Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

MANY people mistakenly believe that palm and red palm oil come from different sources due to their distinct colours. Palm oil (palm olein) is golden yellow, while red palm oil is vermillion. However, they are extracted from the same fruit, specifically from its mesocarp (the fleshy part of the fruit), which initially yields crude palm oil.

Crude palm oil (CPO) is the raw material used to produce palm olein and red palm oil. Its natural orangey-red colour comes from its high beta-carotene content. However, the final products have different colours and properties due to differences in processing.

Palm oil, the most commonly used cooking oil, is processed using conventional refining. This involves pre-treatment CPO through degumming and bleaching, deodorisation and deacidification. These steps remove water, gums, waxes, impurities and unwanted materials such as free fatty acids (FFAs), resulting in golden yellow and high-quality palm oil. The refining process occurs at a high temperature (around 240-260°C).

In contrast, red palm oil is produced through a modified physical refining. While it follows a similar refining method to palm oil, the final stages differ. Instead of the standard deodorisation and deacidification, red palm oil undergoes molecular distillation at a lower temperature (< 170°C). This process helps retain phytonutrients, especially beta-carotene, which gives red palm oil its orangey-red colour, and vitamin E tocotrienols, potent antioxidants that support good health.