Effect of Different Deacidification Methods on Phytonutrients Retention in Deacidified Fractionated Palm Oil.

Crude red palm oil of 11.4 % free fatty acid
content was dry fractionated to obtain liquid crude red
palm olein which was deacidified using enzyme (lipase
from Rhizomucor miehei), solvent (ethanol), and chemical
(aqueous sodium hydroxide), and its effect on physicochemical
characteristics and phytonutrients retention was
evaluated. Enzymatic deacidification showed 100 % product
yield and no neutral lipid loss, whereas yields of 78 and
62 % and neutral lipid loss of 12 and 30 % were observed
for solvent and chemical deacidification, respectively. Variation
in viscosity (25.3–37.2 cSt at 40 °C), slip melting
point (15–36 °C), monoacylglycerols (1.7–3.3 %), and diacylglycerols
(5.8–27.9 %) were also observed. Carotenoid
content was slightly reduced by enzymatic (535 mg/kg),
solvent (556 mg/kg), and chemical (526 mg/kg) deacidification.
Retention of phytonutrients such as phytosterols
(1,235 mg/kg), total tocopherols (965 mg/kg), squalene
(301 mg/kg), coenzyme Q10 (25.9 mg/kg), and total phenolics
(3 mg/kg) was highest following enzymatic deacidification.
The IC50 value of the enzymatic deacidified sample
(21.8 mg/ml) indicates more radical scavenging activity
than in samples obtained using solvent (42.0 mg/ml) and
chemical (28.8 mg/ml) methods.