Journal of Oil Palm Research Vol. 28 (2) June 2016, p. 211-221

EFFECTS OF FATTY ACIDS AT DIFFERENT POSITIONS IN THE TRIGLYCERIDES ON CHOLESTEROL LEVELS

SOEK SIN TEH*; PHOOI TEE VOON*; YEN TENG NG*; SENG HUAT ONG**; AUGUSTINE SOON HOCK ONG‡ and YUEN MAY CHOO*

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21894/jopr.2016.2802.09
ABSTRACT

Previous studies established a series of regression equations for predicting the risk factor effects from serum cholesterol concentrations. However, the degree of saturation was solely based on total fatty acid composition in triglycerides. Our article is focused on the relationships between the published human nutrition studies and predicted values of serum cholesterol levels based on total fatty acid compositions and at sn-2 position in triglycerides. Twenty-two published human nutrition studies were chosen to assess the effects of palm olein, olive oil, cocoa butter, sunflower seed oil, corn oil, soyabean oil, grapeseed oil, groundnut oil and rice bran oil diets on serum cholesterol levels. There were no statistically significant differences between the predicted values of serum cholesterol levels based on fatty acids at sn-2 position and the published human nutrition studies as proven by the statistical analyses with p values more than 0.05. In contrast, there were statistically significant differences between the predicted values of serum cholesterol levels based on total fatty acids and the published human nutritional studies with p values less than 0.05. Fatty acids at sn-2 position appear to influence the cholesterol levels rather than total fatty acids of the triglyceride.

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* Malaysian Palm Oil Board, 6 Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia. E-mail: ssteh@mpob.gov.my

** Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

‡ Malaysian Oil Scientists and Technologists’ Association (MOSTA), 1, Jalan SS20/27, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.