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New Developments in Palm Oil Fractionation

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Palm Oil Developments 62

New Developments in Palm Oil

Fractionation
Saw Mei Huey*, Chong Chiew Let* and Yeoh Chee Beng*

INTRODUCTION desired fractionation temperature,

holding the partially crystallised
Fractionation, a precursor of the modern edible oil and fat processing slurry for crystal growth, followed
industry, is the oldest separation process. It plays an important role, by filtration using a membrane fil-
especially in the palm oil industry, owing to the composition of palm oil ter press (Gunstone, 2001). Figure
which contains about equal amounts of saturated and unsaturated fatty 1 shows various palm oil products
acids. The physical nature of palm oil, exhibiting a semi-solid state in the obtained from single-, double- and
Malaysian tropical climate, allows its separation into a low-melting fraction, triple-stage dry fractionation pro-
olein, and a high-melting fraction, stearin (Deffense, 1985). Fractionation cesses. Single-stage dry fractiona-
can be defined as the separation of a mixture into its component fractions. tion of palm oil can be used to
Generally, the concept of a physical separation process can be based produce palm oleins with IV of 56
on a few parameters such as differences in solidification, solubility and and 62. The saturation content of
volatility of the different compounds. The common techniques used for palm olein can be further reduced
fractionation are fractional crystallisation, fractional distillation, short- by using multiple stage fractiona-
path distillation, supercritical fluid extraction, liquid-liquid extraction, tion in which double- and triple-
adsorption, complexion and membrane separation. (Kellens et al., 2007). stage fractionation can be used to
In the oils and fats industries, fractional crystallisation is the process used for produce oleins with IV of 65 (super
separating oils and fats into two or more components, and it involves two olein) and IV 70 (top olein), respec-
steps: selective crystallisation and filtration. There are three fractionation tively (Gijs et al., 2007; Kellens et
processes used to fractionate palm oil, namely, dry fractionation, detergent al., 2007).
fractionation and solvent fractionation.
Detergent Fractionation
Dry Fractionation tion of triacylglycerol crystals after
controlled programmed cooling. Detergent fractionation, first
Dry fractionation is the sim- This process is simple because it developed by Lanza, involves the
plest and cheapest process, which does not depend on any chemi- addition of a detergent as a wet-
is most commonly used in palm oil cal and no effluent is produced ting agent to improve the separa-
refineries. As the name suggests, it during the process. Hence, this tion of the crystals from the liquid
is a dry process using direct filtra- process has an advantage of mini- phase (Deffense, 1985). Sodium
mum product losses (Kellens et al., lauryl sulfate is usually used as the
* Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) 2007). In dry fractionation, the oil wetting agent, in combination with
6, Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi,
is partially crystallised by controlled magnesium sulfate as the electro-
43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia.
E-mail: meihuey@mpob.gov.my cooling of the molten feed to the lyte (Kellens and Hendrix, 2000).

4

Figure 1. Dry fractionation of palm oil and its products from single-, double- and
triple-stage dry fractionation.
When the partially crystallised slur-
ry is mixed with the detergent solu-
tion, the crystals are wetted by the
detergent and are easily suspended
in the aqueous phase; the mixture
is then separated by centrifugation
(Kellens et al., 2007). The aque-
ous phase is then heated and the
melted stearin is recovered through
a second centrifugation step. The
olein and stearin fractions are
washed with water and dried to re-
move the trace amounts of deter-
gent (Deffense, 1985). Detergent
fractionation has lost its appeal due
to detergent contamination of the
end products and the high produc-
tion cost (Kellens et al., 2007).
Solvent Fractionation
Solvent fractionation is the
most efficient fractionation pro-
cess compared with the other frac-
tionation processes (Kellens and
Hendrix, 2000). It was initially de-
veloped to overcome some bulk
crystallisation problems, such as
slow heat transfer and high viscos-
ity which limit nuclei movement.
In solvent fractionation, the oil is
diluted in organic solvents such
as acetone and hexane in certain
proportions to reduce its viscosity,
which is higher when using dry and
detergent fractionations (Kellens et
al., 2007). In dry fractionation, it is
not possible to remove all the liq-
uid from the solid phase, as some
liquid will remain entrapped in the
solid fraction. Solvent fractionation
is more efficient in reducing liquid
oil entrapment, thus enhancing the
liquid oil yield as well as increasing
the hardness of the solid fraction.
Similar to detergent fractionation,
solvent fractionation has also lost
its lure due to its high production
cost and higher risk of fire and
to human health (Kellens et al.,
2007).
CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS
IN PALM OIL
FRACTIONATION
Recent developments in palm oil
fractionation are mainly focused on
areas related to crystallisation and
solid-liquid separation. The quality
of the olein fraction depends only
on the crystallisation step, whereas
the quality of stearin fraction de-
pends on both the crystallisation
and separation steps (Timms, 2005).
A few stages are required for the
fractionation of fats. They are su-
percooling of the melt, nucleation
and crystal growth (Kellens et al.,
2007). At temperatures much low-
er than the supercooling tempera-
ture, nuclei can be formed in the
system (Lawler and Dimick, 2002).
Nuclei are defined as the smallest
5
New Developments in Palm Oil Fractionation
crystals that can exist in a solution
at a particular concentration and
temperature (Timms, 2005). There
are three types of nucleation phe-
nomena, i.e. primary nucleation
including homogeneous nuclea-
tion, heterogeneous nucleation,
and secondary nucleation (Kellens
et al., 2007). Homogeneous nu-
cleation is nucleation that occurs
in the bulk mother phase, while
heterogeneous nucleation refers to
nucleation onto foreign substances
in the crystalliser such as dirt, walls
of crystallisers, etc. Secondary nu-
cleation happens when tiny crystal-
lites are removed from the surface
of existing crystals which will then
act as new nuclei in the crystallisa-
tion system (Kellens et al., 2007).
Hence, secondary nucleation is un-
desirable in any fractionation pro-
cess (Timms, 2005).
Once nuclei are formed, they
will start to grow by incorporating
the TAG molecules from the adja-
cent liquid layer. Crystal growth is
affected by internal and external
factors. External factors include
the degree of supercooling, the
presence of inhibitors, etc., while
internal factors are polymorphic
form, crystal morphology, crystal
defects, etc. (Foubert et al., 2007).
To ensure uniform crystal growth,
crystallisation must proceed contin-
uously in a system that allows ho-
mogeneous contacts of the nuclei
with the surrounding supersaturat-
ed liquid (Timms, 2005). Therefore,
sufficient agitation with a non-
destructive feature is important
to ensure continuous and uniform
crystallisation (Kellens et al., 2007).
MODIFICATION OF
CRYSTALLISER DESIGN
Modification of crystalliser design
is one of the areas receiving most
Palm Oil Developments 62
attention in the development of
fractionation technology. A typical
crystalliser is fitted with a cooling
coil and an agitator. The agitator
design can affect the mass and heat
transfers from the crystallising oil to
the cooling surface (Kellens and
Hendrix, 2000). In recent years,
there have been some modifica-
tions in crystalliser design. These
modifications serve to reduce utili-
ties consumption, and to increase
yield and production of higher
purity fractions, thereby reducing
processing cost. A good combina-
tion of efficient cooling and agita-
tion systems is important to ensure
the formation of highly filterable
crystals during membrane filtration.
Some crystallisers are equipped
with double-layered cooling coils
instead of a single cooling coil.
Double-layered cooling coils are
used to provide faster heat transfer
and thermal homogeneity within
the oil while maintaining minimal
disturbance to crystal growth (Li-
pico, 2008). In the Oiltek dry frac-
tionation plant technology, hybrid
cooling coils are used to provide
higher yields and shorter cooling
times. Tall and slim crystallisers
with programmed agitator speed
are designed to provide efficient
heat transfer between the coils
and the oil. In addition, an agitator
with a lower dish end and a radial
lower paddle is used to facilitate
slurry circulation and prevent the
slurry from settling to the bottom
of the crystalliser. Agitators with
speed variators and a program-
mable rate of agitation are used to
ensure agitator speed control and
efficient homogenisation of the
slurry with minimum disturbance
to the process (Oiltek, 2012). The
Alfa Laval fractionation technology
uses a modular crystalliser design.
This design enables increases in
production capacity by the addi-
tion of more crystallisers and filter
capacity (Alfa Laval, 2014). Today,
fractionation technologies incorpo-
rate fully automated control of the
crystallisers and membrane filter
press via programmed temperature
controllers and programmes for
filter press feeding and squeezing,
respectively, to ensure consistent
productivity.
CONTINUOUS
FRACTIONATION
Continuous fractionation involves
modifications to both crystallisa-
tion and process flow. In 2013, the
Desmet Ballestra Group filed a pat-
ent for the continuous fractiona-
tion of triacylglyceride oils (Kellens
et al., 2013). The process involves
the use of one or more crystallisers
in series. In the process, molten fat
is fed continuously to the crystallis-
ers in series, during which time the
fat is cooled gradually using heat
exchangers to initiate crystallisa-
tion and to allow the formation of
crystal growth. Each of the crystal-
lisers exhibits a temperature gradi-
ent. The crystallising slurry is con-
tinuously withdrawn from the last
crystalliser and filtered (Kellens et
al., 2013).
MODIFICATION OF
COOLING PROGRAMME
Modification of fractionation con-
ditions is another research area
that is crucial for improvement of
the fractionation process. A basic
understanding of the crystallisa-
tion of palm oil products is nec-
essary before it can be applied to
the fractionation process. A lot of
fundamental research studies on
palm oil crystallisation have been
carried out by MPOB (Chen et al.,
2004; Zaliha et al., 2005; Chong
6
et al., 2007; Norizzah et al., 2012)
over the last 10 years. Chong et
al. (2015) offered a technology for
adoption which promises higher
olein yield production. The tech-
nology shows that the fractiona-
tion process can be improved by
modifying the fractionation cooling
programme alone, while additional
steps are incorporated mid-way
during the fractionation process.
In 2014, two process patents
were filed, one for crude palm oil
and the other for RBD palm oil
fractionation in which the addition-
al steps were incorporated (Chong
et al., 2014a, Chong et al., 2014b).
These are named the MPOB modi-
fied fractionation programmes for
crude palm oil and RBD palm oil
fractionation, respectively. The pat-
ented processes produce smaller
mean diameter crystals with great-
er size homogeneity compared
with the conventional cooling pro-
gramme. This results in easier filtra-
tion leading to a reduction in olein
entrainment, thus increasing the
olein yield. The increase in olein
yield is achieved solely through
an alteration to the fractionation
cooling programme used by the
refinery. No capital investment is
involved in this technology because
it does not require any equipment
upgrade on the existing fractiona-
tion process. The increase in olein
yield will benefit the refinery due to
the price differential between the
olein and stearin.
ADDITION OF
CRYSTALLISATION AIDS
The use of crystallisation aids is
another interesting area of devel-
opment in palm oil fractionation.
Over the last few years, research
collaboration between MPOB and
Sakamoto Yakuhin Kogyo has

shown that the fractionation pro-
cess can be improved by the use
of polyglycerol ester additives.
Kuriyama et al. (2011) reported
that GRAS status additives can be
used to aid the fractionation pro-
cess for improved yields and frac-
tion characteristics.
Laboratory-scale fractiona-
tion conducted by MPOB has also
shown a significant increase in olein
yield. The laboratory experiments
were conducted using low concen-
trations of the PGEmix-8 additive
at 0.1%, 0.3%, 0.5% and 0.7%
w/w. A control run was carried out
without addition of the additive.
The crystallisation was conducted
at an isothermal condition of 24°C
for 100 min. The slurry was filtered
using vacuum filtration.
Figure 2 shows the olein yield of
the laboratory-scale fractionations
at different dosages of PGEmix-8,
which is a polyglycerol ester made
up of a mixture of palmitic, oleic
and stearic acids. It was observed
that olein yield was significantly
raised with increasing levels of
PGEmix-8 used in the fractionation
process. The olein and stearin
fractions were analysed for their
triacylglycerols and fatty acids
compositions. Table 1 shows a
comparison of the acylglycerol
composition of olein fractions
after the isothermal crystallisation.
It was found that the acylglycerol
composition of all oleins was similar
and comparable. As expected,
fatty acid composition (FAC) of
the oleins, shown in Table 2, also
produced similar findings, i.e.
FAC of oleins with the use of the
additive was similar to that of the
control. This indicates that the use
of the additive in the fractionation
process did not significantly change
the overall composition of the olein
products.
Unlike the olein fractions, FAC
of the stearins was significantly al-
tered by the PGEmix-8 additive.
Figure 3 shows the total FAC of
the stearin fractions when the PGE-
mix-8 additive was used. It was
found that the total saturated fatty
acids (SFA) of the stearins were
increased while the monounsatu-
rarated fatty acids (MUFA) were
reduced with increasing amounts
of PGEmix-8 added into the frac-
tionation process. The polyunsatu-
rated fatty acids (PUFA) content
remained unchanged for all the
stearins. This indicates that the
stearins produced with the addi-
tive were purer and contained less
amounts of unsaturation compo-
nents, as a result of less olein en-
trainment with the use of the ad-
ditive. The result is similar to the
findings of Kuriyama et al. (2011),
who reported that olein yields can
be improved by including additives
into the process without compro-
mising olein quality.
MODIFICATION OF
FILTRATION
To complete the fractionation pro-
cess, the solid phase needs to be
separated from the liquid phase
at the fractionation temperature.
Olein yield, %
Additive dosages, %
Figure 2. Olein yields of laboratory scale fractionation with different dosages of
PGEmix-8.
7
New Developments in Palm Oil Fractionation
Efficient separation is essential
to ensure production of a purer
stearin fraction with minimum en-
trainment of the olein. There are
a few separation methods used in
fractionation plants. These include
centrifugation, vacuum filtration
and membrane filtration (Timms,
2005). The principal of centrifuga-
tion is based on the density differ-
ence between the solid and liquid
phases of the slurry. It is only use-
ful for separation of a slurry system
with a density difference of 10%
or more between the solid and the
liquid phases. Therefore, this sepa-
ration method is only applicable
to detergent fractionation (Timms,
2005).
For dry fractionation, vacuum
filtration and a membrane filter
press are used. The design of the
vacuum filtration is similar to a
laboratory vacuum filtration system
in which a vacuum is applied to
suck the liquid oil through a filter
(Timms, 2005). There are two
types of vacuum filtration used
industrially, the belt filter (Tirtiaux)
and the drum filter (Desmet)
(Kellens and Hendrix, 2000). Belt
filters give better separation in
terms of producing stearin with a
lower level of entrainment than
drum filters (Timms, 2005).
Palm Oil Developments 62

Area %

Additive dosages, % (w/w)

Area %

Additive dosages, % (w/w)

Area %

Additive dosages, % (w/w)

Figure 3. Total (a) SFA, (b) MUFA and (c) PUFA contents in the stearin fractions
with the use of PGEmix-8 additives.

8
 New Developments in Palm Oil Fractionation

TABLE 1. COMPARISION OF ACYLGLYCEROL COMPOSITION OF OLEIN FRACTIONS AFTER ISOTHERMAL

CRYSTALLISATION AT 24°C FOR 100 MIN

Acylglycerol, Area Dosage of PGEmix-8, %

% 0.0 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.7
FFA + MAGs 0.3 ± 0.1 0.1 ± 0.0 0.2 ± 0.0 0.2 ± 0.0 0.3 ± 0.1
Total DAGs 6.4 ± 0.0 6.2 ± 0.2 6.2 ± 0.1 6.1 ± 0.0 6.1 ± 0.1
OLL 0.4 ± 0.0 0.5 ± 0.1 0.5 ± 0.0 0.5 ± 0.0 0.5 ± 0.0
OLO 2.0 ± 0.1 2.1 ± 0.1 2.1 ± 0.1 2.1 ± 0.1 2.1 ± 0.0
OOO 5.3 ± 0.1 5.2 ± 0.1 5.2 ± 0.0 5.2 ± 0.0 5.3 ± 0.2
Triunsaturated
TAGs 7.7 ± 0.1 7.8 ± 0.2 7.8 ± 0.0 7.8 ± 0.1 7.8 ± 0.2
PLL 2.4 ± 0.0 2.4 ± 0.1 2.5 ± 0.0 2.5 ± 0.1 2.4 ± 0.0
PLO 10.3 ± 0.0 10.4 ± 0.0 10.3 ± 0.0 10.2 ± 0.1 10.3 ± 0.0
POO 26.7 ± 0.1 26.8 ± 0.4 26.4 ± 0.2 26.4 ± 0.1 26.6 ± 0.0
SOO 3.1 ± 0.2 3.3 ± 0.3 3.5 ± 0.0 3.2 ± 0.0 3.3 ± 0.1
Diunsaturated
TAGs 42.5 ± 0.2 42.9 ± 0.1 42.7 ± 0.2 42.4 ± 0.1 42.5 ± 0.0
MLP 0.6 ± 0.0 0.6 ± 0.1 0.7 ± 0.1 0.7 ± 0.1 0.6 ± 0.0
PLP 9.8 ± 0.2 9.5 ± 0.1 9.5 ± 0.0 9.5 ± 0.1 9.6 ± 0.1
POP 26.8 ± 0.1 26.8 ± 0.3 26.5 ± 0.3 26.8 ± 0.1 26.8 ± 0.0
POS 4.8 ± 0.1 4.8 ± 0.1 5.0 ± 0.1 4.9 ± 0.0 5.0 ± 0.1
SOS 0.7 ± 0.1 0.7 ± 0.1 0.7 ± 0.0 0.9 ± 0.3 0.6 ± 0.0
Disaturated TAGs 42.6 ± 0.1 42.4 ± 0.0 42.4± 0.1 42.7±0.1 42.5 ± 0.0
PPP 0.5 ± 0.1 0.6 ± 0.2 0.6 ± 0.0 0.7 ± 0.0 0.5 ± 0.1
PPS 0.0 ± 0.0 0.0 ± 0.0 0.1 ± 0.1 0.1 ± 0.1 0.3 ± 0.2
Trisaturated TAGs 0.5 ± 0.1 0.6 ± 0.2 0.8 ± 0.2 0.7 ± 0.1 0.8 ± 0.0
Total TAGs 93.2 ± 0.2 93.8 ± 0.2 93.7 ± 0.1 93.7 ± 0.0 93.7 ± 0.2

TABLE 2. COMPARISON OF FATTY ACID COMPOSITION (FAC) OF OLEIN FRACTIONS AFTER ISOTHERMAL
CRYSTALLISATION AT 24°C FOR 100 MIN

Olein FAC, Area %

samples,
%(w/w) of C12:0 C14:0 C16:0 C18:0 C20:0 SFA C16:1 C18:1 MUFA C18:2 C18:3 PUFA
PGEmix-8
Olein-
0.2±0.0 1.0±0.0 39.7±0.1 4.0±0.0 0.4±0.0 45.3±0.1 0.2±0.0 44.1±0.0 44.3±0.0 10.1±0.1 0.3±0.0 10.4±0.1
control
Olein-0.1% 0.2±0.0 0.9±0.0 39.5±0.1 4.1±0.0 0.4±0.0 45.1±0.1 0.2±0.0 44.1±0.1 44.3±0.1 10.3±0.0 0.3±0.0 10.6±0.0
Olein-0.3% 0.2±0.0 0.9±0.0 39.4±0.0 4.1±0.0 0.4±0.0 45.0±0.0 0.2±0.0 43.9±0.0 44.1±0.0 10.4±0.0 0.3±0.0 10.7±0.0
Olein-0.5% 0.2±0.0 0.9±0.0 39.5±0.0 4.1±0.0 0.4±0.0 45.1±0.0 0.2±0.0 43.9±0.1 44.1±0.1 10.4±0.1 0.3±0.0 10.7±0.1
Olein-0.7% 0.2±0.0 1.0±0.0 39.6±0.1 4.1±0.0 0.4±0.0 45.3±0.1 0.2±0.0 43.8±0.1 44.0±0.1 10.4±0.1 0.3±0.0 10.7±0.1

Note: SFA = saturated fatty acids; MUFA = monounsaturated fatty acids; PUFA = polyunsaturated fatty acids.

The most common filtration
method used at present is the
membrane filter press. During op-
eration, less than one bar pressure
is applied to fill the filter press with
the crystallised slurry. Higher pres-
sure is then applied to squeeze the
entrained liquid oil. A standard fil-
ter press normally applies a pres-
sure of 5-6 bars. A high-pressure
membrane filter press can operate
up to 30 bars (Kellens and Hen-
drix, 2000). In general, membrane
press filtration is the most efficient
separation method with the lowest
liquid oil entrainment in the stearin
fraction, as well as producing the
highest olein yield.

Continued on page 14
9
Palm Oil Developments 62

Lipid- and Water-soluble

Palm Antioxidants Reduce
Development of Atherosclerosis
Plaques in Rabbits
Che Anishas Che Idris*

INTRODUCTION tamin E (tocopherols and tocotrien-

Oxidation of low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), the major cho- ols) and carotenoids, both of which
lesterol- carrying lipoprotein in plasma, is commonly implicated as an initi- are fat-soluble. Oil palm vitamin E
ator of atherosclerosis. Increased LDL-C concentration is a major risk factor has been reported to act as a po-
for atherosclerosis in humans (Carmena et al., 2004). Oxidised LDL-C is tent biological antioxidant, protect-
engulfed by macrophages, a type of white blood cell, and this rapidly leads ing against oxidative stress and the
to the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. The sequential steps in the atherosclerotic process (Sundram
formation of foam cells (fat-laden macrophages) will eventually culminate et al., 2003; Mukherjee and Mi-
in their rupture into fatty streaks. Over time, these fatty streaks mature tra, 2009). Oil palm fruit have also
into fatty plaques and accumulate in the arterial wall, reducing the size of been identified as a rich source of
the blood vessel lumen. This inhibits blood flow to the heart and brain and phenolic compounds (Samban-
eventually blocks the artery, which may result in a heart attack or stroke thamurthi et al., 2011a). A water-
(Ross, 1993; Tedgui and Mallat, 2006). soluble extract rich in phenolic ac-
ids has been successfully recovered
The possible association of ath- tioxidants (like vitamin E and carot- from the vegetation liquor generat-
erosclerosis with oxidative events enoids), are hypothesised to have ed from the milling of oil palm fruit
has led to the hypothesis that di- the potential to intervene in the (Sambanthamurthi et al., 2011a).
etary antioxidants may inhibit the development of atherosclerosis and Based on studies with animal mod-
development of atherosclerosis cardiovascular disease by modulat- els, these oil palm phenolics (OPPs)
and reduce the incidence of coro- ing oxidation and reduction reac- have been found to have bioactive
nary artery disease (Xu et al., 1998; tions in disease progression. properties with potent protective
Pandey and Rizvi, 2009). Kinsella effects against chronic diseases
et al. (1993) reported that natural The presence of several fat- such as cardiovascular disease,
antioxidants, which are the water- soluble micronutrients in palm oil diabetes and cancer (Sambantha-
soluble antioxidants (like vitamin C such as vitamin E, carotenoids and murthi et al., 2011b).
and phenolic compounds including phytosterols contributes to its nu-
flavonoids) and the fat-soluble an- merous nutritious characteristics. Given that both palm vitamin
The oil palm fruit has been identi- E (VIT E) and oil palm phenolics
* Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB)
6, Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi, fied as an excellent source of two are individually protective against
43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia. major phytochemicals, namely, vi- atherosclerosis development in an
E-mail: anis@mpob.gov.my

10
 Lipid- and Water-soluble Palm Antioxidants Reduce Development of Atherosclerosis Plaques in Rabbits

atherogenic diet-fed rabbit animal
model, recently a study (Idris et
al., 2014) was carried out to evalu-
ate these oil palm antioxidants in
combination with each other in the
same animal model of atheroscle-
rosis for potential synergism.
THE STUDY
In the study (Idris et al., 2014), 32
New Zealand White rabbits were
divided into four groups of eight
and fed an atherogenic diet for
100 days. Group 1, the Control
group (CTR), was fed the ath-
erogenic diet, and Group 2, the
Vitamin E group (VIT E), was fed
the atherogenic diet with added
vitamin E (500 mg vitamin E kg-1
diet). Animals in Groups 1 and 2
were provided with distilled water
as their drinking fluid. Group 3,
the palm phenolics group (OPP),
was fed the atherogenic diet with
palm phenolics (at a concentration
of 1500 mg gallic acid equivalent
litre-1 [mg GAE litre-1]) provided as
their drinking fluid, while Group
4, the combination of vitamin E
and oil palm phenolics group (VIT
E+OPP), was fed the atherogenic
diet with added vitamin E, and
palm phenolics (1500 mg GAE li-
tre-1) was provided as their drinking
fluid. The animals had free access
to the diets and drinking fluids.
fatty plaque was observed in the
VIT E+OPP group. Development
of fatty streaks was significantly
lower (p<0.05) in the OPP and
VIT E+OPP groups compared with
the CTR and VIT E groups. On the
other hand, fatty streak incidence
was highest (23.02+7.75%) in the
VIT E-fed diet followed by the CTR
group (Figure 1c). Lesion-free area
(i.e. free of fatty streaks, fatty and
fibrous plaques) was significantly
higher (p<0.05) in the VIT E+OPP
and OPP groups compared with
the VIT E and CTR groups (Figure
1d). This observation suggests
protective effects of the OPP and
VIT E+OPP treatments against the
occurrence of atherosclerosis.
DISCUSSION
Vitamin E (Williams et al.,
1992) and phenolic compounds
(Yamakoshi et al., 1999) have
been documented to inhibit the
a b
development of aortic lesions in
rabbits. In the study by Idris et
al. (2014), synergistic effects were
observed between vitamin E and
OPP. This observation is consistent
with previous findings. A mixture
containing both water-soluble and
lipid-soluble antioxidants is able to
quench free radicals in both aque-
ous and lipid phases (Chen and
Tappel, 1996). Murakami et al.
(2003) showed that a combina-
tion of quercetin or catechins plus
α-tocopherol exhibited significant-
ly higher activity than the sum of
the individual activities using the
liposome oxidation method.
Upaganlawar et al. (2009)
reported that antioxidants are
uniquely different from one an-
other and work synergistically and
more effectively when they are
used in combination. The obser-
vations of Idris et al. (2014) are in
agreement with those of Stocker

c d
Results from the study (Idris
et al., 2014) show that the CTR
group had a significantly higher
(p<0.05) fibrous plaque score
(8.90±5.41%) compared with
the VIT E (2.88±2.01%), OPP
(1.48±4.45%) and VIT E+OPP
groups (Figure 1a). Fatty plaques
were significantly higher (p<0.05)
in both the CTR and VIT E groups
compared with the OPP and VIT Source: Idris et al. (2014).
E+OPP groups (Figure 1b). No
Figure 1. Photographs of aortic lesions in rabbits fed an atherogenic in different
occurrence of fibrous plaque or groups (a) CTR, (b) VIT E, (c) OPP and (d) VIT E+OPP.

11
Palm Oil Developments 62
and O’Halloran (2004) who report-
ed that dealcoholised red or white
wine which contains polyphenolic
compounds was capable of syner-
gising with vitamin E and decreas-
ing atherosclerosis in apolipopro-
tein E-deficient (Eo) mice.
One possible mechanism by
which oil palm phenolics reduced
atherosclerotic lesions is through
their anti-inflammatory effects.
Cytokines play a significant role
in mediating the inflammatory
response in atherosclerosis. Ath-
erosclerosis is generally associated
with cytokines that promote a Type
1 helper T-cell (Th1) cellular im-
mune response rather than a Type
2 helper T-cell (Th2) humoral im-
mune response. The modulation of
the Th1/Th2 axis toward the lat-
ter may thus be athero-protective.
Leow et al. (2013) showed that oil
palm phenolics were able to atten-
uate antigen presentation and pro-
cessing in the spleens of mice given
an atherogenic diet. In addition,
oil palm phenolics also modulated
the Th1/Th2 axis of the immune
system towards the latter, thus
suggesting that oil palm phenolics
reduced atherosclerosis via their
anti-inflammatory actions. This
mechanism may thus help explain
the changes. In addition to their
anti-inflammatory effects, oil palm
phenolics also restored the antioxi-
dant capacity of mice fed the ath-
erogenic diet (Leow et al., 2013).
Further investigations to discover
other possible/probable mecha-
nisms by which oil palm phenolics
reduce atherosclerosis are war-
ranted. Animals fed with VIT E +
OPP showed a significant reduc-
tion (p < 0.05) in the development
of atherosclerotic lesions compared
with animals given either vitamin E
alone or oil palm phenolics alone.
In a similar study, Xu et al. (1998)
reported that reduction of oxida-
tive stress in vivo by catechin and
vitamin E in hamsters could prevent
fatty streak accumulation in the
aorta. The effect of oil palm phe-
nolics in inhibiting the formation
of fibrous plaques in the present
study was evident in both the OPP
and VIT E + OPP groups compared
with the CTR and VIT E groups,
suggesting that oil palm phenolics
may potentially inhibit atheroscle-
rosis. Similarly, other phenolic com-
pounds demonstrated this property
as well. For example, pomegran-
ate juice (Kaplan et al., 2001) and
grape extract (Auger et al., 2004)
were found to reduce atheroscle-
rotic lesions when fed respectively
to hamsters and mice.
Subsequently, histopathologi-
cal examination also revealed mas-
sive destruction of the tunica intima
(the innermost layer of the arteries
and veins) in the CTR group indi-
cating endothelial activation (Idris
et al., 2014). These fibrous caps
were formed due to the prolifera-
tion and migration of smooth mus-
cles and connective tissue deposi-
tion. The formation of lipid core
and foam cells was reduced after
administration of vitamin E and oil
palm phenolics individually, and
especially in combination. These
results suggest the great potential
of these phytonutrients in mitigat-
ing atherosclerosis even when the
animals are fed high fat diets.
Thus, the anti-atherogenic ef-
fects conferred by oil palm pheno-
lics and vitamin E in the findings of
Idris et al. (2014) may be explained
by the vast mixture of phenolic ac-
ids, together with the presence of
tocotrienols and tocopherols. These
anti-atherogenic mechanisms of oil
palm phenolics merit further re-
search attention.
12
CONCLUSION
The effects of oil palm phenolics
(OPPs) either on their own or in
combination with vitamin E (VIT E
+ OPP) in inhibiting atherosclerosis
were investigated, and a superior
inhibitory effect on the develop-
ment of atherosclerotic lesions was
observed in both the OPP and VIT
E + OPP groups compared with the
CTR and VIT E groups. These find-
ings suggest a potential area for
the application of oil palm vitamin
E and oil palm phenolics as antioxi-
dants in modulating cardiovascular
risk factors; this merits further re-
search attention. The effects shown
by this combination of bioactives
present in palm oil also constitute
an important factor in the formu-
lation of functional foods and in
the choice of a diet which uses the
palm oil as a food source.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The author thanks the Director-
General of the Malaysian Palm Oil
Board for her support and permis-
sion to publish this paper.
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From page 9
CONCLUSION
The above is a brief review of devel-
opments in palm oil fractionation
over the last 30 years. Although
the use of the PGEmix-8 addi-
tive in palm oil fractionation has
shown great potential in improving
the fractionation process, it is not
feasible at present due to the high
cost of the additive. In contrast, the
MPOB technology for increased
olein yield shows promise as it is a
zero investment technology with
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financial gains which is depend-
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between olein and stearin and the
quantum of increase in olein yield
that can be obtained based on the
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Director-General of MPOB for per-
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