Albuquerque, T.G.Oliveira, M.B.P.P.Costa, H.S.2020-05-152020-05-152019-05http://hdl.handle.net/10400.18/6660Palm oil is the most consumed worldwide, being evident its importance due to several applications by the food industry. The presence of toxic and mutagenic compounds has increased the attention on this oil. This is the case of chloropropanols and glycidyl fatty acid esters, being the last common contaminants in refined vegetable oils and fats in relatively high levels. Recently, the European Commission set a maximum level of 1 mg/kg for glycidyl fatty acid esters, expressed as glycidol, for vegetable oils and fats, on the market, for the final consumer or as a food ingredient; vegetable oils and fats intended for the production of baby food and processed cereal-based food for infants and young children has a maximum level of 0.5 µg/kg. In this study, the occurrence of glycidyl fatty acid esters in palm oil was reviewed. A large variation of these compounds was observed in the different fractions of palm fruit used to obtain fat/oil for industry applications. For example, total glycidyl esters for palm oil varied between 0.3 and 10.5 mg/kg, while for palm olein it ranged from 1.88 to 15.6 mg/kg. Another interesting aspect is the effect of samples origin on their values. For instance, 15 sample blends of refined palm oil and olein, with different origins, showed remarkable variations in the content of glycidyl fatty acid esters (from 0.77 to 17.3 mg/kg). The glycidyl fatty acid esters content in palm oil also significantly increased when high temperatures (>220 ºC) were applied. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to develop joint efforts between industry and research, to develop strategies to mitigate efficiently the formation and presence of these harmful compounds.engPalm OilGlycidyl Fatty Acid EstersContaminantesToxicologiaAlimentos ProcessadosComposição dos AlimentosSegurança Alimentarconference object