Natural Red Palm Oil

Natural Palm Oil is a Traditional Food:
For many years, most of the food eaten by the human race, whether raw or cooked, came from natural, unprocessed foods.  Nuts and seeds were often times pressed for oils and the oil was used in its "freshly pressed" state.  In Mediterranean countries, the pulp of the olive was used to make a prized oil long before the time of Christ and for centuries, just like the olive tree, special palm trees in tropical, rainy Asia and Africa supplied a precious, deep red-orange oil from the pulp of their fruit.  This oil, we now call Red Palm Oil.

Where does Natural Palm Oil come from?
Natural Red Palm Oil, sold by Wilderness Family Naturals, is produced from the fruit of the oil palm, Elaeis guineensis.  This palm tree can be found in the wet, rainy areas of Africa, as well as the tropical rain forests of Asia.  Our Natural Red Palm Oil comes from Malaysia which is considered the "Palm Oil Capital of the World".  More palm oil is produced and exported from Malaysia than any other country.  Most importantly, the trees used for the production of our Red Palm Oil have been on plantations for many, many years.  The rainforest around them remains intact and no new rainforest is being destroyed.  The company providing us with this oil has won a number of awards for their environmental consciousness.

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How Does Red Palm Oil Compare to Other Oils?

• Red palm oil contains more beta-carotene, vitamin E and tocotrienols than any other oil.
• Remains stable when used for cooking.
• It is not hydrogenated, nor processed with solvents such as hexane, and does not contain any trans-fatty acids

How is Natural Red Palm Oil different from other palm oil?
There are very few natural red palm oils available in America.  Most palm oil in America has been refined, bleached and deodorized. RBD palm has a bland flavor and is completely colorless because all the antioxidant vitamins have been stripped (carotenoids, tocopherols and tocotrienols).  However, our natural red palm oil still contains these substances, giving it a dark red-orange color not found in the refined products.

This particular Natural Red Palm Oil has been allowed to cool to room temperature causing many saturated fats (predominantly stearic acid) to solidify and fall to the bottom of the vat.  When the top liquid faction is then decanted, its fatty acids are higher in fat soluble vitamins, stronger in color and lower in saturated fats.  This yields a fatty acid profile with a similar saturated fat to unsaturated fat ratio as found in olive oil, and a richer red-orange color much deeper in hue than standard crude red palm oils.  Most other red palm oils available in America are not like Wilderness Family Naturals' Red Palm Oil.  Instead they are crude palm oils that contain lower levels of carotenoids, tocopherols and tocotrienols, and higher percentages of stearic acid (an 18 carbon chain saturated fat).

Another way that Wilderness Family Naturals' Natural Red Palm Oil is different from crude palm oil is in taste.  In our Natural Red Palm Oil thefree fatty acids have been removed.  By doing this, the taste of the palm oil becomes very mild and its shelf life is greatly extended.

Wilderness Family Naturals' Natural Red Palm Oil is rich in natural carotenoids (vitamin A), is a good source of tocopherols (natural vitamin E) and contains tocotrienols.  It contains about 50% naturally occurring saturated fats and 50% unsaturated fats.  The fats in Natural Red Palm Oil are not synthetically hydrogenated or altered in any way.  The main fatty acid found in Natural Red Palm is oleic acid, which is the main type of fat in olive oil.  Natural Red Palm Oil is a vegetable oil and therefore does not contain any cholesterol, which is only found in animal or dairy products.

Some people refer to our natural red palm oil as a "high oleic palm oil".  Oleic acid is the main fatty acid in olive oil and is a mono-unsaturated fat.  Our palm oil is more like olive oil in the temperatures that it will solidify at because its fatty acid profile is more like olive oil.  All other red palm oils are over 50% stearic acid and not high in oleic acid.  These other red palm oils solidify at temperatures similar to what beef tallow will solidify at.  That's why other companies might tell you that red palm oil is a solid.

Fatty Acid Breakdown

Tocotrienols, Tocopherols and Carotenoids. For the most recent breakdown Click Here.

"Vitamins in cooking oil?"

Red palm oil is rich in beta-carotene, which makes up over 75% of its total carotenoid content and supplies one serving of the oil with 600% of the RDI for vitamin A.  It contains 4 times more beta-carotene than carrots (1) and 76 times more beta-carotene than tomatoes! (2) It is carotenes such as alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and lycopene that give tomatoes, carrots and other fruits and vegetables their vivid colors.  One serving (1 Tbsp. or 14 grams) of ilderness Family Naturals' Natural Red Palm Oil actually contains 4788 µg of beta-carotene, 2212 µg of alpha-carotene and 798 µg of lycopene.  (3) These fat soluble antioxidants (phytonutrients) are responsible for the dark red-orange color of the oil.

Natural Red Palm Oil also contains the antioxidant vitamin E (15% of the RDI in each serving) and 12,054 µg of tocotrienols per serving, which are also members of the vitamin E family.  Tocotrienols are the real powerhouse with some research showing them to have 40 - 60 times the antioxidant activity of ordinary vitamin E.  The combination of vitamin E, tocotrienols, and carotenes, makes palm oil a super antioxidant food with a lipophilic ORAC score of 2,451 µmole VE/L.

(1) 1 raw carrot is approximately 72 grams and contains about 5965 µg of beta-carotene or 82.9 µg beta-carotene/gram.

(2) 1 raw tomato is approximately 123 grams and contains about 552 µg of beta-carotene or 4.5 µg beta-carotene/gram.

Environmental concerns about Wilderness Family Naturals' Palm Oil.

Natural Red Palm oil is a liquid at room temperature, and has a rich bright red color.  When solid, it is a lighter orange-red color. This rich red color is due to the high content of natural carotenoids.  The carotene content is above 500 mg/kg! These carotenoids are mainly beta carotene (275mg/kg) and alpha carotene (175 mg/kg).  Natural carotenes are also found in other orange foods such as carrots, sweet potatoes, and pumpkins.  Tocopherols and tocotrienols are related fat soluble antioxidants in the vitamin E family.

Tocotrienols are not found in other vegetable oils such as soy bean oil, canola oil, rape seed oil and sunflower oil.  However, tocotrienols can be found naturally occurring, but in much lesser quantities, in rice bran, barley, wheat germ and oats.

What are Tocotrienols?
Tocotrienols are members of the Vitamin E family.  This family is comprised of both Tocotrienols and Tocopherols.  Tocotrienols differ from the Tocopherols in that they contain three double bonds in the side-chain.  In total, there are four types of Tocopherols namely alpha, beta, gamma and delta and four corresponding types of Tocotrienols isomers.

Alpha Tocotrienol is 40-60 times more potent than normal tocopherols making it an important fat-soluble antioxidant.  The palm oil based Tocotrienol complex contains all 4 Tocotrienol isomers D-Alpha-Tocopherol, D-Alpha-Tocotrienol, D-Gamma-Tocotrienol and D-Delta-Tocotrienol. While most natural vitamin E sources contain primarily tocopherols, Natural Red Palm oil, by contrast, contains mostly Tocotrienols and only 15% of the daily value of natural tocopherols.

Palm oil vs. Palm Kernel Oil
Palm Oil, made from the fruit of the oil palm, is sometimes confused with Palm Kernel Oil, which is made from the kernel (the inner seed) of the oil palm fruit.  These two oils are actually quite different.  While Palm Kernel Oil has a fatty acid profile similar to coconut oil, (predominantly composed of medium chain fatty acids), palm oil has a fatty acid profile high in oleic acid (similar to olive oil).  Additionally, Palm Kernel Oil does not contain the carotenoids, tocopherols and tocotrienols found in Natural Red Palm Oil or the palm fruit.

Cooking with Red Palm Oil

Most oils become rancid from exposure to heat, light, and oxygen.  Red palm oil is naturally protected by its antioxidants, giving it resistance to oxidation, rancidity and free radical formation.  Wilderness Family Naturals' Red Palm Oil can be safely used for cooking, and consists of approximately 42 percent saturated fatty acids, 50 percent monounsaturated fatty acids, and 14 percent polyunsaturated fatty acids.  The combination of monounsaturated and saturated fats along with its naturally occurring antioxidants gives red palm oil a smoke point over 400° F.

Red palm oil is not hydrogenated, nor processed with toxic solvents such as hexane, and contains no trans-fatty acids.  Below are some recipes for using Palm Oil.

Recipes:

Roxana's Tahini Dressing
1 cup Tahini Butter (ground sesame seeds)
¾ cup Natural Palm Oil
2 cloves garlic
1 whole lemon - juiced
sea salt, or natural salt, to taste
purified water - to desired thickness
Put lemon juice and garlic in a high powered blender and blend at high speed.  Add remaining ingredients.  Add salt to taste and water to desired thickness.

Roxana's Vegetable Sauté
¼ to ½ cup natural palm oil
1 cloves garlic, minced
1 red onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced in long slices
1 large carrot, sliced in oval shape
1 small red cabbage, sliced thinly
1 cup, organic bean sprouts

Optional: Cashews, sunflower seeds and/or sesame seeds

Lightly sauté garlic and onions together in natural palm oil.  Add red pepper, carrot and red cabbage and cover.  Continue to lightly simmer until desired tenderness.  Top with fresh bean sprouts and nuts or seeds, if desired.