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PALM OIL AND VEGETABLE OILS
Palm oil is an edible plant oil, derived from the reddish pulp of the fruit of the oil palms. It is naturally reddish
in color because of its high beta-carotene content.
Palm oil, along with coconut oil, is one of the few highly
saturated vegetable fats. It is semisolid at room
temperatures
like all vegetable oils, palm oil does not contain cholesterol, although saturated fat intake
increases both LDL and HDL cholesterol. Palm Kernel oil and Coconut oil are 81% and 86% saturated
respectively.
Cooking ingredient
Palm oil is a common cooking ingredient in many parts of the world and its use in the commercial food
industry in other parts of the world is buoyed by its lower cost and by the high oxidative stability of the
refined product when used for frying.
Vegetable Oils
Vegetable oils are triglycerides extracted from plants. Such oils have been part of human culture for millennia.
Edible vegetable oils are used in food, both cooking and as supplements. Many oils, edible and otherwise,
are burned
as fuel, such as in oil lamps and as a substitute for petroleumbased fuels. Some of the
many other uses include wood
finishing, oil painting, and skin care.
The term "vegetable oil" can be narrowly defined as referring only to substances that are liquid at room
temperature,
or broadly defined without regard to a substance's state of matter at a given temperature.
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