Oil Palm. African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis). Source Wikipedia. Elaeis guineensis is a species of palm commonly called oil palm. It is the principal source of palm oil. It is native to west and southwest Africa. E. guineensis is monocotyledonous. Mature palms are single-stemmed and grow to 20 meters tall. A young palm produces about 30 leaves a year. Established palms over 10 years produce about 20 leaves a year. The flowers are produced in dense clusters; each individual flower is small, with three sepals and three petals. Fruit bunch on palm. Source Wikipedia.
The palm fruit takes 5–6 months to develop from pollination to maturity. It is reddish, about the size of a large plum, and grows in large bunches. Each fruit is made up of an oily, fleshy outer layer (the pericarp), with a single seed (the palm kernel), also rich in oil. When ripe, each bunch of fruit weighs between 5 and 30 kg depending on the age of the palm tree. Oil palms can produce much more oil per unit of land area than most other oil-producing plants (about nine times more than soy and 4.5 times more than rapeseed). The history of palm oil stretches back thousands of years. 3000 BC. The oldest record of its use dating from 3,000 BC when in the late 1800s archaeologists discovered several kegs of palm oil in a tomb located in Abydos, Egypt. It is believed that Arab traders had brought the oil to Egypt. Middle 15th Century. Written records of palm oil being used as a local food source by European travellers to West Africa. Palm oil from E. guineensis has long been recognized in West and Central African countries, used widely as a cooking oil. European merchants trading with West Africa occasionally purchased palm oil for use as a cooking oil in Europe. 16th and 17th Century. Red palm oil became an important item in the developing trade network supplying caravans and ships of the Atlantic slave trade. 18th Century. British industrial revolution created palm oil demand for candle-making and as a lubricant for machines. This was supplied by a modest export trade from West Africa. Early 19th Century. European-run plantations were set up in Central Africa and Southeast Asia. 1884. Oil Palms introduced to Java by the Dutch. 1902. German investment in Cameroon brought about the discovery of the Tenera breed of palm oil. This high-yielding breed is what is used today in large-scale plantations. 46
