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The main goal of this work was to investigate the stability of standard palm olein (SPOo) and special quality palm olein (SQPOo) under continuous frying conditions. The rate of free fatty acid (FFA) formation was slightly higher for SPOo than SQPOo during 56 h of frying. An equilibrium state was reached at around 40 h for SPOo and 32 h for SQPOo, whereby FFA varied within a narrow range of 0.30-0.32 and 0.22-0.25%, respectively. Smoke point of SPOo and SQPOo progressively dropped from 212 to 184°C and from 227 to 191°C. Tocols of SPOo and SQPOo declined from 550 to 273 mg kg -1 and from 720 to 447 mg kg -1 after 56 h of frying, respectively.

Frying is one of the most versatile food processing operations employed since antiquity. The establishment of this process is evidenced by a great consumption of fried food around the globe. Despite palm oil is extensively utilised in various frying applications, the preservation of its quality attributes as a result of thermal processing is still a concern to food processors and consumers. This article, therefore, aims to provide an overview of published studies on the behaviour of palm oil, in their pure form and blended with other oils, during frying at various processing conditions. In this review, publications associated to frying stability of palm-based oils were considered to ascertain a series of oil quality indicesi.e. free fatty acid, smoke point, peroxide and p-anisidine values, vitamin E, induction period, fatty acid composition, colour, and polar and polymer compounds -under prolonged thermal processing conditions. Stability of palmbased oil, however, is not solely dependent to the inherent properties of the oils themselves. Hence, the effects of operating conditions (oil temperature, cooking time, frying duration or cycle, oil replenishment, frying system and cookware materials) and food compositions are also discussed in this article.

Extending the frying-life of oils is of commercial and economic importance. Due to this fact, assessment on the thermal stability of frying oils could provide considerable savings to the food processors. In this study, the physico-chemical properties of five palm products mainly palm oil, single-fractionated palm olein, double-fractionated palm olein, red palm olein and palm-based shortening during 80 hours of heating at 180 were investigated. Heating properties of these products were then compared with that of high oleic sunflower oil, which was used as reference oil. The indices applied in evaluating the quality changes of oils were free fatty acid, smoke point, p-anisidine value, tocols, polar and polymer compounds. Three palm products i.e. palm oil, single-fractionated palm olein and double-fractionated palm olein were identified to be the most stable in terms of lower formation of free fatty acid, polar and polymer compounds as well as preserving higher smoke point and tocols content compared to the other three oils. The low intensity of hydrolytic and oxidative changes due to prolonged heating, suggests that these palm products are inherently suitable for frying purposes.

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Biodegradable plastics, mainly polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), which are traditionally produced by bacterial cells, have been produced in the cells of more than 15 plant species. Since the production of biodegradable plastics and the synthesis of oil in plants share the same substrate, acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA), producing PHB in oil bearing crops, such as oil palm, will be advantageous. In this study, three bacterial genes, bktB, phaB, and phaC, which are required for the synthesis of PHB and selectable marker gene, bar, for herbicide Basta resistant, were transformed into embryogenic calli. A number of transformed embryogenic lines resistant to herbicide Basta were obtained and were later regenerated to produce few hundred plantlets. Molecular analyses, including polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Southern blot, and real-time PCR have demonstrated stable integration and expression of the transgenes in the oil palm genome. HPLC and Nile blue A staining analyses confirmed the synthesis of PHB in some of the plantlets.

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The year 2020 faced unprecedented challenge for most of the global economic growth due to the outbreak of Coronavirus disease . Despite a downward trend performance of the Malaysian oil palm industry, particularly for the first half of 2020, the impact is less severe due to the encouraging palm oil export revenue through the National Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA) which nurtures a notable increase in crude palm oil (CPO) price. In honouring the Malaysian pledge on forest conservation, land expansion for the oil palm cultivation remains stagnant over the years. The effort is now shifting towards enhancing the oil palm yield performance through new planting materials and good agricultural practices, coupled with systematic pest and disease management. Sustainability continues to be the key agenda of the oil palm industry, in moving forward to sustain the industry ecosystem. The industry is now open for innovative palm oil processes to comply with the dynamic and stringent food safety and quality standards and trade regulations. Owing to the distinction in food and feed applicability together with health prospects, translating the information into consumer-friendly language is becoming crucial for effective communication. Valorisation via the concept of 'waste to wealth' has compelled series of innovations in capitalising oil palm co-products for greener bioenergy and oleochemicals, and source of phytonutrients to generate higher earnings without having to heavily rely on palm oil trade as commodity. Mandatory enactment of the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification scheme has portrayed a success story of showing the utmost commitment towards sustainability. With persistent dedication, the oil palm industry is envisaged to be self-sustaining, amidst the never-ending challenges surrounding economy, well-being and environment.