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Palm oil use in North Africa and West Asia

Mohamed Amr Hussein

Abstract

Edible oils and fats are important sources of food energy in North Africa and West Asia. Because of the high cost of animal fats and increased awareness of potential harm from their excessive consumption, the rise of vegetable oils is increasing. Palm oil has recently been introduced in response to the shortfall in the local production of edible fats and oils, and it is predicted that it will gain increasing acceptance and use because of its versatility and safety.

Fats and oils are important constituents of the diet in North Africa and West Asia. They provide a concentrated source of energy with less bulk than the other macronutrients such as carbohydrates and proteins. The region, however, suffers from a shortage in calories rather than protein. Nutritionists advise a higher intake of energy-dense foods for the undernourished, and dietary fat is therefore important.

Fats consumed in the region include a combination of those of animal and vegetable origin. There is a tendency to increase the use of various kinds of vegetable oils because of public awareness that animal fats contribute to modern-day health problems. Several kinds of edible vegetable oils have been used in the region: cotton-seed oil in Egypt, corn oil in West Asia, and olive oil in North Africa. For economic and probably health reasons, this pattern of consumption is changing.

Palm oil was first introduced into the region some 15 years ago, with imports coming mainly from Malaysia. The Misr Gulf Oil Company, whose processing plant in Egypt brought its first products to the market during 1988, processes several forms of palm oil products, such as vegetable ghee, palm oil, palm olein, palm stearin, shortening, palm kernel oil, and fatty acids. Some of these are used in domestic cooking and frying, alone or blended with other kinds of fats or oils. Other uses of palm oil are in shortening for the production of biscuits and other kinds of foods. The oil and its products processed by Misr Gulf Oil are consumed not only in Egypt but also in other countries of the region, such as Libya, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan [1]. Table 1 shows the progressive increase in the demand for palm oil products by consuming countries. A recent report [2] also showed an increasing demand in the region during the last 10 years in the form of imports from Malaysia (table 2).

Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco are deficient in oil meals and oils and fats, with self-sufficiency varying from 3% in Algeria to about 77% in Tunisia. Traditionally, these countries used olive oil, but, because of the declining production of olives and the increasing demand for liquid cooking oils, vegetable oils such as those from soy beans, colza, and sunflower seed have largely replaced olive oil for local use. Instead, olive oil is now exported to obtain hard currency for importing the relatively cheaper vegetable oils [3]. Edible oils in most of the countries of the region are regarded as essential food stuffs, and therefore not only are they subsidized but their sales are also controlled by the governments. Like Egypt and West Asia, the North African countries are importing palm oil from Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore (table 3) to make up for their inadequate production of edible oils.

Products imported by North African countries consist mainly of refined, bleached, deodorized (RBD) palm oil, hydrogenated palm oil, and palm stearin, which are used to make shortening, margarine, and soap. Blending of vegetable oils except olive oil is permitted. Such blends have better oxidative stability and frying quality than unblended oil.

TABLE 1. Sales of palm oil and palm oil products by the Misr Gulf Oil Company (tons), 19881992

a. January - August only.

TABLE 2. Imports of processed palm oil from Malaysia to Egypt and West Asian countries (tons), 1980-1991

Source: Ref. 2.

a. January-September only.

Egypt is now a substantial importer of Malaysian palm oil and its products. Cumulative imports for January-September 1991 were 216,688 tons. A total of 117,260 tons of RBD palm oil was imported in 1990. On the other hand, imports of RBD palm olein declined from 27,481 tons during January-August 1990 to 5,313 tons for the same period in 1991 and that of RBD palm stearin from 144,631 tons to 86,115 tons. The rise in the imports of RBD palm oil was due mainly to its favourable price discount of about US$55 over RBD palm olein. Both products are used in vegetable ghee, with the techno-economic advantage that they require minimal or no hydrogenation [2].

Generally, the ratio of palm oil imports to total edible oil and fat imports in the countries of the Middle East (West Asia) rose from 25% in 1980 to 50% in 1990 [4]. Besides their cheaper price, refined palm oil and its products have several desirable technical characteristics that are important for many food applications. An example is their resistance to oxidation, thus extending the shelf-life of food products. The addition of palm oil or its solid fraction, palm stearin, produces products of the preferred consistency without the need for hydrogenation.

TABLE 3. Imports of palm oil and palm oil products by North African countries (tons), 1989 and 1990

Owing to the increasing concern in the medical profession about the relationship between dietary fats or oils and changes in blood lipid patterns that predispose to coronary heart disease, a feeding trial was conducted recently to investigate the effect of different types of edible fats (palm olein, cottonseed oil, buffalo ghee) on the blood lipid patterns of adults in Egypt [5]. The results showed that palm olein caused the least rise in total serum lipids and possessed a cholesterolaemic effect comparable to that of cotton-seed oil. Palm olein showed a tendency to cause a rise in the beneficial high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and a decrease in the harmful low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. These beneficial effects favour its use from the point of view of health, and increasing use in the region can be expected.

References

1. Misr Gulf Oil Processing Company. Annual report. Suez, Egypt: MIGOP, 1989.

2. Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia. Palm oil developments, no 16. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: PORIM, 1992.

3. Kheiri MSA. Prospects for palm oil in the Arab Maghreb Union. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: PORIM, 1992.

4. Basiron Y. The palm oil industry export trade and future trends. PORIM information series, 0128-5726. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: PORIM, 1992.

5. Hussein MA, El-Nahry FI, Darwish A, Hassan FM. Effect of various types of dietary fats on serum lipids. Bull Nutr Inst 1993;13:14-29.

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