Palm oil is the richest, edible oil known to man. Red Palm Oil, sometimes also called Virgin Palm Oil is crude palm oil (CPO) in nature. It is an orange to red in colour, vegetable oil with a distinctively delicious flavour made from the juicy pulp of the oil palm tree fruit called Elaeis Guineensis. Oil from this palm fruit is a commonly used ingredient in preparing many authentic, traditional African foods. This highly nutritious, natural cooking oil is used all across tropical Africa, the Caribbean and South America in many dishes.

In Brazil, it is known as the dende oil. The West African palm oil is however thicker than the Brazilian one and is not diluted. In Africa, it is commonly used in preparing:

• Egusi Soup
• Ogbono Soup
• Palm Oil Stew
• Moi-Moi
• Boiled beans dish
• Palm vegetable soup
• Ndole
• Palm Oil Chop
• Moambe'Sauce amongst others

Health Benefits

The nutritional and health benefits of palm oil are staggering. It is 15 times richer in beta-carotene than carrot. Beta-carotenes are very important form of vitamin A that helps protect our body against many diseases by acting as anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants acts by protecting cells against dangerous chemicals released by cells called free radicals; much the same way that anti rust protects metallic objects from rusting.

Not only very rich in vitamin A, palm oil also contains High Density Lipoprotein (HDL), which is the good type of fat that helps protect against cholesterol.