Effects of dietary palm olein on the cardiovascular risk factors in healthy young adults

Novel carbonylomics with stable isotope-coded derivatization for non-targeted analysis of reactive carbonyl species in cooking oils

Reactive carbonyl species (RCS), both carcinogenic and widespread in the environment, disrupt cell function through biomolecular modifications. However, to date, the study of RCS has largely been via targeted analysis. Herein, we introduce a novel carbonylomics workflow integrating liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) with stable isotope-coded derivatization (SICD) using d0- and d3-2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) to perform the non-targeted analysis of RCS in cooking oils. Our method enables comprehensive detection of RCS, entirely relying on examining four characteristic features of RCS-DNPH derivatives with well-defined instrument settings, while SICD enhances specificity by reducing false positives. Applying this workflow to soybean oil (SBO) and palm oil (PO) before and after heating identified numerous known and unknown RCS, with SBO exhibiting a greater variety in RCS (increasing from 23 to 129 ions vs. 18-75 ions for PO) and up to ∼11-fold greater peak intensities for shared RCS, indicating higher susceptibility to thermal oxidation. Among them, trans,trans-2,4-undecadienal and 2,3-octanedione were, for the first time, exclusively identified in oxidized SBO. Additionally, the approach was successfully applied to human urine, demonstrating broader applicability to biological matrices. Given the widespread presence of RCS, originating from environmental and endogenous sources, these findings highlight the utility of carbonylomics in elucidating RCS formation and identifying unknown toxicants, providing a critical tool for investigating food safety and other public health concerns related to RCS exposure.

Safety and efficacy of oil palm phenolic supplementation in improving lipid profile among hyperlipidemic adults: a phase 2, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial

Introduction: Oil palm phenolic (OPP) is an antioxidant aqueous palm oil by-product and contains a high amount of phenolics. OPP has been proven to have many therapeutical benefits, and one of them is as an antihyperlipidemic agent. The previous phase 1 clinical trial proved OPP was safe to be orally consumed by healthy volunteers and yielded a good lipid profile. Thus, this phase 2 clinical trial was conducted to determine the effectiveness of OPP in improving the lipid profile among hyperlipidemic subjects. Methods: A parallel, placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blinded clinical trial was conducted for 2 months on 50 hyperlipidemic subjects aged 20-50 years old. The subjects were randomly distributed to two treatment arms with 25 participants each: control/placebo (11 males and 14 females) and 250 mg of OPP (10 males and 15 females). The subjects were required to consume one capsule per day for 60 days. Fasting blood sampling for routine blood profile (hematology, liver function, renal function, and lipid) analysis and a medical examination were conducted at baseline, day 30, and day 60. t-test analysis was used to compare the difference between two test groups. Results: The baseline lipid profile between control group (TC, 5.78 ± 0.52 mmol/L; LDL, 3.88 ± 0.51 mmol/L; HDL, 1.30 ± 0.25; TG, 1.30 ± 0.82), and 250 mg OPP (TC, 5.76 ± 0.54 mmol/L; LDL, 3.82 ± 0.59 mmol/L; HDL, 1.37 ± 0.34; TG, 1.25 ± 0.54) is insignificant. No serious adverse events (SAEs) were reported. No abnormality in fasting blood parameters in all groups was found. Compared to the control group among male participants, the 250 mg OPP group showed an improved serum triglyceride level. There were no statistically significant changes in all blood parameters from day 1 to day 60 with the exception of triglyceride level. Conclusion: The absence of SAEs reported and no abnormal findings in biochemistry and hematology results suggested that the 250 mg OPP was safe to be taken by hyperlipidemic patients with a high probability of reducing triglyceride level in hyperlipidemic male patients The outcomes from this phase II trial suggest that by incorporating OPP supplements into the diet may be a promising strategy for individuals with hyperlipidemia to improve their lipid profiles and reduce cardiovascular risk. However, more research is needed to fully understand the mechanisms of action and establish the long-term efficacy and safety of OPP supplementation in larger scale. Limitation: Small samples size hence lack of diversity (25 subjects per groups) and early sharing of treatment-response results. Clinical Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov, identifier NCT04573218.

Effects of Dietary Linoleic Acid on Blood Lipid Profiles: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 40 Randomized Controlled Trials

Th aim of this meta-analysis was to elucidate whether dietary linoleic acid (LA) supplementation affected blood lipid profiles, including triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), compared with other fatty acids. Embase, PubMed, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library databases, updated to December 2022, were searched. The present study employed weighted mean difference (WMD) and a 95% confidence interval (CI) to examine the efficacy of the intervention. Out of the 3700 studies identified, a total of 40 randomized controlled trials (RCTs), comprising 2175 participants, met the eligibility criteria. Compared with the control group, the dietary intake of LA significantly decreased the concentrations of LDL-C (WMD: -3.26 mg/dL, 95% CI: -5.78, -0.74, I² = 68.8%, p = 0.01), and HDL-C (WMD: -0.64 mg/dL, 95% CI: -1.23, -0.06, I² = 30.3%, p = 0.03). There was no significant change in the TG and TC concentrations. Subgroup analysis showed that the LA intake was significantly reduced in blood lipid profiles compared with saturated fatty acids. The effect of LA on lipids was not found to be dependent on the timing of supplementation. LA supplementation in an excess of 20 g/d could be an effective dose for lowering lipid profiles. The research results provide further evidence that LA intake may play a role in reducing LDL-C and HDL-C, but not TG and TC.

Balancing functional and health benefits of food products formulated with palm oil as oil sources

Palm oil (PO) is widely utilised in the food industry and consumed in large quantities by humans. Owing to its bioactive components, such as fatty acids, carotenoids, vitamin E, and phenolic compounds, PO has been utilised for generations. However, public concern about their adverse effects on human health is growing. A literature search was conducted to identify fractionated palm oil processing techniques, proof of their health advantages, and potential food applications. Refined palm oil (RPO) is made from crude palm oil (CPO) and can be fractionated into palm olein (POl) and palm stearin (PS). Fractional crystallisation, dry fractionation, and solvent fractionation are the three basic fractionation procedures used in the PO industry. The composition of triacylglycerols and fatty acids in refined and fractionated palm oil and other vegetable oils is compared to elucidate the triacylglycerols and fatty acids that may be important in product development. It is well proven that RPO, POl, and PS extends the oil's shelf life in the food business. These oils have a more significant saturated fat content and antioxidant compounds than some vegetable oils, such as olive and coconut oils, making them more stable. Palm olein and stearin are also superior shortening agents and frying mediums for baking goods and meals. Furthermore, when ingested modestly daily, palm oils, especially RPO and POl, provide health benefits such as cardioprotective, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, and antithrombotic effects. Opportunities exist for fractionated palm oil to become a fat substitute; however, nutrition aspects need to be considered in further developing the market.

Impact of Replacement of Individual Dietary SFAs on Circulating Lipids and Other Biomarkers of Cardiometabolic Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials in Humans

Little is known of the impact of individual SFAs and their isoenergetic substitution with other SFAs or unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) on the prevention of cardiometabolic disease (CMD). This systematic literature review assessed the impact of such dietary substitutions on a range of fasting CMD risk markers, including lipid profile, markers of glycemic control and inflammation, and metabolic hormone concentrations. Eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigated the effect of isoenergetic replacements of individual dietary SFAs for ≥14 d on ≥1 CMD risk markers in humans. Searches of the PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Cochrane CENTRAL databases on 14 February, 2021 identified 44 RCTs conducted in participants with a mean ± SD age of 39.9 ± 15.2 y. Studies' risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool 2.0 for RCTs. Random-effect meta-analyses assessed the effect of ≥3 similar dietary substitutions on the same CMD risk marker. Other dietary interventions were described in qualitative syntheses. We observed reductions in LDL-cholesterol concentrations after the replacement of palmitic acid (16:0) with UFAs (-0.36 mmol/L; 95% CI: -0.50, -0.21 mmol/L; I2 = 96.0%, n = 18 RCTs) or oleic acid (18:1n-9) (-0.16 mmol/L; 95% CI: -0.28, -0.03 mmol/L; I2 = 89.6%, n = 9 RCTs), with a similar impact on total cholesterol and apoB concentrations. No effects on other CMD risk markers, including HDL-cholesterol, triacylglycerol, glucose, insulin, or C-reactive protein concentrations, were evident. Similarly, we found no evidence of a benefit from replacing dietary stearic acid (18:0) with UFAs on CMD risk markers (n = 4 RCTs). In conclusion, the impact of replacing dietary palmitic acid with UFAs on lipid biomarkers is aligned with current public health recommendations. However, owing to the high heterogeneity and limited studies, relations between all individual SFAs and biomarkers of cardiometabolic health need further confirmation from RCTs. This systematic review was registered at www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/ as CRD42020084241.

Fractionated palm oils: emerging roles in the food industry and possible cardiovascular effects

The public health debate about fats and human health has been ongoing for a long time. Specifically, the fat types commonly used in the food industry and the techniques used in extracting them are remarkable in terms of human health. Among these, palm oil, which is mainly associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD), is a vegetable oil type that is widely used in the food industry. Moreover, the fractionation of palm oil has become quite common in the food industry when compared to other culinary oils and fats. Fractional crystallization, which has been recently regarded as an alternative to hydrogenization and interesterification methods, has become more popular in edible oil technology, even though it is an ancient method. The main fractions of palm oil are palm olein and palm stearin. Palm oil fractions, which have some pros and cons, are used in edible oils, such as margarine/shortening, as well as bread and cake-like pastry production. Since the fatty acid composition of palm oil, palm kernel oil, and their fractions is different, each type of oil needs to be evaluated separately with regards to their CVD effects and food preparation applications. However, the effects of the fractionation method and the fractional palm oil produced on health are controversial in the literature. In this review, the use of palm oil produced via the fractional crystallization method in the food industry and its potential CVD effects were evaluated.

Hypocholesterolaemic and Anti-Atherogenic Effects of Palm-Based Oils (NoveLin I and NoveLin II) in Cholesterol-Fed Rabbits

NoveLin I and NoveLin II are palm-based oils. NoveLin I has an equal distribution of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, whereas NoveLin II has a moderate level of monounsaturated fatty acids, and a lower content of saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. However, their hypocholesterolaemic and anti-atherogenic effects have not been studied. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the hypocholesterolaemic and anti-atherogenic effects of these oils. Forty male New Zealand White rabbits were divided into four groups and fed with diets containing 35% energy fat with added 0.15% (w/w) dietary cholesterol. Group 1, as the control group (CNO) was fed with a diet containing coconut oil, group 2 and 3 were fed with diets containing either NoveLin I or NoveLin II, and group 4, was fed with diet containing olive oil (OLV) for 100 days. Our results demonstrated that both NoveLin groups have significantly lower total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) compared to CNO group and are comparable to the OLV group. Low density lipoprotein-cholesterol/high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL/HDL-C) ratio was significantly lower after the NoveLin II diet but attained significance only in comparison to NoveLin I and CNO groups. Aortic fibrous plaque score was significantly lower in both NoveLin groups compared to CNO group. Our findings suggest that despite the high-fat cholesterol diet, NoveLin II oil resulted in atherogenic effects comparable to olive oil.

Accumulation and risk assessment of metals in palm oil cultivated on contaminated oil palm plantation soils

Anthropogenically polluted soils with metals are detrimental to human life. The present study assessed the concentration of metals in soil and the risks associated with the consumption of the metals when transferred from soil to palm oil. The metals of interest were Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn. Analysis was done on metals in soil and virgin palm oil from fifteen independent sampling locations in the southern states of Nigeria, which includes the Nigeria Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR) and its substations. Top soils were collected at a depth of 0-15 cm and virgin palm oil in 1 litre container by grab sampling method. The method proposed was to achieve high throughput with minimal mobile phase solvent. Micro emulsion technique was involved as sample preparation method for the extraction of metals in virgin palm oil from the matrix. Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) was used to analyse metals in virgin palm oil and soil. This reduces analysis time and does not require complex sample preparation. Zinc metal recorded the highest concentration of metal in the palm oil and Chromium metal recorded the highest concentration of metal in soil. There was a correlation between the accumulations of metals from soil to palm oil. Risk was assessed using various indices. Cadmium metal recorded the highest concentration in the Target Hazard Quotient (THQ), Accumulation Factor (AF) and Health Risk Index (HRI). Daily Intake of Metals (DIM) was highest for Chromium metal. Cadmium was the highest accumulator of metals in the palm oil.