entirely of palm superolein with premium level of natural carotenes at 500 mg/kg. Carotino Classic, on the other hand, is a tailor-made blend of Carotino superolein and non-GMO canola oil and this cooking/salad oil is endorsed by Heart Foundations of Australia, Singapore and South Africa. Both Carotino Premium and Carotino Classic carry the Swiss vitamin institute endorsement for their contents of natural carotenes, tocopherols, tocotrienols and co-enzyme Q10.
Bakery Products
Red palm shortening and margarine find excellent applications in the biscuits, cakes and pastry industries. The benefits of natural carotenes, tocopherols and tocotrienols inherent in red palm shortening are based on an extensive nutritional intervention study by the Medical Research Council of South Africa. Red palm oil enriched biscuits are already being produced commercially in countries like Japan, China, Malaysia and South Africa.
Animal Fat Replacement
In a time when globalization means contaminated meat products can be distributed anywhere in the world, availability of red palm fat in the area of animal fat replacement is a good fortune. Red palm fat carries less microbial load and thus it is safer for consumption; it also reduces the cholesterol content of comminuted meat products. Red palm fat does not require freezing, thus cutting down storage costs. At the same time the final product becomes a functional food with the added carotenes and vitamin E.
PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS
The natural concoction of antioxidants in red palm oil makes it ideal as an active ingredient in personal care products. Red palm oil acts as an occlusive agent in cosmetics. The natural carotenes and vitamin E found in red palm oil are powerful antioxidants. Tocotrienols in red palm oil have significant beneficial effects on the protection of skin against UV-induced skin damage and skin aging. Topically applied, red palm tocotrienols help protect skin against oxidative damage while preserving the existing tocopherol level in the skin. Red palm carotenes, tocopherols and tocotrienols, being powerful antioxidants, serve as good stabilizers in cosmetic formulations which increase shelf-life of the products with reduced utilization of synthetic preservatives.
Nutritional and Medical Studies with Carotino Products
The nutritional and health impact of red palm oil has been widely researched. Many of the facts published are collected in a paper (“Impact of Red Palm Oil on Human Nutrition and Health.” Food and Nutrition Bulletin June 2000. Vol. 21, No. 2 pp. 182–188) written by Dr. D. Kritchevsky. Some areas of the research are summarized in the following paragraphs.
To combat vitamin A deficiencies in children
Dr. Benade et al. of The Medical Research Council of South Africa conducted a study to evaluate the effect of red palm oil on the vitamin A status of primary school children. Four hundred five- to 11-year-old children from an area where subclinical vitamin A deficiency is prevalent underwent the three-month trial. The children were randomly assigned to one of three groups; a group receiving a placebo biscuit, a group receiving a biscuit with synthetic beta carotene as a vitamin A fortifier and a group receiving a biscuit with red palm oil as a source of natural beta-carotene. After three months of intervention, the results showed red palm oil based shortening used in biscuits effectively raised serum retinol concentration. “We used the red palm oil shortening in the biscuits and established beyond doubt that red palm oil was as capable as synthetic beta carotene of alleviating vitamin A deficiency among children,” Dr. Benade explained.
This project was conducted to find a sustainable solution to vitamin A deficiency in Honduras. Dr. Canfield et al. supplemented groups of lactating mothers and their nursing infants with red palm oil. Mothers who consumed red palm oil had 2.1- and 2.5-fold increases in their serum and milk beta carotene concentrations respectively and 2.8- and 3.2-fold increases in their serum and milk alpha-carotene concentrations respectively. Maternal supplementation with red palm oil resulted in significant increases of infant serum retinol concentrations.
Arteriosclerosis Reduction
The effects of red palm oil and RBD palm olein on experimental arteriosclerosis in rabbits were compared by Dr. Kritchevsky et al. Each group of eight rabbits was fed a semi-purified diet containing 0.2 percent cholesterol for 65 days. The rabbits fed with red palm oil suffered significantly less severe arteriosclerosis.
Cancer Prevention and Control
In their study on two-stage mouse lung and skin carcinogenesis, against mouse carcinogenesis models, Dr. Murakoshi et al. found that palm carotenes, which consist of 60 percent beta carotene, 30 percent alpha-carotene and 10 percent others, behave in a synergistic manner to inhibit carcinogenic activities in mice carcinogenesis models. Proceedings of the 1999 PORIM International Palm Oil Congress (Nutrition): 232.
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