Chapter 6
Palm/Palm Kernel (Elaeis guineensis)
Shalini Sehgal and Vasudha Sharma
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.
Keywords Palm (Elaeis guineensis) oil · Palm kernel oil · Phytonutrients ·
Tocopherols · Squalene · Cardiovascular diseases · Cooking oil
6.1 Introduction
Palm (Elaeis guineensis) belongs to the genus Elaeis and is one of the most
important oilseed crop. The palm oil produced by the palm fruit is the second
most consumed vegetable oil after soybean oil (Saad et al. 2007; Siddique et al.
2010) and is one of the most important and versatile raw material for both food and
S. Sehgal (*)
Department of Food Technology, Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Sciences, University of
Delhi, Dwarka, New Delhi, India
e-mail: shalinisehgal72@gmail.com
V. Sharma
Department of Food Technology, Jamia Hamdard (Deemed to be University), New Delhi, India
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
B. Tanwar, A. Goyal (eds.), Oilseeds: Health Attributes and Food Applications,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4194-0_6
145
Palm/Palm Kernel (Elaeis guineensis)
Shalini Sehgal and Vasudha Sharma
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.
Keywords Palm (Elaeis guineensis) oil · Palm kernel oil · Phytonutrients ·
Tocopherols · Squalene · Cardiovascular diseases · Cooking oil
6.1 Introduction
Palm (Elaeis guineensis) belongs to the genus Elaeis and is one of the most
important oilseed crop. The palm oil produced by the palm fruit is the second
most consumed vegetable oil after soybean oil (Saad et al. 2007; Siddique et al.
2010) and is one of the most important and versatile raw material for both food and
S. Sehgal (*)
Department of Food Technology, Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Sciences, University of
Delhi, Dwarka, New Delhi, India
e-mail: shalinisehgal72@gmail.com
V. Sharma
Department of Food Technology, Jamia Hamdard (Deemed to be University), New Delhi, India
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
B. Tanwar, A. Goyal (eds.), Oilseeds: Health Attributes and Food Applications,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4194-0_6
145