Major Vegetable Oils Research Articles

The position of Indonesia’s palm oil in the vegetable oil international market

Abstract The increase in global crude oil prices and awareness of energy sustainability are driving the development of the biofuel industry. Palm oil has high productivity and competitive prices compared to other vegetable oils, encouraging competition among major palm oil exporters and significant vegetable oils. The research examines factors influencing Indonesia’s position in the global vegetable oil competition and assesses how economic shocks impact Indonesian palm oil competitiveness. This study utilized the Almost Ideal Demand System model on secondary data in the time series period of 1990-2022. The research results showed that the increase in global income is the most influential factor in the rise in the market share of Indonesian palm oil. The increase in crude oil prices favored the position of Indonesian palm oil compared to Malaysia. Fluctuations in Malaysian palm oil prices could affect the competitiveness of Indonesian palm oil. Malaysia’s palm oil, soybean oil, and sunflower oil are more complementary than Indonesia’s. Indonesia needs to collaborate with significant vegetable oil exporters, to create a palm oil commodity exchange, and to synchronize policies from upstream to downstream to ensure the fulfillment of domestic and export palm oil needs.

A comparative study on flavor trapping techniques from the viewpoint of odorants of hot-pressed rapeseed oil.

Rapeseed oil, as one of the three major vegetable oils in the world, its matrix effect makes the decoding flavor a challenge. Solid-phase microextraction (SPME), SPME-Arrow, headspace stir bar sorptive extraction (HSSE), direct thermal desorption (DTD), and solvent-assisted flavor evaporation (SAFE) were compared based on the odorants in hot-pressed rapeseed oil. Besides, methodological validation for 31 aroma standards was conducted to compare reliability and robustness of these approaches. DTD showed the largest proportion of acids, while the other techniques extracted a majority of nitriles. The highest number of odorants was detected by SAFE (31), followed by HSSE (30), SPME-Arrow (30), SPME (24), and DTD (14). SPME-Arrow showed the best performance in linearity, recovery, and reproducibility followed by SPME, HSSE, DTD, and SAFE. Results reveal the advantages and limitations of diverse methodologies and provide valuable insights for the selection of extraction methods in an oil matrix and flavor decoding.

Collateral damage? Welfare effects of the Ukraine war on Pakistan

The 2022 Ukraine conflict has contributed to a major spike in international commodity prices. In this study, we conduct a top-down, macro-micro simulation analysis by combining Computable General Equilibrium simulations with data from the 2018–19 Pakistan Household Integrated Economic Survey to analyze the impact of global price shock to four major commodities, namely wheat, vegetable oil, petroleum, and fertilizers. We come up with evidence for a significant, non-negligible negative impact of the price shock, both at the aggregate and the household level: Real GDP shrinks and real household consumption and income decrease. The drop in consumption and income is more visible among farm households, with the two falling by 5% and 3.48% respectively. The consumption and income of the above-median income households fall more steeply, and income inequality decreases. The USD3.2 headcount poverty rate at the 2018 purchasing power parity increases by 1.15%. Urban households show the worst decline in food security, both in incidence and intensity. The role of petrol prices in driving poverty among rural farm households and that of food stuff (wheat and vegetable oil prices) in aggravating urban food security is particularly evident. These findings highlight the poverty and food security-worsening dimension of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.

Fats and Oils as Renewable Feedstock for the Chemical Industry

The 11th Workshop on Fats and Oils as Renewable Feedstock for the Chemical Industry was scheduled for March 2021. However, COVID-19 appeared, and the pandemic developed and soon had Europe and most parts of the world under control. Therefore, in November 2020, we decided to defer the Workshop by 1 year to March 2022. We thought that after 1 year, we could forget all problems with COVID-19. That was an error. In January 2022, we discussed the alternative of a real versus a virtual conference. After consultations with the invited speakers, we decided to favor an actual face-to-face workshop and another postponement in the summer because of the pandemic. And then Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, setting in motion a devastating European ground war. Nonetheless, the 11th Workshop eventually took place in Dortmund, Germany, from May 30 to June 01, 2022, organized by abiosus e.V. in cooperation with the Agency of Renewable Resources (FNR), Germany, and with financial support from the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture.[1] Some important contributions to the Workshop are compiled in this Special issue. COVID-19 had a tremendous impact on the global production and consumption of fats and oils. Overall, vegetable oil production was projected in 2020 in the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook to increase globally by about 1.4% p.a., mainly driven by food demand in developing countries as a result of population and income growth. Vegetable oil consumption was also projected to grow by about 1.4%.[2a] Though, it was already stated in this Outlook that the pandemic spread of COVID-19 has resulted in a reduction of mobility with substantial implications for away-from-home consumption. Hence, the demand for vegetable oil, widely used for deep-frying, may have been affected. In addition, the decline in economic activity and reduced crude oil price curb the demand for vegetable oil as biodiesel feedstock.[2b] In fact, global production of the major vegetable oils decreased by 0.64 Mt (0.3%) in 2020/21, followed by a lower-than-projected increase of 0.8% in 2021/22. In 2022/23, global production grew by 4.4%, close to the growth projected in summa.[3] The minor production is mainly due to the slow to negative growth in palm oil production in Malaysia and Indonesia due to weather issues and labor shortages linked partly to the COVID pandemic.[4a] The global vegetable oil consumption corresponded in 2019/20 and 2020/21 approximately the projection, whereas a decrease of about 0.3% occurred in 2021/22.[2, 3] Global exports, which were projected to increase by 1.2% p. a.,[2a] decreased by 1.9 Mt (2.2%) in 2020/21 and by 6.4 Mt (7.9%) in 2021/22.[3] For example, China's COVID-related restrictions, slowing economic growth, and higher global commodity prices have weakened the country's demand for vegetable oil consumption. For the marketing year 2021/22, China's imports of major vegetable oils declined by 6.13 Mt (46%) and domestic consumption by 3.8 Mt (9.4%).[3, 4b] On the other hand, the export of palm oil by Indonesia declined by 4.7 Mt for the marketing year 2021/22, followed by an increase in domestic consumption of 2.45 Mt, primarily due to biodiesel production combined with an increased biodiesel blending mandate of up to 35%.[3, 4c] Moreover, the Russian invasion of Ukraine triggered a series of major impacts on the global oilseed market. Ukraine exported 0.8 Mt (15%) less sunflower seed oil in the marketing year 2021/22 than in the previous year.[3, 4d] Last but not least, we would like to invite you to the 12th Workshop on Fats and Oilsas Renewable Feedstock for the Chemical Industry from June 3 to 5, 2024. Hopefully, you will have the opportunity to participate. We are looking forward to an exciting and fruitful discussion with you, the fats and oils community. The program and additional information will be available in September 2023 (http://www.abiosus.org/meetings.html.de). The authors declare no conflict of interest.

ASYMMETRIC EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON PALM OIL PRICES IN MALAYSIA

Of all major vegetable oils, palm oil remains extremely productive crop. Malaysia is currently the world’s second-largest producer and also the world's second-largest exporter of palm oil. However, the sector most vulnerable to climatic condition is agriculture. Extreme climatic events include high temperature levels, drought and flash floods. Such events affect oil palm growth and promote plant disease which then, increase the palm oil price. Previous understandings suggest that the changing climate and palm oil prices follow similar behaviour patterns. Therefore, this study aims at exploring the asymmetric relations between climate change and palm oil prices from 1964-2016. A nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) cointegration methodology was employed for the estimations. Overall, the results suggest the presence of a significant and asymmetric relation between palm oil prices and temperature in the long run, the impact of a fall in the temperature is more pronounced than when the temperature increases. In contrast, the responses of the palm oil prices to the rainfall show a symmetric but insignificant in the long run. Such findings are of great importance in showing that palm oil price reacts differently to rising and falling temperature, but not for rainfall. Therefore, long-term sustainability requires a diverse and robust technological and knowledge base to enhance palm oil productivity and efficiency in order to reduce the vulnerability of palm oil to climate change.

Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of diacylglycerol acyltransferase genes in soybean (Glycine max).

Soybean (Glycine max) is a major protein and vegetable oil source. In plants, diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) can exert strong flux control, which is rate-limiting for triacylglycerol biosynthesis in seed oil formation. Here, we identified soybean DGAT genes via a bioinformatics method, thereby laying a solid foundation for further research on their function. Based on our bioinformatics analyses, including gene structure, protein domain characteristics, and phylogenetic analysis, 26 DGAT putative gene family members unevenly distributed on 12 of the 20 soybean chromosomes were identified and divided into the following four groups: DGAT1, DGAT2, WS/DGAT, and cytoplasmic DGAT. The Ka/Ks ratio of most of these genes indicated a significant positive selection pressure. DGAT genes exhibited characteristic expression patterns in soybean tissues. The differences in the structure and expression of soybean DGAT genes revealed the diversity of their functions and the complexity of soybean fatty acid metabolism. Our findings provide important information for research on the fatty acid metabolism pathway in soybean. Furthermore, our results will help identify candidate genes for potential fatty acid-profile modifications to improve soybean seed oil content. This is the first time that in silico studies have been used to report the genomic and proteomic characteristics of DGAT in soybean and the effect of its specific expression on organs, age, and stages.

Worldwide rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) research: A bibliometric analysis during 2011–2021

Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) is the world's second produced oilseed and accounts for nearly 12% of world major vegetable oil production. For the last 10 years, the production, planting area, and yield of rapeseed have been stable, with improvement of seed quality and especially seed oil content. This paper presented the worldwide rapeseed research by using the bibliometric analysis of papers published during the period 2011–2021. In total, 7617 articles and reviews were included in this analysis. Our results showed that the global publication on rapeseed increased substantially in the past 11 years, and the number of publications of China grew significantly in particular. China was the largest contributor to rapeseed research with higher H-index value and number of citations compared to the other countries. China also had the largest number of leading universities and institutions, of which Huazhong Agricultural University was the most productive. The scientific mapping including co-authorship network of countries/regions and authors, and co-occurrence network of author keywords were analyzed using VOSviewer software. The most common rapeseed research topics included oil, rapeseed meal, yield, biodiesel, fatty acids, salt stress, and proteins, while the current research focused on topics such as: abiotic stress, evolution, expression analysis, phylogenetic analysis, heterosis, polyploidy, and transcriptomics. This paper depicts the knowledge structure of current global rapeseed research that may help direct the future studies for relevant researchers.

A study of the serious conflicts between oil palm expansion and biodiversity conservation using high-resolution remote sensing

ABSTRACT Sustainable oil palm production is a key issue in global biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. As one of the world’s major vegetable oil crops, oil palm has expanded exponentially to meet increased demand over the past decades. However, previous monitoring and assessments of oil palm plantations were hampered because of the lack of high-resolution annual maps at the global scale. We produced annual oil palm plantation maps in 4 major producer countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Papua New Guinea) in Asia-Pacific from 2007 to 2018 at 100-m resolution using advanced remote sensing techniques with Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data. We uncover the global patterns of oil palm expansion and find that global oil palm expansion has a very high degree of potential conflict with local biodiversity. Globally, 99.9% of oil palm plantations overlapped with Conservation Priority Zones (CPZs) and oil palm plantations encroached on 231 protected areas. We suggest to incorporate the related issues into the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.

Cargill to buy Croda unit

The US-based food processor Cargill plans to acquire the bioindustrial business of the British specialty chemical maker Croda for about $1 billion. The unit makes industrial chemicals including antistatic, antifog, and slip agents for polymers, and friction-reducing additives for engine oils. It also makes building blocks for polymers that improve flexibility and water repellency in coatings, adhesives, and sealants. About two-thirds of the raw materials for those products are biobased and renewable. In October, Cargill bought Arkema’s epoxidized vegetable oil business for $39 million. Last year, Cargill launched a joint venture to make biobased 1,4-butanediol , and its joint venture NatureWorks has been making biobased polylactic acid for decades. Croda says canola oil is the most common feedstock for its bioindustrial products. Cargill is a major vegetable oil producer, with two canola processing plants and a third slated to open in 2024. The deal includes five Croda plants in Europe

Cargill to buy Arkema epoxides business

Cargill has agreed to acquire Arkema’s epoxidized vegetable oil business for about $39 million. The business, which has annual sales of about $40 million, runs a plant in Blooming Prairie, Minnesota, that produces epoxides by reacting oils with hydrogen peroxide. Cargill, a major vegetable oil producer, says it already uses epoxides to make biobased plasticizers and polyols and that the purchase will complete its supply chain.

Flavor of rapeseed oil: An overview of odorants, analytical techniques, and impact of treatment.

As one of the three major vegetable oils in the world, rapeseed oil is appreciated for its high nutritional value and characteristic flavor. Flavor is an essential attribute, determining rapeseed oil quality and consumer acceptance. The present manuscript provides a systematic literature review of recent advances and knowledge on the flavor of rapeseed oil, which focuses on aroma-active as well as off-flavor compounds, flavor analysis techniques (i.e., extraction, qualitative, quantitative, sensory, and chemometric methods), and effects of treatments (storage, dehulling, roasting, microwave, flavoring with herbs, refining, and oil heating) on flavor from sensory and molecular perspectives. One hundred thirty-seven odorants found in rapeseed oil from literature are listed and possible formation pathways of some key aroma-active compounds are also proposed. Future flavor analysis techniques will evolve toward time-saving, portability, real-time monitoring, and visualization, which aims to obtain a "complete" flavor profile of rapeseed oil. The changes of volatile compounds in rapeseed oil under different treatments are summarized in this view. Studies to elucidate the influence of different treatments on the formation of aroma-active compounds are needed to get a deeper understanding of factors leading to the variations of rapeseed oil flavor.

Co-Movement among World Vegetable Oil Prices: A Wavelet-Based Analysis

This paper examines the co-movement among major world vegetable oil prices (palm, soybean, rapeseed, and sunflower oil) by using wavelet-based analysis for a dataset ranging from January 2003 until March 2018. The wavelet approach is superior to the other techniques as it provides a flexible tool in investigating the changes in time and frequency domain simultaneously. The empirical result shows that the strong comovement among vegetable oils are driven by strong contagion and interdependence but incomplete vegetable oil market integration among major world vegetable oil. Interestingly, palm oil shows a lower degree of relationship with other edible oil in all scales after 2015. Meanwhile, more recent data shows that soybean and rapeseed oil have shown an increase in interdependence among each other. The study finds that multiple cross-correlations indicate that soybean oil is a potential leader of the vegetable oils market followed by palm oil primarily in the low scale period. This study on the time-frequency domain gives new insight for traders and investors in the vegetable oil market relating to the strategy for portfolio diversification and risk management.

Harvesting and evacuation route optimisation model for fresh fruit bunch in the oil palm plantation site

As one of the major vegetable oils, the sustainability development in the palm oil industry is a critical concern among the global community. Majority of the sustainability concerns relate to the plantation practises which were claimed to be inefficient and create pollution. This paper explores the issues associated with the oil palm plantation site, specifically in the fresh fruit bunch (FFB) harvesting and evacuation process that known to be a labour and energy intensive process. A novel mathematical model was proposed to determine the shortest distance required to collect harvestable FFBs within the site. The model was demonstrated on various scenarios within the oil palm plantation site, including the differences in floorplan shape, distribution of harvestable trees, and loading capacity of transporter. The results have shown that the proposed model is capable to propose the shortest route(s) for different plantation site to reduce the travelled distance. Vertical rectangular plantation layout was found to have the highest reduction in travelled distance at 21% as compared to other floorplans; and the impact of the reduction in travelled distance is most noticeable at low harvestable tree distribution (60%) at 26.4%. Lastly, the proposed model was demonstrated to be able to propose a multiple trips solution when a low loading capacity transporter (wheelbarrow), which is a critical solution for small and medium enterprise farmers.

Environmental sustainability challenges of China's edible vegetable oil industry: From farm to factory

With the increasing consumer demand and only 31% of the self-sufficiency rate, how to mitigate the supply safety of edible vegetable oil in an environmentally sustainable manner is a tremendous challenge for China. This study comprehensively qualified the potential environmental impact from the major edible vegetable oil production (i.e., soybean oil, rapeseed oil, and peanut oil) in China through the life cycle assessment method. Results show that rapeseed oil and peanut oil are environmentally friendly. More than 20% of environmental contamination could be avoided in 2025 by replacing the further increase in soybean oil production with a mix of the other products. The key contribution analysis indicates that the agricultural phase is a significant source of environmental pollution due to excessive fertilizer production and irrigation water consumption. During the oil processing phases of soybean oil and peanut oil, steam production also contributed to considerable environmental impact. Therefore, applying new fertilizers, developing water-saving irrigation technologies, and optimizing the steam heat exchange net are suggested. Moreover, increasing the oil extraction rate through electrotechnical technology has great potential in reducing the environmental damage caused by oil-bearing crop planting. Based on the spatial discrepancy in the agricultural phase, advantageous planting regions (e.g., Anhui, Henan, Shandong, and Jiangsu) are references for the further planting structure adjustment. Meanwhile, advocating scientific diets and optimizing the industry layout are recommended to ensure the healthy and sustainable development of China's edible vegetable oil industry.

Species Richness and Carbon Footprints of Vegetable Oils: Can High Yields Outweigh Palm Oil’s Environmental Impact?

Palm oil has been widely criticised for its high environmental impacts, leading to calls to replace it with alternative vegetable oils in food and cosmetic products. However, substituting palm oil would be environmentally beneficial only if the environmental footprint per litre oil were lower than those of alternative vegetable oils. Whether this is the case is not obvious, given the high oil yields of oil palm of up to 10 times those of alternative crops. Here, we combine global agricultural and environmental datasets to show that, among the world’s seven major vegetable oil crops (oil palm, soybean, rapeseed, sunflower, groundnut, coconut, olive), oil palm has the lowest average species richness and carbon footprint associated with an annual production of one litre of vegetable oil. For each crop, these yield-adjusted footprints differ substantially between major producer countries, which we find to be largely the result of differences in crop management. Closing agricultural yield gaps of oil crops through improved management practices would significantly reduce the environmental footprints per oil yield. This would minimise the need for further land conversion to oil cropland and indeed could increase production to such an extent that a significant area of oil croplands could be ecologically restored.

Market Integration of Major Oilseeds and Vegetable Oils in India- Evidence from Karnataka

Market Integration of Major Oilseeds and Vegetable Oils in India- Evidence from Karnataka

DIFFERENT TYPES OF VEGETABLE OILS AND THEIR EFFECT ON SURFACE ROUGHNESS AND CUTTING FORCES IN MACHINING OPERATIONS

Mineral oils are widely used in manufacturing industries as lubricants during the machining operation. But it is not environment friendly and is not sustainable. So, researchers have opened the way of using vegetable oils as a substitute for mineral oils and have found out some excellent outputs. This paper reviews some major research works which have utilized vegetable oils and their effect on the surface finish and cutting forces. The most important advantages of vegetable oils are its availability, sustainability, and, most importantly, the risk related to the health of the machine operator is reduced. The major vegetable oils discussed in this paper are coconut oil, jatropha oil, Pongamia oil, sesame oil, sunflower oil, and castor oil. The properties of these oils and the behavior of these oils in the machining environment are essential. Hence, it is gaining wide attention in the area of tribology, which deals with friction, wear, and lubrication.

Cumulative risk assessment of phthalates in edible vegetable oil consumed by Chinese residents.

Phthalates have been widely used as plasticizers in various industries and are widely focused on in the international community as a result of their reproductive toxicity. Exposure of Chinese residents to phthalates via edible vegetable oil occurs often. In the present study, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to detect the two main phthalates bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) in four major edible vegetable oil sources: an edible oil blend, soybean oil, peanut oil and rapeseed oil (a total of 1016 samples), as collected throughout China. Furthermore, cumulative risk assessment was used to estimate the reproductive health risk to Chinese residents caused by the phthalates that come from edible vegetable oils. Both phthalates were detected in four major edible vegetable oil sources. The phthalate with the highest detection rate was DBP (13.48%), followed by DEHP (7.78%). The results of the cumulative risk assessment showed that the hazard indices of these two phthalates in edible vegetable oils were less than 1, except in soybean oil. Nevertheless, the two phthalates had the lowest detection rates in soybean oil, which were 1.94% (DEHP) and 5.16% (DBP). In China, contamination levels of phthalates in the soils where oil crops are cultivated have a great influence on the phthalate concentrations in edible vegetable oils. It is recommended that Chinese residents who are consuming soybean oil choose well-known brands and regularly change their brand of consumption. The phthalates in edible vegetable oils pose a relatively small reproductive health risk to Chinese residents. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

Investigations of Non-Edible Seeds Oils in Comparison with Soybean Benchmark for Production of Biodiesel

The desire to reduce green-house gases due to excessive use of fossil fuels for energy production is a major stimulant for alternative clean sources of energy. One of these alternative sources is biodiesel with vegetable oil as a component. However, soybean oil, which is a major food condiment is the major vegetable oil used in the USA. The present study seeks to explore suitable and sustainable sources of oil from non-edible seed plants that are indigenous to the state of South Carolina.

Expression of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) polyisoprenoids in response to Ganoderma boninense infection

Afandi D, Basyuni M, Putri LAP, Chalil D, Syahputra I. 2019. Expression of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) polyisoprenoids in response to Ganoderma boninense infection. Biodiversitas 20: 68-76. Currently, oil palm is an important economic crop and has become one of the world's major vegetable oils as well as a potential source of biodiesel. Unfortunately, oil palm plantations in Asia, particularly in Indonesia and Malaysia face the threat of basal stem root diseases caused by Ganoderma sp. Various methods and approaches have been made to select the oil palm that is tolerant to Ganoderma boninense, among others using biochemical selection. This research aimed to analyze polyisoprenoids expressionof oil palm tolerant to G. boninense using two-dimensional thin layer chromatography (2D-TLC). The plant material used in this trial weretwo cross-series of genetic materials belonging to PT Socfindo, that were known to have certain levelsof tolerance to G. boninense. The first wasa cross-series of 15-year-old oil palm in the field, and the secondwasa new cross-series for an early detection in the nursery stage. The results showed that there werediversitiesin the expression of polyisoprenoids between tissues, treatments, and level of tolerance. Polyprenols with a chain length of C45-C65 and dolichols of C45-C55were detected in the leaf tissue but not found in the root tissue. Polyprenols with a carbon chain length of C80-C100 occurred in infected palm root tissue but did not in the healthy oil palm. The increase of polyisoprenoid (polyprenol and dolichol) in infected and inoculated root tissues it is presumablydue to the plant biochemical response to the presence of G. boninense attack. Cluster analysis demonstrated distinct groups of polyisoprenoid carbon-chains betweenroot and leaf tissues of oil palm mature and seedling. Interestingly, in the absence of G. boninense infection, the polyisoprenoid carbon chain pattern in the tolerant oil palm seedlingroot tissue is different from that in the susceptible seedlings. Thus, the polyisoprenoid carbon chain pattern can be considered as a potential biochemical marker for the screening of oil palm tolerance to G. boninense.