Elaeis guineensis

African oil palm
African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Genus: Elaeis
Species:
E. guineensis
Binomial name
Elaeis guineensis
Synonyms[2]

Elaeis guineensis is a species of palm commonly just called oil palm but also sometimes African oil palm or macaw-fat.[3] It is the principal source of palm oil. It is native to west and southwest Africa, specifically the area between Angola and The Gambia; the species name, guineensis, refers to the name for the area called Guinea, and not the modern country Guinea now bearing that name. The species is also now naturalised in Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Central America, Cambodia, the West Indies, and several islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The closely related American oil palm E. oleifera and a more distantly related palm, Attalea maripa, are also used to produce palm oil.

E. guineensis was domesticated in West Africa along the south-facing Atlantic coast. There is insufficient documentation and as of 2019[4] insufficient research to make any guesses as to when this occurred.[5] Human use of oil palms may date as far back as 5,000 years in Egypt; in the late 1800s, archaeologists discovered palm oil in a tomb at Abydos, Egypt dating back to 3000 BCE.[6]

The first Western person to describe it and bring back seeds was the French naturalist Michel Adanson.[7]

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).[8]

  1. ^ Cosiaux, A.; Gardiner, L.M.; Couvreur, T.L.P. (2016). "Elaeis guineensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016. IUCN: e.T13416970A13416973. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T13416970A13416973.en. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  2. ^ "Elaeis guineensis Select. Stirp. Amer. Hist.: 280 (1763)". World Flora Online. World Flora Consortium. 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Elaeis guineensis". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  4. ^ Okolo, C. C.; Okolo, E. F.; Nnadi, A. L.; Obikwelu, F. E.; Obalum, S. E.; Igwe, C. A. (2019). "The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq): nature's ecological endowment to eastern Nigeria". Agro-Science Journal of Tropical Agriculture, Food, Environment and Extension. 18 (3). African Journals OnLine (AJOL): 48–57. doi:10.4314/as.v18i3.9. ISSN 1119-7455. S2CID 207988695.
  5. ^ Purugganan, Michael D.; Fuller, Dorian Q. (2009). "The nature of selection during plant domestication". Nature. 457 (7231). Nature Research: 843–848. Bibcode:2009Natur.457..843P. doi:10.1038/nature07895. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 19212403. S2CID 205216444.
  6. ^ Kiple, Kenneth F.; Conee Ornelas, Kriemhild, eds. (2000). The Cambridge World History of Food. Cambridge University Press (CUP). p. II.E.3. ISBN 978-0521402163. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  7. ^ Jean-Marie Pelt, « Michel Adanson, le baobab et les coquillages », dans La Cannelle et le panda : les grands naturalistes explorateurs autour du Monde, Fayard, 1999 ISBN 978-2213-60466-4.
  8. ^ Michael Le Page (May 5, 2018). "The real palm oil problem: it's not just in your food". New Scientist. See especially this graph.