Keyword: vitamin e, nutrition

Heart disease remains the biggest cause of death (especially in the Western countries) and it increases with age. Even in the developing countries, heart disease is on the increase and rising towards the level found in the developed countries.

A team of medical scientist at Cambridge University studied the effect of vitamin E supplements on the health of 2000 patients who had suffered a previous heart attack. They found that regular high doses of vitamin E of over 400 IU per day reduced the risk of a second heart attack by 75%.

At present, the main source of vitamin E is the deodorizer distillate from soyabean oil refining but the oil palm is by far the largest potential source. CPO contains 0.08% tocopherols and tocotrienols. Palm Fatty Acid Distillate (PFAD), 0.4%, and palm leaflets 0.5% (dry basis). It can be calculated that the amount of vitamin E which could be theoretically produced in Malaysia as follows:

If the vitamin E from oil palm leaflets and PFAD sources were fully exploited, it would be enough to meet the daily requirements of the whole world population in the year 2000.