Influence of Components of Palm Oil on the Character of Metabolism in the Human Body
Authors: Shilov Valery Vikentievich , Litvyak Vladimir Vladimirovich , Roslyakov Yuri Fedorovich 
Published: January 2024

Introduction: Demand for vegetable oils is currently growing worldwide and palm oil is a significant contributor to the global supply of edible oils. Over the past few decades, there has been a growing public concern about the significant interaction between health and nutrition and palm oil (PO) in particular.

Purpose: The purpose of the research is to analyze the influence of PO components on the nature of metabolism in the human body and the development of pathological conditions.

Materials and Methods: The search for literature on the problem over the past 105 years was carried out in the databases of the RSCI, Google Scholar, ResearchGate, PubMed using keywords and phrases: «palm oil», «human health», «diabetes», «obesity», «cardiovascular disease», «oncology», «baby food».

Results: General information about PO in the food industry is given. Despite the good quality of palm kernel oil and its beneficial properties, the food industry requires another product – light-colored PO. This implies its mandatory cleaning by chemical treatment (alkali or acid) or physical methods. Deodorized PO, low in impurities and highly bleached, is considered a high quality product for the food industry. It contains 50% saturated fatty acids (palmitic, stearic, 40% monounsaturated (oleic) and 10% polyunsaturated fatty acids (linoleic). In 2022, PO produced 76,039 million metric tons or 36% of the total amount of all oils produced in world. The use of refined PO in the food industry is growing exponentially due to its consumer properties of this product: texture, aroma and neutral taste. Different fractions of PO are used in different ways in the food industry.Palm olein is used for frying and in the production of margarines, spreads, mayonnaise, vegetable cream ice cream Palm stearin is a component of confectionery fats and is used for the production of bakery products, sweets, cakes, cheese, chips, chocolate, cookies, crackers, donuts, frozen meals, instant noodles, popcorn, salad dressings, snacks, soups.

Clinical and experimental studies in recent years indicate that PO can cause the development of insulin resistance (type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM-2)) and metabolic disorders, including obesity, coronary heart disease, stroke, and various cancers. Therefore, a number of US and EU dietary guidelines aim to limit the consumption of PO in foods. However, the data of epidemiological studies conducted in various countries of the world are quite contradictory. This suggests that the assessment of the impact of PO on health must first of all take into account ethnogenetic characteristics, as well as national food traditions. Russian scientists and foreign scientists, based on the results of clinical studies, conclude that PO, as a fatty component of infant formulas, negatively affects Са2+ metabolism in the intestines of infants. Therefore, the use of PO as a component of breast milk substitutes in infant formulas should be limited and other components should be used, in particular formulas with β-palmitate or milk fat.

Conclusion: General information about PO in the food industry is given. The role of PO and palmitic acid in the development of obesity and DM-2, in the development of cardiovascular diseases, and also in the occurrence of oncological diseases is shown. The possibilities of using PO in baby food are characterized. The opinion of Belarusian and Russian scientists on the impact of PO on human health is given.