Coconut oil in human diet – nutrition value and potential health benefits

Mikołajczak Natalia. Coconut oil in human diet – nutrition value and potential health benefits. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2017;7(9):307-319. eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.997464

http://ojs.ukw.edu.pl/index.php/johs/article/view/4887

The journal has had 7 points in Ministry of Science and Higher Education parametric evaluation. Part B item 1223 (26.01.2017).

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© The Authors 2017;

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This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial

use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.

Received: 15.08.2017. Revised: 10.09.2017. Accepted: 10.09.2017.

COCONUT OIL IN HUMAN DIET

– NUTRITION VALUE AND POTENTIAL HEALTH BENEFITS

Olej kokosowy w diecie człowieka

- wartość odżywcza i potencjalne korzyści zdrowotne

Natalia Mikołajczak

Department of Processing and Chemistry of Plant Raw Materials

Faculty of Food Sciences, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn

University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn,

Department of Processing and Chemistry of Plant Raw Materials

Pl. Cieszyński 1, 10-726 Olsztyn

e-mail: natalia.mikolajczak@uwm.edu.pl

Abstract

Introduction and aim: Coconut products are becoming increasingly popular both in Poland and in the world. Their assortment is constantly increasing, but the most well-known coconut product is oil. Its use in human nutrition raises a lot of controversy, mainly due to the high proportion of saturated fatty acids. However, there are many clinical studies that suggest its positive effect on the human body. The aim of this article is to review the available literature on the nutritional value of coconut oil and health benefits after its consumption.

Brief description of the state of knowledge: Coconut oil belongs to the group of saturated fats, whose share in this type of oil is over 90%. The dominating fatty acid found in coconut oil is lauric acid (about 50% of the total of all acids), while the shares of other medium chain fatty acids (myristic, caprylic, capric) also has a high content of 5-20%. In addition, unrefined coconut oil is a valuable source of many biologically active compounds, such as sterols, tocols, and phenolic compounds, whose content in 100 g of product is 70 mg, 4 mg and 50 mg, respectively. Clinical studies show the beneficial effect of coconut oil on skin, heart, brain and liver. Coconut oil supplementation is also important both in the prevention and treatment of cancer, helps to reduce body fat, and also reduces the biological activity of many bacteria, viruses and fungi.

Summary: The collected data confirm that unrefined coconut oil is a valuable source of medium chain fatty acids and biologically active compounds such as sterols, tocols, and phenolic compounds. Such chemical composition of coconut oil suggests its beneficial effects on the body, both for children and adults.

Key words: coconut palm, coconut oil, nutrition value, health benefits