Sains Malaysiana 31: 241-259 (2002)                                                                                           Sains Hayat /

Life Science

Palm Oil: Traditional, Recent and Potential

Applications in Foods

Nor Aini Idris, Razali Ismail, Osman Atil,

Wan Rosnani Awang Isa & Karimah Ahmad

Malaysian Palm Oil Board P.O. Box 10620

50720 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

ABSTRACT

Ninety percent of palm oil and its products are used for edible purposes. Palm oil is obtained from the mesocarp of the palm fruit while palm kernel oil is derived from the flesh of the kernel. Although they come from the same fruit, palm oil and palm kernel oil differ in their physical and chemical characteristics. Palm oil is about 50% saturated and contains mainly palmitic (Ci6:0) and oleic (Ci8:i) acids. Palm kernel oil is more than 80% saturated and contains mainly lauric acid (C12:0). Fractionation process separates palm oil into palm olein (liquid) and palm stearin (solid). A second fractionation gives superolein, palm mid fraction and hard stearin. Similarly fractionation separates palm kernel oil into palm kernel olein and palm kernel stearin. Palm oil and palm olein are widely used for industrial frying of snack foods due to their excellent oxidative stability. They have a long shelf life due to the presence of vitamin E, a powerful natural antioxi­dant. Palm olein produces less smoking, spattering, foaming and gums compared to polyunsaturated oils such as soyabean and sunflower oils. Palm stearin is used as an ingredient (hard feed stock) in the manufacture of shortenings, margarines and vanaspati. Being naturally semi-solid, it is an excellent choice for the manufacture of semi-solid products such as shortenings, margarines and vanaspati since it can reduce cost and is free form trans fatty acids. Palm oil stabilizes the product in β' form, which is required for good creaming and baking performances. Palm kernel oil and its products, either on its own or in combination with palm oil products are widely used in the manufacture of specialty fats, margarines and spreads. Incorporation of palm kernel oil or its derivatives, particularly in table margarine and spreads improves melting characteristic of the products. Palm kernel oil can be used to some extent in shortenings and vanaspati. Palm oil and palm kernel oil are also used in the manufacture of imitation dairy products. They can replace milkfat in production of ice cream, coffee creamer/whitener, whipping cream, milk, cheese and yogurt.  Other food which contain palm oil and palm kernel oil include soup mixes, sardines, baked beans, breakfast cereals, shrimp-paste powder, bouillon, peanut butter and beverages. Palm oil products are also used as a spray opil on biscuits and cream crackers to give a richer taste and an attractive glossy appearance.  Future outlook sees new applications of palm oil in pourable margarines, burgers, frankfurters and sausage/bologna.  Substitution of animal fat with palm oil will give a low cholesterol meat product.  With advances in fractionation technology, it is possible to produce superolein which shows potential for application as a salad oil.

ABSTRAK

Sembilan puluh peratus daripada minyak sawit dan hasilan minyak sawit digunakan untuk kegunaan makanan. Minyak sawit diperolehi daripada sabut buah kelapa sawit sementara minyak isirong sawit diperolehi daripada isi buah kelapa sawit. Walaupun keduanya berasal dari buah yang sama, minyak sawit dan minyak isirong sawit berbeza dari segi ciri-ciri jizikal dan kimia. Minyak sawit adalah 50% tepu dan mengandungi asid palmitik (C16:0) dan oleik (C18:l) sebagai asid utama. Minyak isirong sawit adalah lebih daripada 80% tepu dan mengandungi asid laurik (C12:0) sebagai asid utama. Proses pemeringkatan memisahkan minyak sawit kepada olein sawit (cair) dan stearin sawit (pejal). Pemeringkatan kedua menghasilkan olein super, minyak sawit peringkat pertengahan dan stearin keras. Begitu juga, proses pemeringkatan memisahkan minyak isirong sawit kepada olein isirong sawit dan stearin isirong sawit. Minyak sawit dan minyak olein sawit digunakan secara meluas di dalam industri penggorengan snek kerana kestabilan oksidatif yang tinggi. Kedua-dua minyak ini mempunyai hayat simpanan yang panjang kerana kehadiran vitamin E iaitu antipengoksida semulajadi. Olein sawit digunakan di dalam industri penggorengan snek dan penggorengan di rumah. Minyak olein menghasilkan kurang asap, percikan, buih dan gum berbanding minyak poli-tak tepu seperti minyak soya dan minyak bunga matahari. Stearin sawit digunakan sebagai ramuan asas (stok keras) di dalam pembuatan lelemak, majerin dan vanaspati. Kos pemprosesan berkurangan kerana penghidrogenan tidak diperlukan, juga produk bebas daripada asid lemak 'trans'. Minyak sawit menstabilkan produk dalam bentuk ‘β’ yang diperlukan dalam pembuatan kek. Minyak isirong sawit dan hasilannya, samada bersendirian atau gabungan dengan hasilan minyak sawit diguna secara meluas dalam pembuatan 'specialty fats', majerin dan majerin sapuan. Kehadiran minyak isirong sawit atau hasilannya dalam majerin sapuan dan sajian meningkatkan ciri kecairan hasilan tersebut. Minyak isirong sawit boleh digunakan untuk menghasilkan lelemak dan vanaspati. Minyak sawit dan minyak kernel sawit juga digunakan di dalam penghasilan produk gantian tenusu. Kedua-dua minyak ini diguna untuk menggantikan lemak susu di dalam penghasilan ais krim, krimer bukan tenusu, krim putar, susu, keju dan yoghurt. Antara produk lain yang mengandungi minyak sawit dan minyak isirong sawit ialah perencah sup, sardin, bijirin sarapan, serbuk pes udang, 'bouillon', keju, mentega kacang tanah dan minuman. Hasilan minyak sawit juga digunakan sebagai minyak semburan ke atas biskut dan krim kraker untuk permukaan yang lebih menarik. Tinjauan masa hadapan menampakkan penggunaan baru minyak sawit dalam majerin cair, burger, frankfurter, sosej dan bologna. Penggantian lemak haiwan dengan minyak sawit di dalam penghasilan burger boleh mengurangkan kolesterol dan ini memberi kebaikan kepada kesihatan pengguna. Dengan kemajuan teknologi pemeringkatan, adalah tidak mustahil untuk menghasilkan minyak 'olein super' yang mempunyai potensi kegunaan seperti minyak salad.

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