Know2eat

Palm kernel oil

Elaeis guineensis

What palm kernel oil has been studied for

1 association assessed — 1 with at least some human evidence behind it. Strongest first.

  • 1 Limited
3 things to know first — allergies, interactions and intake limits

About palm kernel oil

Oil pressed from the hard kernel inside the oil palm fruit stone, not from the orange flesh — a different fat from palm oil despite the shared crop and the shared name. It is around eighty per cent saturated and dominated by lauric acid, which makes it compositionally much closer to coconut oil than to palm oil.

Also known as PKO, Palm nut oil

Heart Health

The evidence in depth

Best supported: Limited

What each association actually rests on, and the papers behind it. A rating describes the state of the research, not how impressive the food is. How we rate evidence.

Blood lipid profile

Heart Health
Limited evidence

Some controlled feeding trials report that lauric-acid-rich fats raise LDL cholesterol relative to unsaturated oils while also raising HDL, a pattern seen with coconut oil in particular. Palm kernel oil itself has been tested only rarely, and the coconut oil evidence is not automatically transferable.

Limited evidence. Early human work, or mostly lab and animal research.

4 sources

Deep research mode adds each paper’s own conclusion and stated limitations.

Ask about Palm kernel oil

Ask about Palm kernel oil

Answers are written only from the entries on this page — the same nutrients, compounds, claims and citations you can read above. Nothing is added from outside the database, and every answer lists what it was built from.

AI explanations are not switched on for this site, so there is nothing to ask here. Everything above is read straight from the database and does not need them.

Key nutrients

Nutrient content per 100 grams
NutrientAmount% DV
Macronutrients
Calories862 kcal43%
Protein0 g0%
Total fat100 g128%
Carbohydrate0 g0%
Fibre0 g0%
Total sugars0 g—
Water0 g—
Fats
Saturated fat81.5 g408%
Monounsaturated fat11.4 g—
Polyunsaturated fat1.6 g—
Cholesterol0 mg0%
EPA (omega-3)0 g—
DHA (omega-3)0 g—
DPA (omega-3)0 g—
Linoleic acid (omega-6)1.6 g—
Vitamins
Vitamin A0 µg0%
Vitamin C0 mg0%
Vitamin D0 µg0%
Vitamin E3.81 mg25%
Vitamin K24.7 µg21%
Thiamin (B1)0 mg0%
Riboflavin (B2)0 mg0%
Niacin (B3)0 mg0%
Pantothenic acid (B5)0 mg0%
Vitamin B60 mg0%
Folate0 µg0%
Vitamin B120 µg0%
Choline0.2 mg0%
Minerals
Calcium0 mg0%
Iron0 mg0%
Magnesium0 mg0%
Phosphorus0 mg0%
Potassium0 mg0%
Sodium0 mg0%
Zinc0 mg0%
Copper0 mg0%
Manganese0 mg0%
Selenium0 µg0%
Other measured compounds
Beta-carotene0 µg—
Alpha-carotene0 µg—
Lycopene0 µg—
Lutein + zeaxanthin0 µg—
Caffeine0 mg—
Ash0 g—

Nutrient values are per 100 g of the USDA reference entry named on this page and vary with variety, growing conditions, storage and preparation.

Source record: Vegetable oil, palm kernel (USDA FoodData Central, FDC ID 171422).

% DV uses the FDA Daily Values for adults and children aged 4 and over. A dash means no Daily Value has been established for that nutrient.

Bioactive compounds

Compounds present in meaningful amounts. Presence is banded rather than quantified, because whole-food levels vary enormously with variety, growing conditions, storage and preparation.

How preparation changes things

Only effects with real support are listed. If a preparation method is missing, it is because nothing dependable is documented — not because it makes no difference.

Nothing dependable is recorded about how preparation changes this food’s nutritional properties. Rather than guess, this section stays empty.

Things to know

Allergies, interactions and intake concerns. Every food gets this section — a reference where everything is uniformly good is not a reference.

  • Worth knowing

    Routinely confused with palm oil

    Palm oil and palm kernel oil come from the same fruit but are separate products with very different fatty-acid profiles and uses. Ingredient lists, news coverage and even some nutrition writing use the two names interchangeably, and they are not.

  • Too much

    Among the most saturated fats in food manufacturing

    At roughly four-fifths saturated, palm kernel oil sits with coconut oil at the top of the range. Lauric acid raises both LDL and HDL cholesterol in feeding trials; the LDL effect is the one with established relevance to cardiovascular risk.

  • Worth knowing

    Usually hydrogenated or fractionated in use

    Most palm kernel oil reaches consumers as a hardened confectionery fat or coating fat rather than as a bottle of oil, and is often further fractionated or hydrogenated to hit a melting point.