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Palm/Palm Kernel (Elaeis guineensis)

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Oilseeds: Health Attributes and Food Applications

Abstract

Palm (Elaeis guineensis) is one of the most important oilseed crops in the world. Crude palm and palm kernel oil are rich in phytonutrients such as sterols, vitamin E, squalene, phospholipids, etc. It is the richest source of tocopherols and carotenoids among all the commonly used vegetable oils. Palm oil is produced from fleshy pulp (mesocarp), which contains approximately 29.32% moisture (on wet basis), 2.03% protein, 68.09% lipids and 1.11% ash content (on dry basis). On the other hand, palm kernel oil is extracted from the inner kernel and contains about half of the oil content than that of palm fruit. Palm and palm kernel oils are rich in saturated fatty acids (40–92%), free from trans fats, and have high amount of bioactive components. Palm protein has been reported to have higher amino acids score (except for lysine and tryptophan) than that of FAO/WHO reference protein. In this chapter, the proximate composition of palm and palm kernel, minor oil components, health effects and food applications are discussed in detail.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Technology, Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Sciences, University of Delhi, Dwarka, New Delhi, India

    Shalini Sehgal

  2. Department of Food Technology, Jamia Hamdard (Deemed to be University), New Delhi, India

    Vasudha Sharma

Authors
  1. Shalini Sehgal
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  2. Vasudha Sharma
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Correspondence to Shalini Sehgal .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dairy Technology, Mansinhbhai Institute of Dairy and Food Technology, Mehsana, Gujarat, India

    Beenu Tanwar

  2. Department of Dairy Chemistry, Mansinhbhai Institute of Dairy and Food Technology, Mehsana, Gujarat, India

    Ankit Goyal

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Sehgal, S., Sharma, V. (2021). Palm/Palm Kernel (Elaeis guineensis). In: Tanwar, B., Goyal, A. (eds) Oilseeds: Health Attributes and Food Applications. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4194-0_6

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