Palm Oil Developments No.63 (December 2015) p12-16

Superior Bioavailability of Gamma Delta Tocotrienol as Compared with Tocotrienolrich Fraction in Healthy Human Subjects

Puvaneswari Meganathan*, Rafid Salim Jabir**, Ho Gwo Fuang**, Nirmala Bhoo-Pathy**, Roma Basu Choudhury**, Nur Aishah Taib**, Kalanithi Nesaretnam* and Zamri Chik**

Vitamin E is found in abundance in vegetable oils, with tocopherols as the main constituent. In the past, tocopherols have been vastly studied whereas there is still a paucity in clinical data where tocotrienols are concerned. Both tocopherols and tocotrienols have similar structures with the presence of a chromanol ring and a side chain. They are divided into two groups with four members each, namely, alpha, beta, gamma and delta. However, tocotrienols also possess an unsaturated side chain with three double bonds unlike tocopherols. This unsaturated side chain in tocotrienols contributes to their efficient penetration into tissues such as those of adipose, liver and the brain (Nesaretnam et al., 1995, Nesaretnam., 2008, Kannappan et al., 2012). Initial research has proven that tocotrienols demonstrate various biological and physiological properties such as cardioprotective (Vasanthi et al., 2012, neuroprotective (Khanna et al., 2010) and anticancer activity (Aggarwal et al., 2010), as well as cholesterol-lowering effects (Yuen et al., 2011), thus distinguishing them from tocopherols.





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

** Faculty of Medicine,
University of Malaya,
50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.