Academics: Palm oil development beneficial for nutrition, energy security

University of Indonesia (UI) Faculty of Nutrition Professor Ratu Ayu Dewi Sartika has stated that sustainable and appropriate palm oil processing can be utilised for development in the nutrition, health, and energy security sectors. “Palm oil has highly potential nutritional content to support the improvement of public nutritional status,” Ratu Ayu said during a media briefing for the 2026 Indonesian Palm Oil Research Week (PERISAI) at the Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDP) in Jakarta on Wednesday. She cited her team’s research on the effect of red palm oil supplementation in pregnant women’s diets on the quality of breast milk and infant nutritional status. The research showed that red palm oil contains beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin E, and antioxidants that have the potential to support the improvement of maternal and child nutritional status. According to Ratu Ayu, the research results indicate that the utilisation of palm oil is not limited to food ingredients but also has great potential to support public health through the development of palm oil-based functional foods. “Through sustainable research, we can develop various food products that are not only safe but also provide broader health benefits,” she said. In addition to the food and health sectors, the utilisation of palm oil in the energy sector is also growing. This was conveyed by the Head of the Chemical Engineering Programme at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) Faculty of Industrial Technology, C.B. Rasrendra, who presented research results on BENSA (Palm Oil Petrol) technology based on Mixed Industrial Vegetable Oil (MIVO). According to Rasrendra, this innovation shows that palm oil has great prospects as an environmentally friendly future energy raw material while also increasing the added value of the national palm oil commodity. “BENSA is one example of how research results can open up new utilisation opportunities for palm oil,” Rasrendra said. “Going forward, such innovations are expected to strengthen national energy security while encouraging the growth of domestic resource-based industries,” he added.