This study examines, for the first time, the effect of hybrid Elaeis oleifera × E. guineensis palm oil supplementation on human plasma lipids related to CVD risk factors. One hundred sixty eligible participants were randomized and assigned to one of the two treatments: 25 mL hybrid palm oil (HPO group) or 25 mL extra virgin olive oil (EVOO group) daily for 3 months. Fasting venous samples were obtained at baseline and after 1, 2 and 3 months for measurement of plasma lipids (TC, LDL-C, HDL-C and TAGs). Changes in body mass index and waist circumference were also assessed. Although there was an overall reduction in TC (7.4%, p < 0.001) and in LDL-C (15.6%, p < 0.001), no significant differences were found between the treatment groups in a repeated measures analysis of variance for TC (p = 0.0525), LDL-C (p = 0.2356), HDL-C (p = 0.8293) or TAGs (p = 0.3749). Furthermore, HPO consumption had similar effects on plasma lipids to EVOO, thus providing additional support for the concept that hybrid Elaeis oleifera × E. guineensis palm oil can be seen as a "tropical equivalent of olive oil".

This work aims to evaluate and compare, for the first time, the effects of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and hybrid palm oil (HPO) supplementation on the fatty acid profile and phospholipid (PL) molecular species composition of human erythrocyte membranes. Results supported the effectiveness of both HPO and EVOO supplementation (3 months, 25 mL/day) in decreasing the lipophilic index of erythrocytes with no significant differences between HPO and EVOO groups at month 3. On the other hand, the novel and rapid ultraperformance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method used for PL analysis reveals an increase in the levels of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine species esterified with polyunsaturated fatty acids. This work demonstrates the ability of both EVOO and HPO to increase the degree of unsaturation of erythrocyte membrane lipids with an improvement in membrane fluidity that could be associated with a lower risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.

between total phenolic content was found using either the TEAC assay or the ORAC assay. Highest 35DPPH radicals scavenging activity was also obtained with oils extracted at 18 WAA. These results 36highlight that O×G fruits of early ripeness represent a better source of phenolic compounds and may 37 provide extracts with higher antioxidant activities when hybrid palm oil is aimed to be used as 38 functional ingredient for the development of food or food products with antioxidant properties.

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Hybrid palm oil obtained from interspecific hybrid Elaeis oleifera × Elaeis guineensis palm (HPO) has been recently proved to have a favorable impact on human plasma lipids related to cardiovascular disease risk factors. In the present work, we describe for the first time, the functional effect of crude HPO supplementation on human antioxidant plasma/serum status as assessed by the total phenolic content (Folin–Ciocalteu), ORAC and TEAC assays. One hundred sixty eligible participants (>50 years) were randomized and assigned to one of the two treatments: 25 mL hybrid palm oil (HPO group) or 25 mL extra virgin olive oil (EVOO group) daily for 3 months. This study showed that supplementation of 25 mL of HPO for a period of 3 months significantly increased (p < 0.01) the total phenolic content (19.2%) as well as the antioxidant capacity of human plasma measured by both ORAC (92.1%) and TEAC (42.9%) methods. Furthermore, no significant differences were found between HPO and EVOO groups in a repeated measures analysis of variance for TPC (p = 0.344), TEAC (p = 0.217), and ORAC (p = 0.318) values. These results confirm that HPO can be considered a promising tropical edible oil with potential beneficial health effects. Practical applications: The understanding of the antioxidant properties of an edible oil in vivo is of primary importance when evaluating its nutritional/functional characteristics and/or its potentiality to serve as an active ingredient for functional food preparations. The results of this study confirm that HPO can be considered a promising tropical edible oil with beneficial health properties since it is able to improve the antioxidant status of plasma in humans. This 3‐month randomized trial reported examines and compares the effects of 25 mL/day supplementation of crude hybrid palm oil (Elaeis oleifera × Elaeis guineensis), thought to be a possible tropical equivalent of the Mediterranean extra‐virgin olive oil, to the ones of extra‐virgin olive oil, which is considered as a gold standard in the functional dietary oils skyline. Interestingly, at the end of the third month of study, the effects obtained by the supplementation with hybrid palm oil are similar to those provided by the extra‐virgin olive oil supplementation. In fact, hybrid palm oil consumption has been shown to significantly increase the total phenolic content (19.2%, p < 0.01) as well as the antioxidant capacity of human plasma measured by both TEAC (42.9%, p < 0.01) and ORAC (92.1% p < 0.01) assays.