POETIC SWEETMEATS FOR THE FEAST

Palm oil (non hydrogenated)

Palm oil is produced from the fruit of the oil palm Elaeis Guinnesis which is found in Africa, South East Asia and Latin America.Although humans have eaten the oil palm for over 5000 years commercial planting and cultivation did not begin until the mid-1990's in Malaysia. Production and Uses

Palm oil is extracted and refined through pressing and crushing rather than through using chemical solvents such as hexane. Palm oil can be further refined into palm olein (liquid) and palm stearine (solid). Palm olein is used as a frying oil because it is very stable to heat, whilst palm stearine is used in biscuits and cakes and in non-hydrogenated margarine. Palm stearine is also used to stop peanut butter from separating. Palm oil resists oxidation and rancidity, which means products made using palm oil have extended shelf lives.

Organic palm oil

The fact that palm oil is solid at room temperature, has a neutral taste and can be extracted without the use of solvents has made organic palm oil a very useful ingredient in organic food processing.The only other organic fats which are solid at room temperature are butter and coconut oil, both of which are highly saturated.

Palm oil is frequently confused with palm kernel oil, which is highly saturated. In contrast palm oil contains a balance of polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and saturated fatty acids. In addition palm oil contains essential substances such as linoleic acid (an essential fatty acid which the body cannot manufacture) and tocopherols and tocotrienols, which act as natural anti-oxidants against damaging free-radicals.

What about cholesterol?

Like other vegetable fats palm oil is free from cholesterol. Because palm oil is solid at room temperature there is no need to use hydrogenation, a technique which hardens liquid oil but also produces damaging trans fatty acids and raises cholesterol levels in the process. Human feeding studies have shown that palm oil does not ordinarily raise blood cholesterol levels and in some cases has been found to lower harmful LDL-cholesterol.

Any other health benefits?

Rats fed on a palm-oil enriched diet had a reduced tendency to form blood clots. Unrefined palm olein (which is bright red in colour) is a major source of carotenoids which inhibit some

Origin palm oil ?

Our Organic Palm Oil originates from Colombia. Its production does not endanger the natural habitat and therefore does not threaten the local wildlife unlike the majority of palm oil production from other countries.

Our supplier (Brochenin) is in contact with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) whose role is to promote the growth and use of sustainable palm oil production.

His extensive research and discussions with the RSPO and the WWF has led us to assume that the situation is better off in Colombia as there are fewer oil palm players thus making production easier to manage and organise.

We have learnt that the RSPO expects verification protocols to be complete by the middle of 2007 so that RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil could enter the market shortly after that. For more information see www.rspo.org

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Article created: 2009-03-24 -- It was read 1027 times

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