emulsions or pastes in non ionic substances which have both hydrophilic and lipophilic properties e g surface active agents the present invention relates to the preparation of oil soluble antioxidants from a water soluble extract of palm phenolics recovered from the aqueous by products of the palm oil mill or what is commonly known as palm oil mill effluent pome such compounds can be made into effective antioxidants for water insoluble substrates e g fats by forming emulsion or paste in non ionic substances which have both hydrophilic and lipophilic properties e g surface active agents by dissolving the extract containing palm phenolics in a solubilising medium such as ethanol water and admixing this with the surface active agent an antioxidant composition of the surface active agent and extract of the palm phenolics is produced for applications in edible oils and foods an oil soluble extract containing the palm phenolics and flavonoid can also be directly prepared by pre dissolving it in propylene glycol without the use of other solvents another method for dissolving the water soluble palm phenolics in oil is by solubilising the water soluble palm phenolics in water and admixing this solubilisate into a mixture of oil solution containing lecithin the.