Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Contamination and Quality of Locally Produced Crude Palm Oil in South-South Zone, Nigeria

M. Blessing Onyegeme-Okerenta, C. Vera Isiodu, B. Eka Essien

European Journal of Nutrition & Food Safety · pp. 159–174 · Published 8 May 2024

10.9734/ejnfs/2024/v16i51432

Abstract

Background: Oil palm, Elaeis guineensis Jacq is a perennial crop mainly cultivated for its vegetable oil. The fatty acid composition of crude palm oil (CPO) is mostly composed of palmitic, stearic oleic, and linoleic acids. Objectives: This study evaluated the quality of locally produced CPO from six states of South-South zone, Nigeria. Methods: The parameters of CPOs were characterized by specific gravity (SG), acid value (AV), percentage of free fatty acid (%FFA), and saponification value (SV) and peroxide value (PV). Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in CPO were quantified using standard procedures, the related risk due to daily consumption of 25 g was characterized by lifetime cancer risk (LCR) and margin of exposure (MOE). Results: The study observed that the mean values of the parameters were 0.931 SG; 5.01 mgKOH g-1 AV; 2.28% FFA; 177.27 mgKOH g-1 SV and 29.65 meqO2 kg-1 PV. Apart from %FFA, the others did not meet the requirements recommended by the Codex Alimentarius Commission of the joint WHO/FAO. Diagnostic ratios of PAHs suggested a mixture of petrogenic and pyrogenic origins. The MOEs showed low health concern while 16PAH-LCR values which ranged from 2.48E-04 - 4.48E-04 were unacceptable. The screening value 0.003 was significantly (p> 0.05) lower than the computed total BaP equivalent (BaPeq) values indicating potential human health concerns. It is recommended that CPO processing and storage methods should be properly monitored to prevent quality reduction and contamination, which might have adverse effect on consumers.

Crude palm oil physicochemical properties polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons margin of exposure lifetime cancer risk

References (46)

  1. 1 Scientific Opinion on risk based control of biogenic amine formation in fermented foods [DOI]
  2. 2 Opinion of the Scientific Committee on a request from EFSA related to A Harmonised Approach for Risk Assessment of Substances Which are both Genotoxic and Carcinogenic [DOI]
  3. 3 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Food - Scientific Opinion of the Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain [DOI]
  4. 4 Biological and Nutritional Properties of Palm Oil and Palmitic Acid: Effects on Health [DOI]
  5. 5 Human Development Report 2021/2022 [DOI]
  6. 6 Application of chemometrics to analysis of soil pollutants [DOI]
  7. 7 A review on analysis methods, source identification, and cancer risk evaluation of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons [DOI]
  8. 8 PAHs content in sunflower, soybean and virgin olive oils: Evaluation in commercial samples and during refining process [DOI]
  9. 9 Source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in small craft harbor (SCH) surficial sediments in Nova Scotia, Canada [DOI]
  10. 10 Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) content of edible vegetable oils in Iran: A risk assessment study [DOI]
  11. 11 Assessment of quality of edible vegetable oils accessed in Gondar City, Northwest Ethiopia [DOI]
  12. 12 Palm oil and the heart: A review [DOI]
  13. 13 Saponification Value of Fats and Oils as Determined from 1H-NMR Data: The Case of Dairy Fats [DOI]
  14. 14 Biochemical properties, nutritional values, health benefits and sustainability of palm oil [DOI]
  15. 15 Distribution, sources and ecological risk of trace elements and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sediments from a polluted urban river in central Bangladesh [DOI]
  16. 16 Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in edible oils: An overview on sample preparation, determination strategies, and relative abundance of prevalent compounds [DOI]
  17. 17 Levels and Health Risk Assessment of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Vegetable Oils and Frying Oils by Using the Margin of Exposure (MOE) and the Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk (ILCR) Approach in China [DOI]
  18. 18 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Contamination in Edible Oils: A Review [DOI]
  19. 19 Liquid–liquid extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in four different edible oils from China [DOI]
  20. 20 Factors influencing quality of palm oil produced at the cottage industry level in Ghana.
  21. 21 Spatial-temporal and multi-media variations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a highly urbanized river from South China [DOI]
  22. 22 FREE FATTY ACIDS SEPARATION FROM MALAYSIAN HIGH FREE FATTY ACID CRUDE PALM OIL USING MOLECULAR DISTILLATION [DOI]
  23. 23 Bioaccumulation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) in a bivalve (Arca senilis- blood cockles) and health risk assessment [DOI]
  24. 24 Palm oil, its nutritional and health implications (Review) [DOI]
  25. 25 Recovery of palm phytonutrients as a potential market for the by-products generated by palm oil mills and refineries‒A review [DOI]
  26. 26 Analysis of total petroleum hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and risk assessment of heavy metals in some selected finfishes at Forcados Terminal, Delta State, Nigeria [DOI]
  27. 27 Measurement and Maintenance of Palm Oil Quality [DOI]
  28. 28 Concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in samples of soil, feed and food collected in the Niger Delta region, Nigeria: A probabilistic human health risk assessment [DOI]
  29. 29 Concentration, dietary exposure and human health risk assessment of total petroleum and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in seafood from coastal communities in Rivers State, Nigeria [DOI]
  30. 30 Food quality assurance of crude palm oil: a review on toxic ester feedstock [DOI]
  31. 31 Assessment of proximate and physicochemical properties of crude palm oil from south-west and South-south Nigeria [DOI]
  32. 32 Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in three commercially available fish species from the Bonny and Cross River estuaries in the Niger Delta, Nigeria [DOI]
  33. 33 Accumulation and risk assessment of metals in palm oil cultivated on contaminated oil palm plantation soils [DOI]
  34. 34 Body size perceptions and weight status of adults in a nigerian rural community [DOI]
  35. 35 Genomics of Cultivated Palms [DOI]
  36. 36 EVALUATION OF LEVEL OF RANCIDITY OF EDIBLE OIL IN SOME FRIED SNACKS FOOD [DOI]
  37. 37 Methods of Palm Oil Processing in Ogun state, Nigeria: A Resource Use Efficiency Assessment
  38. 38 Distribution, source analysis, and ecological risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the typical topsoil of the Issyk-Kul Lake Basin [DOI]
  39. 39 Effects of dietary palm olein on the cardiovascular risk factors in healthy young adults [DOI]
  40. 40 PRODUCTION OF PALM OIL REFERENCE MATERIALS FOR THE DETERMINATION OF SOLID FAT CONTENT [DOI]
  41. 41 Effect of Processing Methods and Storage Time on Chemical Properties of Palm Oil [DOI]
  42. 42 Toxicological Evaluation of Contamination by Potentially Toxic Elements (PTEs) and Related Risks in the Surface Waters of Three Tidal Streams of the Niger Delta, Nigeria [DOI]
  43. 43 ASSESSMENT OF THE QUALITY OF CRUDE PALM OIL FROM ELAEIS GUINEENSIS GROWING AREAS OF THE PT. LANGKAT NUSANTARA KEPONG-PTPN II NORTH SUMATERA [DOI]
  44. 44 COMPARATIVE QUALITY EVALUATION OF SELECTED TRADITIONAL PROCESSED PALM OILS (Elaeis guineensis Jacq) FROM SOUTH-EAST NIGERIA [DOI]
  45. 45 Dietary exposure and risk characterization of selected toxic metals in crude palm oil (Elaeis guineensis Jacq) from six states in Niger Delta, Nigeria [DOI]
  46. 46 Comparison of physicochemical properties of edible vegetable oils commercially available in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia [DOI]

Cited by 4

Sources, classification, analytical detection, and mitigation strategies for palm oil contaminants

Demas Aji, Supriyo Komaryantoko, Asranudin · Discover Chemistry · 2026

Showing 1 of 4 known citations — external sources report more than can currently be individually listed.

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

74

Page views

0

PDF downloads

17

Outbound clicks

4

Citations

Views over time

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.