RESEARCH ARTICLE

Journal of Oil Palm Research Vol. 24 (3) December 2012, p. 1562-1565

PALM OIL DIETS DO NOT RAISE TOTAL/HDL-CHOLESTEROL COMPARED TO A PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL DIET IN RATS

VOON Phooi Tee* ; TENG Kim Tiu* ; CHENG Hwee Ming ** ; NESARETNAM, Kalanithi*

ABSTRACT

A suitable replacement fat for a trans fat rich partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (PHVO) has to be chosen and examined carefully before being introduced for any food applications. The aim of the replacement is to avoid putting the subgroups in Southeast Asia at risk of having high trans fatty acid content in their diets. A direct comparison between the effects of PHVO and unhydrogenated vegetable oils on blood lipids has not been evaluated extensively. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare the effects of different unhydrogenated vegetable oils, using high oleic palm olein (HOPOo), palm oil (PO), and palm stearin (POs), on serum lipid levels with those of PHVO. Male Sprague Dawley rats (n=14 per group) were randomly allocated an isoenergetic meal, providing 34.0% of the total energy from fat, from one of the formulated diets for eight weeks. HOPO, PO and POs were used as sources of unhydrogenated PO in the diets while a PHVO obtained from soyabean oil was used as a positive control. Our study demonstrated that HOPOo, PO and POs did not raise total/high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) compared with PHVO. Food intake was monitored during the feeding intervention. All the unhydrogenated palm oil diets exerted similar incremental body weights compared to PHVO. The present study confirmed that the three unhydrogenated PO diets did not adversely affect blood lipids compared with PHVO in rats.

KEYWORDS:


* Malaysian Palm Oil Board,
P. O. Box 10620,
50720 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
E-mail: vptee@mpob.gov.my

** Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine,
University of Malaya, Lembah Pantai,
50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.