{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]],"date-time":"2026-10-27T19:17:21Z","timestamp":1793128641928,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,17]],"date-time":"2021-11-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1637107200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Foods"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Palm oil is known to be rich in carotenoids and other phytonutrients. However, the carotenoids and phytonutrients degrade due to high heat sterilization of oil palm fruits. The present study was conducted to produce carotenoid-rich virgin palm oil (VPO) using cold-press extraction. Herein, the influence of sterilization of oil palm fresh fruits in the production of cold-pressed VPO was determined with varying sterilization temperatures, times, and amounts of palm fruits in sterilization. The experimental sterilization conditions were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) based on the maximum VPO yield and minimum FFAs in cold-pressed VPO. The optimal sterilization experimental conditions of oil palm fruits were determined to be a sterilization temperature of 62 \u00b0C, a time of 90 min, and an amount of oil palm fruits of 8 kg. Under these experimental conditions, the maximum cold-pressed VPO yield and the minimal content of free fatty acids (FFAs) obtained were 27.94 wt.% and 1.32 wt.%, respectively. Several analytic methods were employed to determine cold-pressed VPO quality and fatty acids compositions and compared with the crude palm oil. It was found that cold-pressed VPO contains higher carotenoids (708 mg\/g) and unsaturated fatty acids compared with the carotenoid (343 mg\/g) and fatty acid compositions in CPO. The findings of the present study reveal that the sterilization temperature potentially influences the carotenoid and nutrient contents in VPO; therefore, the optimization of the sterilization conditions is crucial to producing carotenoid- and phytonutrient-rich VPO.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/foods10112838","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,17]],"date-time":"2021-11-17T09:16:11Z","timestamp":1637140571000},"page":"2838","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["Influence of Fresh Palm Fruit Sterilization in the Production of Carotenoid-Rich Virgin Palm Oil"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Nik Suhaimi Mat","family":"Hassan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Gelugor 11800, Malaysia"},{"name":"Sime Darby Plantation Research, R&D Centre\u2014Carey Island, Lot 2664 Jalan Pulau Carey, Pulau Carey 42960, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Md. Sohrab","family":"Hossain","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Gelugor 11800, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4874-600X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Venugopal","family":"Balakrishnan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor 11800, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mark Harris","family":"Zuknik","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Gelugor 11800, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Muliadi","family":"Mustaner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sime Darby Plantation Research, R&D Centre\u2014Carey Island, Lot 2664 Jalan Pulau Carey, Pulau Carey 42960, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Azhar Mat","family":"Easa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Gelugor 11800, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7257-2954","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adel","family":"Al-Gheethi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Micro-Pollutant Research Centre (MPRC), Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built & Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Batu Pahat 86400, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9784-4901","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ahmad Naim Ahmad","family":"Yahaya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Green Chemistry and Sustainable Development Engineering Technology, Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering Technology, Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur 78000, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Yusoff, M.N.A.M., Zulkifli, N.W.M., Sukiman, N.L., Chyuan, O.H., Hassan, M.H., Hasnul, M.H., Zulkifli, M.S.A., Abbas, M.M., and Zakaria, M.Z. 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