Studies of Physicochemical and Nutritive Properties of Oil Extracts from Local and Improved Varieties of Palm Fruits

Palm tree (Elais guineensis) is a tropical plant cultivated as a major agricultural crop for palm oil production but debates related to palm oil’s potential unhealthy effects due are still ongoing. The aim of this study was to evaluate the physicochemical and nutritive properties of palm oil extracted from local and improved varieties. Fresh fruit bunches of palm oil from local and improved varieties were collected in traditional and industrial plantations of South East Côte d’Ivoire. The fruits were sorted and washed several time with distilled water, cooked at 100°C in distilled water for 30 min and milled in laboratory mortar. The cooked and milled mesocarps of palm fruits were used for three techniques of oil extraction: Soxhlet extraction (SH), decoction extraction (DW) and soaking extraction (SW). Physicochemical parameters were determined using Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) and Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) conventional methods. Fatty acids were quantified by using Gas Chromatography (GC) method. There was a significant difference (P ˂ 0.05) between oil contents from improved varieties (20.57 – 23.32%) and local ones (8.80 – 15.58%). Crude palm oil (CPO) samples extracted from local varieties may be considered as valuable sources of carotenoids (576.67 – 654.42 μg/g) and tocopherols (755.33 – 772 μg/g) for human nutrition requirements. They were predominantly composed of unsaturated fatty acids (52.21 – 54.34%) while CPO extracted from improved varieties was saturated fatty acids rich (50.97 – 54.17%). In CPO extracted from local varieties, unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) were composed of oleic acid (43.85 – 45.72%) and a relatively low rate of linoleic acid (8.02 – 8.62%). Given that crude palm oil is a major ingredient of many dishes in Côte d’Ivoire, these results are a clear indication that the consumption of CPO extracted from local varieties may have beneficial health effect in nutritional point of view.