Journal of Oil Palm Research Vol. 34 (3) September 2022, p. 475-487
NUTRITIONAL POTENTIAL OF SUPERCRITICAL FLUID-EXTRACTED PALM FRUIT
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21894/jopr.2021.0044
Received: 11 March 2021 Accepted: 25 August 2021 Published Online: 8 November 2021
Supercritical-fluid extraction (SFE) has been suggested to be highly suitable method for food processing due to its greener approach and use of readily available and safe solvents. The palm fruit fibres (PFF) have limited food applications and are often regarded as waste despite being a potential source of dietary fibre. Therefore, the aims of the study were to study the nutritional attributes and chemical composition of SFEextracted palm oil (SFE-O) and fibre (SFE-F). Results showed that SFE-O has comparable phytonutrients and oil quality with hexane-(HEX-O) and commercial mechanical pressing (MP-O)-extracted crude palm oils. Although SFE-O contains lower concentrations of phytonutrients (total of carotenoids, vitamin E, squalene and sterols) than the two oils, it exhibited higher antioxidant effects than MP-O as showed in 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhdrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) scavenging and ferric ion chelating assays, whereas SFE-O also exhibited higher ferric ion chelating activity than HEX-O, postulating its protective health benefits. Meanwhile, both SFE-fibre and HEX-fibre contain comparable dietary fibre with existing food products, suggesting the potential of PFF as a source of dietary fibre and other food applications. The beneficial effects of SFE-O and PFF also suggested that recovery of both would potentially generate additional revenue for palm oil mills.
KEYWORDS:1 Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB),
6 Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi,
43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia.
2 School of Biosciences,
Taylor’s University, Lakeside Campus,
47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
* Corresponding author e-mail: ssteh@mpob.gov.my