Micronutrient retention in high oleic palm oil: effect of refining technique

Summary Retention of micronutrients in high oleic palm oil (HOPO) was evaluated by comparing two methods; standard refining (260 °C) and modified refining (160, 180, 200 °C). Tocopherol analysis showed that α‐tocopherol loss during standard refining was relatively low for both refined bleached and deodorised (RBD) PO control (10%) and RBDHOPO (2%). On the contrary, the carotene loss for both RBDPO control and RBDHOPO in standard refining methods was 99% (1.9 and 5.9 ppm, detected). Modified refining temperatures, can maintain up to 99% more carotenes than standard refining. Applying modified refining to RBDHOPO retains ~78%–83% more carotene than regular RBDPO. This examination shows, suitably processed RBDHOPO has the capability for producing a red palm oil (RPO), enriched with carotenoid for provitamin A function.