Vitamin E occurs in substantial amounts in oils and fats. Generally, the higher the polyunsaturated fatty acid content of oil, the higher the vitamin E requirement. An average ratio of vitamin E to polyunsaturated fatty acids of about 0.6 mg/g is highly desirable.
Vitamin E mostly occurs as alpha, gamma, and delta tocopherol. The composition of vitamin E in palm oil is, however, quite different. Only about 30% of its composition is tocopherol, whereas the rest occur as tocotrienols (alpha, gamma and delta) which are again different isometric forms of vitamin E.
Apart from palm oil, rice bran, wheat germ and barley germ oils are good sources of the tocotrienols.
Benefits of Vitamin E Palm Tocotrienols
Tocotrienols have a chemical structure that is slightly different from the tocopherols.
Research has already determined that this structural difference, while allow it to perform all the classic functions of vitamin E, additionally confers important biological and physiological properties that are not noticeable in tocopherols.
Good manufacturing practice ensures that a substantial amount of palm vitamin E is retained in palm olein, commonly used as cooking oil in our Asian cooking. When crude palm oil is refined, a portion of its vitamin E is concentrated as a by-product, called palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD).
Now, innovative technologies allow the recovery of this palm vitamin E as a concentrate that contains about 30% tocopherols and 70% tocotrienols. Palm vitamin E is now commercially available in Malaysia and other regions.
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