Nutrition
Further information: palmitic acidMany processed foods contain palm oil as an ingredient. Much of the palm oil that is consumed as food is to some degree oxidized rather than in the fresh state, and this oxidation appears to be responsible for the health risk associated with consuming palm oil.
Palm oil is composed of fatty acids, esterified with glycerol just like any ordinary fat. It is high in saturated fatty acids. Palm oil gives its name to the 16-carbon saturated fatty acid palmitic acid. Monounsaturated oleic acid is also a constituent of palm oil. Unrefined palm oil is a large natural source of tocotrienol, part of the vitamin E family.
The approximate concentration of fatty acids in palm oil is:
| Fatty acid content of palm oil | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type of fatty acid | pct | |||
| Myristic saturated C14 | 1.0% | |||
| Palmitic saturated C16 | 43.5% | |||
| Stearic saturated C18 | 4.3% | |||
| Oleic monounsaturated C18 | 36.6% | |||
| Linoleic polyunsaturated C18 | 9.1% | |||
| Other/Unknown | 5.5% | |||
| black: Saturated; grey: Monounsaturated; blue: Polyunsaturated | ||||
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