Palm oil is one of the most widely used vegetable oils in the world, especially in Asia, Africa and Latin America. It has many applications in food, cosmetics, biodiesel and other industries.
This vegetal oil still remains a controversial commodity due to its environmental and social impacts, such as deforestation, habitat loss, greenhouse gas emissions, human rights violations and land conflicts.
Some consumers and organizations prefer to buy certified sustainable palm oil, which is produced according to certain standards and criteria that aim to minimize the negative effects of palm oil production.
As a consumer, it's important to know what you are consuming. Often, we receive the following question from new clients: "What is the difference between crude and refined palm oil?".
Well, our Head of Business Development explains it in a very simple way:
The difference between crude palm oil and refined palm oil is that crude palm oil is the oil that is extracted from the fruit of the oil palm tree, while refined palm oil is the oil that has undergone further processing to remove impurities and improve its quality.
Let's throw more light on the characteristics of these two types of vegetable oils and learn more about what differentiates them from each other.
Crude palm oil, also known as unrefined pure palm oil, has a reddish-brown color, a strong odor and flavor, and a high content of free fatty acids, carotenoids, phospholipids, and other substances that may affect its stability and shelf life. Crude palm oil is used as a raw material for refining, fractionating, and processing into various products, such as cooking oil, margarine, shortening, soap, biodiesel, and cosmetics.
Conversely, refined palm oil is obtained from refining crude palm oil, which is the oil that is extracted from the fruit of the oil palm tree. The oil has undergone further processing to remove impurities and improve its quality. It is also called as Refined Bleached Deodorized Palm Oil (RBDPO). Refined palm oil has a pale-yellow color, a mild odor and flavor, and a low content of free fatty acids, carotenoids, phospholipids, and other substances that may affect its stability and shelf life.
Refined palm oil is more suitable for cooking and frying, as it has a higher smoke point and does not alter the taste of food.
So, how do we obtain refined palm oil?
There are two main methods of refining palm oil. The first method is the chemical or alkali refining, and the second alternative is the physical refining.
The chemical or alkali refining involves treating the crude palm oil with an alkali solution to neutralize the free fatty acids, remove the phospholipids, and bleach the color, while the physical refining involves heating the crude palm oil to a high temperature to evaporate the free fatty acids, remove the phospholipids by filtration, and bleach the color by steam stripping. Both methods are followed by deodorization, which removes the undesirable odor and flavor compounds by vacuum distillation.
After refining, the palm oil may be further separated into liquid and solid fractions by cooling and crystallization. The liquid fraction is called palm olein, which is used as a cooking oil, while the solid fraction is called palm stearin, which is used for making margarine, shortening, and soap.
Some of the products that contain palm oil are:
Lipstick: Palm oil is used in lipstick as it holds color well, doesn’t melt at high temperatures, and has a smooth application and virtually no taste.
Pizza Dough: Palm oil is added to both frozen and fresh pizza dough to stop it from sticking together and to enhance texture.
Instant Noodles: Palm oil is up to 20% of the weight of a pack of instant noodles. It’s used to pre-cook the noodles so that all you have to do is add hot water.
Shampoo: Palm oil is used as a conditioning agent that helps restore the natural oils of the hair that are stripped away by most shampoos.
Ice Cream: Palm oil makes ice cream smooth and creamy.
Detergent: Palm oil is refined to create soaps, washing powder and other cleaning products.
Margarine: Palm oil is used in margarine because it is solid at room temperature and is free of trans fats.
Chocolate: Palm oil helps create a smooth and shiny appearance in some chocolate and keeps it from melting.
Cookies: Semi-solid at room temperature, palm oil is used to give baked goods a creamy taste and texture.
Biodiesel: Palm oil can be used to produce biodiesel and biofuel.
Soap: Palm oil is used for its ability to remove oil and dirt from hair and skin as well to moisturize.
Packaged Bread: Palm oil is now widely used to make bread because it is solid at room temperature, easy to bake with and inexpensive.
These are just some examples of products that contain palm oil. However, palm oil may not be clearly labeled on the ingredients list, as it can appear under different names that do not include the word “palm”. Some of these names are:
Vegetable Oil
Palm Fruit Oil
Palmitate
Glyceryl Stearate
Stearic Acid
Elaeis Guineensis
Palmitoyl
Sodium Laureth Sulfate
Sodium Kernelate
This is not a complete list - there are many other names for palm oil. The next time you buy a product, look at the label closely; palm oil is likely to be one of the ingredients.
