A Brief History of the Oil Palm

Published Date
Palm Oil
2012, Pages 1–29, doi:10.1016/B978-0-9818936-9-3.50004-6

• Author 

• Ian E. Henson

Publisher Summary

The African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) has been utilized by mankind as a source of oil and other products for thousands of years. In the last 50 years or so, there has been a phenomenal expansion in its cultivation throughout the tropics, such that palm oil is now a major commodity of world trade and the oil palm is a leading source of vegetable oil. This chapter discusses the history of the African oil palm and its relatives in terms of its origins, evolution, distribution, and utilization; reviews the growth of the palm oil industry; and examines the progress made in enhancing production through selective breeding, improved cultivation practices, and exploitation of optimum environments that together have resulted in progressive and substantial yield increases in this most productive of all oil-bearing crops. The uses of palm oil have expanded considerably in recent years. Some 77% of it is used for food and included in the expanding range of non-food uses is the production of bio-diesel and various oleochemicals.

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 Table 1-A

Table 1-A.

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 Table 1-B

Table 1-B.

 Table 1-C

Table 1-C.

 Table 1-D

Table 1-D.

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 Table 1-E

Table 1-E.

 Table 1-F

Table 1-F.

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Copyright © 2012 AOCS Press. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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