Scientists at the University of Bath have successfully cultivated an oily yeast with an identical lipid profile to palm oil.
Palm oil is everywhere. Found in an estimated 50 percent of items at the grocery store, from packaged foods to cleaning supplies, and also made popular by its ‘healthy saturated fat’ profile, it’s an oil that few food manufacturers can afford to give up, despite the environmental havoc wreaked by its production.
Palm oil production is the leading cause of rainforest destruction in Malaysia and Indonesia, which make 87 percent of the world’s palm oil, as well as parts of Central America, where palm oil farms are just starting to make a dent in the world market. It’s also responsible for the deaths of countless orangutans, whose natural habitat is being destroyed to make way for plantations.
Why do we persist with palm oil production when it’s such a notoriously bad industry? The Guardian explains that palm oil is simply too good at what it does:
Further study is needed to find out which is the most sustainable and financially viable culture to produce the yeast on, how to protect it from bugs and inhibitors, and how to maintain high saturate levels. The hope is that M. pulcherrima will be ready for industrial use within 3 to 4 years, if all goes well.
This is excellent news for an industry in desperate need of an overhaul. While there are some organizations working to make palm oil production more sustainable, such as the Rainforest Alliance and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the vast majority of palm oil continues to be produced in ways that are not environmentally friendly.
