What is the difference between palm olein and palm oil

By Kerry Grens , Reuters Health. NEW YORK Reuters Health - Palm olein, a liquid form of palm oil used in cooking and baking, has been considered neutral in its effects on cholesterol but a new Danish study suggests the vegetable fat could behave more like lard in the body.

Peter Clifton at the University of Adelaide in Australia, who was not involved in the work. The research team, led by Tine Tholstrup at Copenhagen University, asked 32 normal-weight young men to replace a portion of the fats in their usual diets with palm olein, olive oil or lard during each of three weeks. Although both oils originate from the same fruit, palm oil is chemically and nutritionally different from palm kernel oil. Palm oil including its fractions is traditionally used for edible purposes such as cooking and frying, in addition to being a choice ingredient of food formulations e.

Palm kernel oil including its fractions is generally used for non-edible purposes such as the formulations of soaps, cosmetics and detergents - oleochemicals. The versatility of both palm oil and palm kernel oil is compiled here.

The trans fat-free and cholesterol-free palm oil boasts a balanced ratio of unsaturated and saturated fatty acids. This composition results in an edible oil that is suitable for use in a variety of food applications. Backed by many scientific publications, palm oil is a rich source of carotenoids and vitamin E that provides natural stability against oxidative deterioration.

While palm oil can be fractionated into palm olein and plam stearin, palm kernel oil can also be further processed into palm kernel olein and palm kernel stearin. Palm kernel oil , semi-solid at room temperature, is more saturated than palm oil and comparable to coconut oil. It is popularly used in commercial cooking and frying because it remains stable at high cooking temperatures and is lower in cost than other oils while allowing for a longer shelf life than other vegetable oils.

Palm oil is widely used in margarine and vegetable shortenings. When the semi-solid palm oil is refined, it separates into palm olein and palm stearine. The palm olein has different characteristics than the palm oil, most notably that it remains completely liquid at room temperature.

It is highly heat resistant, similar to palm oil, and it also resists the formation of breakdown products during frying and increases the shelf life of many products. Although palm oil and palm olein are produced from the same plant and share many similar properties, the main difference between them is their chemical state at room temperature.

Semi-solid palm oil is used more frequently as a fat in bakery products, whereas liquid palm olein is considered the "gold standard" and is the most widely used oil for frying in the world. Arlene Lauren began writing professionally in