Palm oil
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Palm oil is a form of edible vegetable oil obtained from the fruit of the Oil palm tree. The oil palm is a tropical palm tree.
There are two species of oil palm, the better known one is the one originating from Guinea, Africa and was first illustrated by Nicholaas Jacquin in 1763, hence its name, Elaeis guineensis Jacq.
The fruit is reddish, about the size of a large plum and grows in large bunches. A bunch of fruits can weigh between 10 to 40 kilograms each. Each fruit contains a single seed (the palm kernel) surrounded by a soft oily pulp. Oil is extracted from both the pulp of the fruit (palm oil, an edible oil) and the kernel (palm kernel oil, used mainly for soap manufacture).
For every 100 kilograms of fruit bunches, you typically extract 22 kilograms of palm oil and 1.6 kilograms of palm kernel oil.
Palm oil itself is reddish and contains a high amount of carotenoids. It is used as cooking oil, to make margarine and is a component of many processed foods.
Both palm and palm kernel oil are high in olefins, a potentially valuable chemical group that can be processed into many non-food products as well.
The high productivity of the Oil palm at producing oil (as high as 7,250 liters per hectare per year) has made it the prime source of vegetable oil for many tropical countries. Also, it is seen as a potential resource for producing the necessary vegetable oil for biodiesel.
The Oil palm originated in West Africa but has since been planted successfully in tropical regions within 20 degrees of the equator.
The world's largest producer and exporter of palm oil today is Malaysia, producing about 47% of the world's supply of palm oil. Indonesia is the second largest world producer of palm oil producing approximately 36% of world palm oil volume. Both nations are expanding their palm oil production capacity and the market continues to grow.
There is evidence of palm oil use in Ancient Egypt.
External links
- Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (http://www.sustainable-palmoil.org/)
- Daabon organic products (http://www.daabon.com)
- Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council (http://www.mpopc.org.my/)
- Physical properties of palm oil (http://www.tis-gdv.de/tis_e/ware/oele/palmoel/palmoel.htm)
- Another website on oil palm (http://www.fedepalma.org/oil_palm.htm)de:Palmöl