Coconut oil is extensively used for food and industrialpurposes. The oil is rich in medium chain fatty acids(MCFA) and exhibits good digestibility (Che Man & Marina,2006). Various methods have been developed to extract coconutoil, either through dry or wet processing. Dry processingis the most widely used form of extraction. Clean, groundand steamed copra is pressed by wedge press, screw press orhydraulic press to obtain coconut oil, which then goesthrough the refining, bleaching, and deodorizing (RBD) processes.During the RBD process, heating process is appliedespecially during deodorization process, which is carriedout at high temperature between 204 and 245 C (O’Brien,2004). The copra industry also faced some problems suchas contamination by aflatoxin in copra and cake and presenceof high free fatty acids due to high moisture content (Guarte,Muhlbauer, & Kellert, 1996).Recently, there is a trend towards producing coconut oilwhich does not have to go through the RBD process. Ratherthan going to the normal dry process, this oil is obtained bywet processing which entails the extraction of the creamfrom the fresh coconut milk and consequently breakingthe cream emulsion. This process is more desirable as nochemical or high heat treatment is imposed on the oil.The coconut oil produced through the wet method is knownas virgin coconut oil (VCO).The term VCO refers to an oil that is obtained fromfresh, mature kernel of the coconut by mechanical or
natural means, with or without the use of heat and without
undergoing chemical refining (Villarino, Dy, & Lizada,
2007). Unlike RBD coconut oil which is tailor-made for
cooking purposes, VCO is marketed lately as functional
oil. Since its first introduction, virgin coconut oil has
captured the attention of vast majority of publics. The
beneficial properties of VCO are fast spreading. The
availability of VCO is increasing in the market especially
in South East Asia involving the Philippine, Thailand,
Indonesia and Malaysia.
This paper presents an overview of the current status and
recent trend of on going research in VCO. Brief explanations
on some of the methods used to produce VCO are described.
The results of published works on VCO were
further reviewed which focused on physicochemical properties,
antioxidant activity and phenolic contents, clinical
and authentication studies.
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