The fruit of the oil palm tree (Elaeis guineesis) is the source of antioxidant-rich red palm oil. Red palm oil is a rich source of phytonutrients such as tocotrienols, tocopherols, carotenoids, phytosterols, squalene, and coenzyme Q10, all of which exhibit nutritional properties and oxidative stability. Mutagenic, nutritional, and toxicological studies have shown that red palm oil contains highly bioavailable β-carotene and vitamin A and is reasonably stable to heat without any adverse effects. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the nutritional properties of red palm oil. The possible antiatherogenic, antihemorrhagic, antihypertensive, anticancer, and anti-infective properties of red palm oil are examined. Moreover, evidence supporting the potential effectiveness of red palm oil to overcome vitamin A deficiency in children and pregnant women, to improve ocular complications of vitamin A deficiency, to protect against ischemic heart disease, to promote normal reproduction in males and females, to aid in the management of diabetes, to ameliorate the adverse effects of chemotherapy, and to aid in managing hypobaric conditions is presented.

Tocotrienols induced anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects in association with DNA fragmentation, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage and NF-κB inhibition in the two human breast cancer cell lines.

Palm oil contains a number of phytonutrients. To date, most of the studies using palm phytonutrients have focused on palm vitamin E. The objective of this study was to compare the anti-cancer activities of four major palm phytonutrients, namely tocotrienol-rich fraction, carotenoids, squalene and co-enzyme Q10 using some cell-based assays. Two human breast cancer cell lines, the highly aggressive triple-negative MDA-MB-231 and the estrogen-dependent MCF-7 cells, were treated with these palm phytonutrients to determine their anti-cancer effects. Palm vitamin E exhibited higher ability to induce cell death by apoptosis in both human breast cancer cells compared to the other palm phytonutrients (carotenoids, squalene and co-enzyme Q10), which was absent in normal NIH/3T3 cells. In addition, there was higher cleavage of the poly-adenosine diphosphate-ribose polymerase (PARP) enzyme in palm vitamin Etreated MDA-MB-231 cells compared to the other phytonutrients. All the tested palm phytonutrients suppressed the expression of nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B-cells (NF-kB) protein in the breast cancer cells exposed briefly to tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a). Palm phytonutrients possess varying extent of anti-cancer effects on the human breast cancer cells.