Palm Oil Developments No.71 (December 2019) p1-3

Chewable Tablets Containing Palm-based Vitamin E (Tocotrienol Rich Fraction, TRF) – A Preliminary Stability Study

Noor Lida Habi Mat Dian*, Norazura Aila Mohd Hassim*, Wan Suet Ying**, Helmi Wasoh** and Lai Oi Ming**

Vitamin E (tocochromanols) comprises four tocopherol and four tocotrienol isomers, namely alpha (α), beta (β), gamma (γ) and delta (δ) (Brigelius-Flohé and Traber, 1999), and is an essential nutrient for the human body. Palm oil is one of the richest sources of vitamin E (800-1200 ppm) (Kushairi et al., 2018). Palm-based vitamin E comprises of about 49%-53% γ-tocotrienol, 22%-34% α-tocotrienol, 6%-7% δ-toco-trienol, 14%-17% α-tocopherol and 3% α-tocomonoenol (Puah et al., 2007). As it is very rich in tocotrienols, palm-based vitamin E is also known as the tocotrienol rich fraction (TRF). Palm-based vitamin E possesses unique and potent healthenhancing properties such as antioxidative (Cerecetto and López, 2007), cardioprotective (Heng et al., 2013), neuroprotective (Sen et al., 2000), anti-cancer and cancer-suppressing (Wong and Radhakrishnan, 2012), as well as neurological and brain development (Traber, 2014) effects. It has also been found to lower blood cholesterol levels (Qureshi et al., 1995).





Author information:
* Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB),
6 Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi,
43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia.
E-mail: nlida@mpob.gov.my

** Department of Bioprocess Technology,
Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences,
Universiti Putra Malaysia,
43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.