Palm stearin fatty acid composition

Shea (Butyrospermum parkii, shea butter, karite butter). This fat comes from trees grown mainly in West Africa and contains an unusually high level of unsapo-nifiable material ( 11%), including polyisoprene hydrocarbons. It is rich in stearic acid, but its fatty acid composition varies with its geographical source. It contains palmitic (4—8%), stearic (23-58%), oleic (33-68%), and hnoleic acid (4—8%). It can be fractionated to give a stearin (POP 1%, POSt 8%, and StOSt 68%), which can be used as a cocoa butter equivalent (79, 122-124). It is one of the six permitted fats (palm oil, iUipe butter, kokum butter, sal fat, shea butter, and mango kernel fat), which, in some countries at least, can partially replace cocoa butter in chocolate (86). 

Table 4.1 Fatty acid composition of palm oil, palm stearin and palm olein (major components only) [source Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia Porim Technology, Numbers 3 and 4 (1981)]...

Today palm oil is widely used in food applicahons and preferred for frying and baking applications because of its good oxidative stability and high solid fat content. Palm oil contains about 50% saturated (42 8% palmitic and 4-5% stearic acids) and 50% unsaturated fatty acids (37-41% linoleic and 9-11% linolenic acids). The fatty acid composition of palm kernel oil resembles that of the coconut oil rather than that of palm oil. Palm kernel oil is rich in lauric (about 48%), myristic (16%) and oleic (15%) acids. Both palm oil and pahn kernel oil are commercially separated into stearin (solid) and olein (liquid) fractions for special applications. The stearin fraction obtained from palm kernel can be used as a cocoa butter substitute. The olein fraction is used in baked goods and soap manufacturing. Imitation palm-oil-based cheese, hand and body lotion, fatty acid methyl esters for use as fuel or solvent, and epoxidized pahn oil to produce plasticizers and stabilizers for conventional polyvinyl chloride plastics are some of the other products that are produced from palm oil (Basiron, 2005). 

Table 3.6 Fatty acid and triacylglycerol composition of palm stearin...

Palm oil contains almost equal proportions of saturated (palmitic 48%, stearic 4%, and myristic 1%) and unsaturated acids (oleic 37% and linoleic 10%). The oil can be fractionated to give palm stearin, palm olein, and palm mid fraction. It is used mainly for food purposes but has some nonfood uses. Valuable by-products obtained from palm oil are carotene, tocopherols and tocotrienols (vitamin E), and palm-fatty acid distillate (PFAD). Palm kernel oil is lauric oil, similar in composition to coconut oil (lauric acid 50% and myristic acid 16%) and contains palmitic acid (8%), capric acid (3%), caprilic acid (3%), stearic acid (2.5%), oleic acid (15%), and linoleic acid (2.5%). ... 

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