Evaluation of Palm Oil as a Suitable Vegetable Oil for Vitamin A Fortification Programs

• Main Authors: Marc Pignitter, Natalie Hernler, Mathias Zaunschirm, Julia Kienesberger, Mark Manuel Somoza, Klaus Kraemer, Veronika Somoza
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2016-06-01
• Series: Nutrients
• Subjects: palm oil; lipid oxidation; vitamin A; vitamin E; hexanal
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/8/6/378

Fortification programs are considered to be an effective strategy to mitigate vitamin A deficiency in populations at risk. Fortified vegetable oils rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids were shown to be prone to oxidation, leading to limited vitamin A stability. Thus, it was hypothesized that fortified oils consisting of mainly saturated fatty acids might enhance the stability of vitamin A. Mildly (peroxide value: 1.0 meq O2/kg) and highly (peroxide value: 7.5 meq O2/kg) oxidized palm oil was stored, after fortification with 60 International Units/g retinyl palmitate, in 0.5 L transparent polyethylene terephthalate bottles under cold fluorescent lighting (12 h/day) at 32 °C for 57 days. An increase of the peroxide value by 15 meq O2/kg, which was also reflected by a decrease of α-tocopherol congener by 15%–18%, was determined independent of the initial rancidity. The oxidative deterioration of the highly oxidized palm oil during storage was correlated with a significant 46% decline of the vitamin A content. However, household storage of mildly oxidized palm oil for two months did not induce any losses of vitamin A. Thus, mildly oxidized palm oil may be recommended for vitamin A fortification programs, when other sources of essential fatty acids are available.