MPOB Exploring Palm Oil-Based MCT as Anti-Viral Agent vs. Coronavirus

The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) is exploring palm oil-based medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) as an anti-viral agent, with the aim to boost the immune system to protect from the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-2019)  attack, said director-general Dr Ahmad Parveez Ghulam Kadir, the Bernama news reported on February 11.  Noting that the process is still at the preliminary stage, he said more studies needed to be conducted in order to confirm the anti-viral effects.  

Ahmad Parveez noted that previous preliminary studies suggested that MCT may disintegrate viral envelopes and some researchers have shown their interests in discovering the anti-viral effects of palm-based MCT and MPOB would be working closely with them. In addition, the board has also noticed increasing demand for palm-based MCT in China since last year, particularly in the applications in food for special medical purposes and powdered meal replacers. 

 According to Ahmad Parveez, there were some Chinese experts who had engaged with MPOB to seek collaborative study related to palm tocotrienols’ possible effect on human immunity, which is now being widely discussed to prevent the coronavirus infection. “Previous studies have suggested that tocotrienols can benefit immune health by increasing the concentration of anti-tissue transglutaminase immunoglobulin G (anti-TT IgG) antibody in patients prone to immune dysfunction and auto-immunity disorder,” he added.