Palm oil is an important product in the Malaysian economy. In most applications, foods and non-foods, refined and/or fractionated palm oil products are utilized. Crude palm oil contains a small amount of nutritionally valuable phytochemicals, including vitamin E (tocopherol and tocotrienol), phytosterols and squalene. During the process of palm oil refining, palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) is co-produced as a by-product at the step of deacidificationdeodorization, entraining some of the phytochemicals. As a result, PFAD is relatively a rich source of beneficial phytochemicals, with potential for use as bioactive ingredients in nutraceuticals industry. We are currently focusing our efforts at the production of phytosterols from PFAD.

Main Researcher: Dr Ab. Gapor Md. Top      
Email: gapor@mpob.gov.my