Usefulness of Palm Oil as a Food Ingredient

The consumption of palm oil at the global level has increased and is accepted by many regions in the recent past. However, this particular food item has remained controversial and is known to pose risks for heart health. But with the advancement in research activities, it has been found out that palm oil does offer notable health benefits that cannot be ignored. In order to understand this, we first need to gain in-depth knowledge of its origin and how it is made.

What is Palm Oil?

Palm oil is basically extracted from the fleshy fruit, that is, oil palm. It should be known that, unrefined palm oil is at times termed as red palm oil due to its reddish-orange color. In addition, the main source from which palm oil is extracted is Elaeis guineensis tree, a native to West & Southwest Africa.

At present, the palm oil market is budding due to its least expensive nature and shooting popularity worldwide. Interestingly, almost one-third of the global plant oil production is controlled by palm oil.

Applications & Benefits

Below mentioned are some of the attractive and useful aspects of palm oil that are not known by everyone.

·     Palm oil is utilized for cooking and is even included in several ready-to-eat foods available at any grocery store.

·       For making tropical cuisines across West Africa, palm oil acts as a major ingredient. In addition, it is also well suited for preparing curries and different types of spicy dishes.

·      At times, palm oil is even included to peanut butter and different nut butters to behave as a stabilizer that prevents the oil to separate and settle at the upper surface of the jar.

·    Above all, palm oil is found in other foods such as cereals, diet bars, bread, muffins, cookies and chocolates.