Pure Red Palm Oil

What Is Red Palm Oil?

Palm oil is derived from the fruits of the African oil palm tree, Elaeis guineensis. It has a red/orangey colour and could go from semi-solid to very viscous at room temperature. Cooking palm oil is mildly processed, and when added to food, it gives it a yellowish or orange colour. This oil should not be confused with palm kernel oil.

Red palm oil is extracted from the flesh of the orange colour fruits of the oil palm. Palm kernel oil, on the other hand, is the clear oil extracted from the kernel, which is the seed enclosed within the fruit. Palm kernel oil is different from palm oil, and is used as frying oil as well as for non-food applications like cosmetics and cream production.

What is palm oil used for? Is it safe for cooking?

Red palm fruit oil is an essential component of many dishes in West Africa and has been used in traditional cooking from time immemorial. In addition, it is stable during heating which makes it an excellent cooking and frying oil.

The oil is versatile; it adds colour, texture and aroma to food. The simplest way cooking palm oil is used is directly on cooked food like yam, plantain and cocoyam.

It is usually added to a lot of soups, sauces and beans dishes during cooking. Red red, cassava leaf stew, egusi soup, ayamase, krain krain and yam porridge are dishes which would not be complete without adding red palm oil.

For some recipes, palm oil is bleached slightly by heating. Bleached palm oil loses some of its red colour, but it imparts a distinct nutty flavour revered in dishes like ayamase and ofada sauce.

What does it taste like?

I have read a few articles describing palm oil as a bland oil. This would explain the taste of refined palm oil, but definitely not cooking palm fruit oil.

Unrefined palm oil has a rich, earthy, slightly nutty taste and distinct aroma with an oily mouthfeel. This is more noticeable when the oil has not been cooked, which is also part of its appeal in African cooking.

Is palm oil healthy?

Cooking palm oil has a lot of health benefits. The orange-red color is due to the presence of carotenoids, a mixture of alpha and beta carotenes. Carotenoids are pigments in plants, which can be found in orange fruits and vegetables like squashes, carrots etc. Carotenoids are vitamin A precursors which can be converted to vitamin A in the body. Therefore, red palm oil is an essential source of vitamin A in West African communities.

Palm oil is rich in tocotrienols and tocopherols, which are sources of vitamin E. It is also a rich source of antioxidants, so some people consider it a superfood.

Palm oil contains both saturated and mono-unsaturated oils but no trans fats. The saturated in red palm oil is rich in “good” cholesterol (HDL cholesterol), which is associated with lower rates of heart diseases.

Although red palm oil is healthy, like most oils, it still needs to be eaten in moderation.