1. Palm oil is edible.

ii. main uses of palm oil

1. application of palm oil in catering industry

people have used palm oil in catering industry for more than 5111 years. Compared with other edible oils and fats, palm oil has good oxidation resistance (frying resistance) and ideal fatty acid composition in frying and barbecue foods. Oil palm is a high-yield perennial oil plant, which can be harvested for about 21 years once planted. The yield is high and stable, so its economic advantages are also obvious.

2. Application of palm oil in food industry

In food industry, palm oil is generally processed into shortening, margarine, hydrogenated palm oil, frying oil and special oil.

(1) shortening. Shortening is different from margarine, which is 81% oil and 21% water, while shortening is 111% pure oil. There are many kinds of shortening, and each kind of food needs special shortening. Palm oil is a suitable raw material for shortening.

(2) margarine. Margarine is an emulsion composed of water and oil. Margarine was originally produced to imitate butter, and now many types of products have been formed, among which palm liquid oil is suitable for making liquid margarine and palm stearin is suitable for making solid margarine.

(3) hydrogenated palm oil. Hydrogenated palm oil is widely consumed in India, Pakistan and Middle East countries, which usually use it as a butterfat product.

(4) special grease. Palm oil and palm kernel oil are ideal raw materials for producing special grease, which is mainly used in the production of candy, especially chocolate food. Among them, palm kernel stearin is also called "cocoa butter substitute" because its physical properties are very close to cocoa butter.

3. Industrial use of palm oil

Refined palm oil for industrial use requires a melting point of not less than 44℃. The industrial uses of palm oil are mainly divided into two categories: < P > One category can be directly obtained from palm oil, such as soap, epoxy palm oil and its polyols, polyurethane and polyacrylate products; The other is oil chemical products, such as fatty acids, esters, fatty alcohols, nitrogen compounds and glycerol. On the basis of these products, various derivatives can be produced by different chemical methods.

The main raw materials of oil chemical industry are oils rich in carbon chains of C12-C14 and C16-C18, among which palm kernel oil, palm stearin and palmitic acid are the main raw materials.

Extended information:

Disadvantages of palm oil

Palm oil has many advantages, such as rich nutrients and a lot of vitamins A and E, but generally we don't use this oil for cooking because its saturated fatty acid content is too high, exceeding 51%.

In the early years, our country was short of materials. First, we used lard to stir-fry when we were full, and then we abandoned it because the saturated fatty acid was too high, which was harmful to human health. The saturated fatty acid content of lard is 45%. Obviously, palm oil is higher than lard.

Long-term consumption of palm oil will lead to excessive intake of saturated fatty acids in human serum, which will lead to the increase of cholesterol, triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein, thus causing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Even for young people with good metabolism, it is easy to get fat.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Palm Oil