Sime Darby Oils to exploit tocotrienols for NAFLD treatment

PETALING JAYA (Feb 11): Sime Darby Oils (SDO) is changing its business landscape from selling tocotrienols as a supplement product, Natrieo, to treating non-alcoholic fatty liver disease or NAFLD with it.

NAFLD is the term for a range of conditions caused by a build-up of fat in the liver, which may lead to serious liver damage if left untreated.

SDO managing director Mohd Haris Mohd Arshad said various studies on tocotrienols have shown that the natural extract, which is abundantly found in palm oil, presents unique biological properties.

“Tocotrienols have a higher antioxidant potency and anti-inflammatory properties that provide a multitude of health benefits," he told reporters here today after the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MoA) between SDO and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).

Under the MoA, the Gut Research Group at UKM will be using Natrieo to study the potential clinical applications of tocotrienol on the treatment of NAFLD.

The collaboration is expected to run for two years and both parties expect to see preliminary results within six months from the commencement of the clinical trial this month with a full publication of the findings in 2021.

Mohd Haris said the company wants to lift the perception of palm oil from being just a commodity to “something that is very valuable”.

"Before this, we just extracted about 22 per cent of oil (palm tree) and the other 70-80 per cent we threw away. This is a crime because a lot of nutrients are actually in the stuff that we throw away, for example, beta carotene, tocotrienol, phenolics, etc.

"So what we are doing right now is to see if we can monetise this thing which we call the by-product, with tocotrienol first, for a start,” he said.

He said SDO has not set any sales target, but foresees an increase in sales of the product.

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