Oil Palm

 Oil Palm - Elaeis guineensis TAXONOMY The African oil palm, Elaeis guineensis Jacq., is placed in the Arecaceae family along with coconut and date palms. Cultivars There are three naturally occurring forms of the oil palm fruit, termed dura, tenera, and pisifera. Most cultivars are the tenera form which produces fruit with higher oil content. ORIGIN, HISTORY OF CULTIVATION The African oil palm is native to tropical...

Read More

FFB Processing

For mature plantations not exceeding 40 ha, a hand-operated hydraulic press will be enough for extraction of oil. In the case of large-scale plantations, the hydraulic press will not be economical and as such, mechanically driven oil mills have to be established. The fruit bunches brought to the factory are first quartered by means of a chisel. They are then sterilized in steam or boiling water for 30-60 minutes. The objective of this process is...

Read More

Oil Palm Physiology

Palm oils consist mainly of glycerides and, like other oils in their crude form, small and variable portions of non-glyceride components as well. In order to render the oils to an edible form, some of these non-glycerides need to be either removed or reduced to acceptable levels. In term of solubility study – glycerides are of two broad types: oil insoluble and oil soluble. The insoluble impurities consisting of fruit fibres, nut shells and free...

Read More

Seeds of Oil Palm

MODERN OIL PALM CULTIVATION A modern oil palm plantation needs a grower who has learned how to cultivate oil palms. Growing selected oil palms is not just a matter of picking the fruit; it is a modern crop.The grower must learn how to do his work well.The grower should ask for advice, so that he learns to do better and better. The grower must think about his work and plan it, so that he can always do his work at the right time.Selected oil...

Read More

Palm Nursery

Nursery practices The fruits are separated from the bunch and seeds are extracted by scraping off the exocarp and mesocarp with a knife, or by retting in water. The seeds are then dried by spreading them on concrete or wooden floors under shade for two days. Such seeds can be stored for 3-9 months at about 27 ºC without much reduction in viability.Seeds are soaked in water for five days, changing the water daily. Thereafter, the seeds are spread...

Read More