Common Name: African Oil Palm

General Information

Elaeis guineensis is a handsome evergreen, single-stemmed palm tree that can grow up to a height of 20 - 30 metres[]. The erect, cylindrical, unbranched stem can be 22 - 75cm in diameter, it is topped by a crown of about 40 - 60 live dark green leaves that can be up to 8 metres long, and a skirt of dead leaves[, ].
The oil palm is a multi-purpose tree of major importance in Africa, where it supplies food, medicines and many other products to the local population. Increasingly coming under cultivation, this species is rapidly becoming one of the world's most cultivated plants, being grown especially for its oil-bearing seeds and fruits[]. The tree is sometimes planted as a garden ornamental and along avenues[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Tropical west and central Africa - Sierra Leone to Uganda and Kenya, south to Angola and Mozambique.

Habitat

More or less open forest in moist, sandy soils that are often poorly drained[]. Often found along the edges of rivers[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	15.00 m
Growth Rate	Slow
Pollinators	Insects
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

Plants succeed in moist to very wet tropical climates up to elevations of 1,300 metres, though commercial cultivation is restricted to areas below 700 metres and preferably lower than 300 metres[]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 20 - 35°c, but can tolerate 12 - 38°c[]. The plant is quite tolerant, though, and succeeds in southern China where there are light frosts and mean daily temperatures can drop below 10°c for weeks on end[]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,500 - 3,000mm, but tolerates 1,000 - 8,000mm[]. Optimally, there should be at least 150 mm of rain each month of the year, ideally falling mostly at night[].
Plants grow well in full sun, even when small[]. Grows and thrives on wide range of tropical soils, provided they have adequate water supply[]. Requires a humus-rich soil[]. Waterlogged, highly lateritic, extremely sandy, stony or peaty soils should be avoided[]. Tolerant of temporary flooding, provided the water is not stagnant[]. Prefers a pH in the range 4.5 - 6, tolerating 3.2 - 8[].
The root system is adventitious, forming a dense mat with a radius of 3 - 5 metres in the upper 40 - 60cm of the soil. Some primary roots are directly below the base of the trunk descending for anchorage for more than 1.5 metres; the roots produce pneumatodes under very moist conditions[].
The African oil palm is a succession species favoured by slash and burn, and its gene pool has expanded as farmers clear land and create more open habitat for the germination of its seeds[].
Plants can commence bearing just 3 years after the seed has germinated[].
The plant produces both male and female flowers, but not usually at the same time. An individual inflorescence will be all male or all female flowers; after a series of inflorescences of one sex the plant will then produce a series of inflorescences of the opposite sex[].
Plants flower all year round[]. The fruit is produced in clusters of about 100 fruits[].
The inflorescence is produced from about every second leaf axil. There are up to 1,500 deep violet fruits (ripening to orange-red) in each roundish dense cluster, weighing 30 kg or more[].
Yields of 5 tonnes of oil per hectare have been obtained from mature plants[].

Edible Uses

Oil - two types of oil are obtained from the plant. Palm oil is obtained from the fruit whilst palm kernel oil is obtained from the seed[]. They are obtained in a volume ratio of approximately 9 : 1[].

Palm oil has a wide range of uses, including making margarine, vegetable ghee, bakery fats, ice cream and as a cooking oil[]. Palm oil is popular in West Africa and Malaysia for cooking and is now imported by India to meet local shortages in edible oil, being cheaper than many other vegetable oils[]. In West Africa, the unrefine red palm oil is an essential part of the diet and is often added directly to bring richness to soups and sauces[]. Addition of oil to cereal preparations greatly increases their calorific density, which is particularly advantageous for young children[]. Palm oil is also used as frying oil in the preparation of snacks such as bean cakes and fried plantain[]. Its 10% linoleic acid content makes it an excellent source of carotene. This is important in reducing incidence of vitamin A deficiency and the occurrence of nutritional blindness[].

Palm kernel oil is similar in composition and properties to coconut oil. It also has a wide range of uses, including making margarine, ice cream, confectioneries and as a cooking oil, where it is sometimes combined with coconut oil[, ].

The boiled and pounded nuts yield palm nut butter, a thick red liquid popular in Ghana and Liberia for making palm butter soup and other dishes[, ].

The plant also provides heart-of-palm, where the soft portion of the apical bud is eaten as a vegetable[, ]. Since the tree is single-stemmed, and palm trees are generally unable to produce side branches, harvesting this bud leads to the death of the tree[].

Palm wine is commonly produced in West Africa by tapping the unopened male inflorescences, or the stem just below the apex of felled oil palms, and fermenting the sap[].

Medicinal

Traditional medicinal uses in Africa are numerous[].

Preparations made from the palm heart are used to treat gonorrhoea, menorrhagia, and perinatal abdominal pain, and are considered laxative, anti-emetic and diuretic[].

The leaf sap is used in preparations used to treat skin affections[].

The roots as analgesic[].

The oil from the pulp is emollient and is used as an excipient for herbal ointments[, ]. It is used to treat suppurations, whitlows and swellings of the legs caused by erysipelas and infestations by Filaria[].

Agroforestry Uses:

Oil palm is a good crop for rehabilitating degraded areas. In Sumatra it has successfully been established on abandoned farmlands taken over by Imperata cylindrica[].

Other Uses

Two types of oil are obtained from the plant:-
Palm oil is obtained from the fruit[, ]. About 10% of all palm oil, the inferior grades in particular and also refining residues, is used to manufacture soaps, detergents, candles, resins, lubricating greases, cosmetics, glycerol and fatty acids. Palm oil is employed in the steel industry (for sheet-steel manufacturing and tin plating, where it protects the iron before the tin is applied) and epoxidized palm oil is a plasticizer and stabilizer in PVC plastics[, ].
Palm kernel oil, obtained from the seed, is a non-drying oil. It is used as an alternative to coconut oil in making high quality soaps, as a lubricant etc[, , ]. It is a source of short-chain and medium-chain fatty acids. These acids are chemical intermediates in the production of fatty alcohols, esters, amines, amides and more sophisticated chemicals, which are components of many products such as surface-active agents, plastics, lubricants and cosmetics[].
Both oils also have a wide range of other uses, including making detergents, shampoos, cosmetics, lubricating oil additives and fluxes[].

It is technically possible to produce from palm oil either carbohydrates for conversion to alcohol or a methanolizable oil as a diesel substitute[]. In Togo, the pressed fruits are dried and fashioned into cakes for cooking fuel[].
The empty bunches, fibre and also the effluent (0.5 t sludge for each t of milled fruit bunches) from the oil mills can be converted into products such as organic fertilizers[].

Palm fronds are useful for thatch[, ]. The entire palm fronds of this species are less suitable for thatching than those of the coconut palm, because of irregular leaflet insertion. However, the leaflets are often woven into baskets and mats; the leaflet midribs are made into brooms and the rachises used for fencing[].

Young leaflets produce a fine strong fibre, used for making fishing lines, rsopes, strings and strainers[]. Obtained from the inner leaflets of the plant, it is said to be almost as fine and tenacious as human hair and to possess great strength[]. The leaflets have to be harvested just after they have opened and before hardening. Yields of fibre are quite small from each leaflet and, although the fibre is of excellent quality it is very time consuming to obtain[].

The seed shells are polished and carved into ornamental rings and beads[].

Palm trunks, available at replanting, provide excellent material for paper and board production, but this has not yet attracted much commercial interest[].
The seed shells are much appreciated by local blacksmiths as a high calorific fuel for furnaces[].

Propagation

Seed - pre-soak 24 hours in warm water and sow in containers. Germination takes place in 2 - 5 months[].
Commercially, the seeds are placed in intact 500-gauge polythene bags arranged on wooden boxes in a germinator at 39-40 deg. C for 75-80 days. They are then soaked in cold water for 3 days, changing water every 24 hours. The seeds are drained and dried under shade and kept at room temperature. They are examined every 2 weeks for germination and drying. Drying seeds are sprayed with water; germinated seeds are picked for potting. This treatment gives an 80% germination rate[].

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