The African oil palm, Elaeis guineensis

The oil palm is a native of West Africa. While the wild palms are still a significant source of edible oil in the region, Elaeis has been developed as a plantation crop, which in the present century has spread in S.E. Asia and Latin America. In 1961, Africa produced 1.1 million tonnes of palm oil out of a world production of 1.6 million tonnes. By 1989, the corresponding figures were 1.6 for Africa and 10.5 for the world, of which about 70% was produced in S.E. Asia. 

Optimum conditions for the oil palm are found in lowland areas within 10° of the equator with high sunshine and more than 1700 mm rainfall per annum. Some locations in the wider area of 15° north to 20° south have also proved suitable. 

Three varieties of the oil palm have been recognised in the wild, according to fruit type dura (thin flesh, thick hard shell), pisifera (thick flesh, little or no shell) and tenera (thick flesh, intermediate shell). The tenera is a natural cross of the dura and pisifera varieties. Nearly all the plantation crop consists of the tenera variety produced by controlled fertilisation of carefully selected parents. As a result, the productivity of the palm in terms of fruit weight per hectare, oil content of fruit and 

Kamel et al. (eds.), Technological Advances in Improved and Alternative Sources of Lipids Chapman Hall 1994 

Note For this survey, samples were obtained from various countries in S.E. Asia and W. Africa for the three oils, and additionally from Central America for palm kernel oil. The oils generally showed uniformity in composition (Rossell et al, 1985). 

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Oil palm is a tree whose fruits are used for the extraction of edible oil. It originated from West Africa, cultivated in all tropical areas of the world and has become one of the main industrial crops (Kelly-Yong et al., 2007). Additionally, the oil palms Elaeis) comprise two species of the Arecaceae, or palm family. The African oil palm Elaeis guineensis is native to west Africa, occurring between Angola and Gambia, while the American oil palm Elaeis oleifera is... 

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