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Red Palm Oil—Unique Bouquet of Carotenoids and Tocotrienols
Red Palm Oil—Unique Bouquet of Carotenoids and Tocotrienols
07/02/2014 (Natural Products Insider) - Red palm oil is a unique nutritious vegetable oil derived from the fruits of the palm tree (Elaeis guineensis). It is the only oil in nature that provides a bouquet of antioxidants and phytonutrients such as tocotrienols/tocopherol (vitamin E), mixed-carotenes with high level of alpha-carotene (pro-vitamin A), plant squalene, phytosterol complex and coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). No other vegetable oil has such unique natural combination of phytonutrients.
It is no wonder that Dr. Mehmet Oz recently proclaimed red palm oil as his most miraculous find for 2013 in addressing the aging process.
Carotenoids
Red palm oil gets its name from its characteristic dark red color because of its high content of carotenoids—the same nutrients that give carrots, tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables their orange and red colors. These natural carotenoids (mainly alpha- and beta-carotene) are readily available source of pro-vitamin A, yielding 15 times more beta-carotene than carrots. Thus, red palm oil is considered the richest source of natural mixed-carotenes in nature.
Another interesting attribute is the composition of carotenoids in red palm oil mirrors that of carrots.
Tocotrienols
In nature, there are eight forms of vitamin E—four tocopherols and four tocotrienols (alpha, beta, gamma and delta). Tocotrienols differ from tocopherols by having an unsaturated side tail that results in significantly different biological activities in the former. Tocotrienol is also called the “unsaturated vitamin E."
Tocopherols are generally present in common vegetable oils (e.g., soy, canola and sunflower). Tocotrienols, on the other hand, are concentrated in cereal grains (e.g. oat, barley, rye and rice bran), with the highest level found in virgin red palm oil.
While similar in structure to tocopherol, the tocotrienols have been shown in human clinical trials to possess unique biological health benefits, that are not shown by the regular tocopherol vitamin E.
Science: Red Palm Oil —Carotenoids and Tocotrienols
Researchers from different countries have studied the beneficial health benefits of the main phytonutrients in red palm oil, such as the vitamin E (tocotrienols/tocopherol) and the pro-vitamin A (mixed-carotenes).
Manorama and Rukmini investigated the use of red palm oil as a readily available and inexpensive source of beta-carotene and vitamin A in the human diet.1 They demonstrated that red palm oil is nutritionally and readily acceptable, especially as a natural source of vitamin A.
They showed after 30 days of supplementation with a snack containing either 50,000 IU of vitamin A or 4 g of red palm oil, children’s serum retinol (vitamin A) levels were interestingly, the same in the two groups, but the beta-carotene levels had more than tripled in the children given red palm oil.
It is no wonder that Dr. Mehmet Oz recently proclaimed red palm oil as his most miraculous find for 2013 in addressing the aging process.
Carotenoids
Red palm oil gets its name from its characteristic dark red color because of its high content of carotenoids—the same nutrients that give carrots, tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables their orange and red colors. These natural carotenoids (mainly alpha- and beta-carotene) are readily available source of pro-vitamin A, yielding 15 times more beta-carotene than carrots. Thus, red palm oil is considered the richest source of natural mixed-carotenes in nature.
Another interesting attribute is the composition of carotenoids in red palm oil mirrors that of carrots.
Tocotrienols
In nature, there are eight forms of vitamin E—four tocopherols and four tocotrienols (alpha, beta, gamma and delta). Tocotrienols differ from tocopherols by having an unsaturated side tail that results in significantly different biological activities in the former. Tocotrienol is also called the “unsaturated vitamin E."
Tocopherols are generally present in common vegetable oils (e.g., soy, canola and sunflower). Tocotrienols, on the other hand, are concentrated in cereal grains (e.g. oat, barley, rye and rice bran), with the highest level found in virgin red palm oil.
While similar in structure to tocopherol, the tocotrienols have been shown in human clinical trials to possess unique biological health benefits, that are not shown by the regular tocopherol vitamin E.
Science: Red Palm Oil —Carotenoids and Tocotrienols
Researchers from different countries have studied the beneficial health benefits of the main phytonutrients in red palm oil, such as the vitamin E (tocotrienols/tocopherol) and the pro-vitamin A (mixed-carotenes).
Manorama and Rukmini investigated the use of red palm oil as a readily available and inexpensive source of beta-carotene and vitamin A in the human diet.1 They demonstrated that red palm oil is nutritionally and readily acceptable, especially as a natural source of vitamin A.
They showed after 30 days of supplementation with a snack containing either 50,000 IU of vitamin A or 4 g of red palm oil, children’s serum retinol (vitamin A) levels were interestingly, the same in the two groups, but the beta-carotene levels had more than tripled in the children given red palm oil.