Analysis of Carotenoid Composition in Oil Palm Fruits (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) from several Varieties: A Review

Abstract

Basically, oil palm has three types of fruit, namely the dura, pisifera, and tenera varieties. These three varieties have different characteristics, likewise with resulting Crude Palm Oil (CPO) levels. Generally, palm oil contains 500–700 ppm of carotenoid compounds, and the amount is equivalent to 15 times the carotenoids in carrots and 300 times in tomatoes. This is a study of information about the carotenoid composition of three varieties of oil palm fruit and applying the most superior analytical methods to obtain carotenoids from CPO. The purpose of this review is to examine the carotenoid composition of three varieties of oil palm fruit and carotenoid analysis methods presented for consideration as a reference. The method used in this review is the inclusion and exclusion criteria in literary search. The results showed that the carotenoid composition of the three varieties of oil palm in the presence of 11 types of carotene and the highest percentage composition was β-carotene with a content range of 54.39–56.02%. As for the development of new methods for carotenoid analysis from CPO, namely Raman and FT-NIR spectroscopy with the advantages of being environmentally friendly, not using solvents, and fast measurement compared to methods UV-Vis Spectrophotometry, UPLC, and HPLC.