Why Palm oil is favorite shortening in bakery manufacturing

Palm oil has replaced all types of vegetable oils in bakery manufacturing . Palm oil is imported from countries like Malaysia , Indonesia or Philippines . Cost is the biggest factor as palm oil cost is cheaper than HVO ( Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil ) .Palm oil is also good for health as conc. of saturated fat is low in respect to others .
Palm oil is obtained from fleshy layer of palm fruit without solvents or chemical . By treatment with steam followed by pressing . The pressed oil is called crude palm oil . This palm oil is further refined using steam , vacuum and clay to remove color and odour .

Palm oil following charateristics makes it favorite shortening.

• It has got natural anti oxidant s called tocotrienols which helps in protecting body against ill effects of oxidation.


• It desnot have transfat ie zero trans fat . Its composed of palmilic acid and oleic acid .


• Palm oil is naturally semi solid at room temperature ( melting point is 39 deg c ) which makes it an excellent shortening for food application . Palmilic acid imparts creamy texture to the shortening which is important for baked products.


• Many combinations can be made out of fractions of palm oil . These fraction are obtained during the process of fractionation. Fractionation is a process to melt the palm oil and the cool it get crystal of fat along with the liquid , these crystal can then be blended to form different types of shortening .


• Palm oil naturally resists oxidation and hence provide longer shelf life to the baked products . Shelf life and frying stability characteristics of palm oil are comparable to partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.

Both forms of palm oil RBD ( Refined , bleached and Deodorised )-Palmolein and RPKO ( Refined Palm kernel oil ) are used in baked goods