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Elaeis
African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Clade:	Commelinids
Order:	Arecales
Family:	Arecaceae
Subfamily:	Arecoideae
Tribe:	Cocoseae
Genus:	Elaeis Jacq.
Species
Elaeis guineensis Jacq. Elaeis oleifera (Kunth) Cortés
Synonyms
Corozo Jacq. ex Giseke Alfonsia Kunth

Elaeis (from Greek 'oil') is a genus of palms, called oil palms, containing two species, native to Africa and the Americas. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil.

Description

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Mature palms are single-stemmed, and can grow well over 20 m (66 ft) tall. The leaves are pinnate, and reach between 3–5 m (10–16 ft) long. The flowers are produced in dense clusters; each individual flower is small, with three sepals and three petals.

The palm fruit 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.

Species

The two species, E. guineensis (Africa) and E. oleifera (Americas) can produce fertile hybrids. The genome of E. guineensis has been sequenced, which has important implications for breeding improved strains of the crop plants.

• E. guineensis (Africa)
• E. oleifera (Central and South America)

Distribution and habitat

E. guineensis is native to west and southwest Africa, occurring between Angola and Gambia. The American oil palm, E. oleifera (from Latin oleifer 'oil-producing'), is native to tropical Central and South America from Honduras to northern Brazil, and is used locally for oil production.

Uses

Commercial palm oil cultivation

Since palm oil contains more saturated fats than oils made from canola, corn, linseed, soybeans, safflower, and sunflowers, it can withstand extreme deep-frying heat and resists oxidation. It contains no trans fat, and its use in food has increased as food-labelling laws have changed to specify trans fat content. Oil from Elaeis guineensis is also used as biofuel.

Human use of oil palms may date back to about 5,000 years in coastal west Africa. Palm oil was also discovered in the late 19th century by archaeologists in a tomb at Abydos dating back to 3000 BCE. It is thought that Arab traders brought the oil palm to Egypt.

Elaeis guineensis is now extensively cultivated in tropical countries outside Africa, particularly Malaysia and Indonesia which together produce most of the world supply, as well as domestically in the Americas.

Controversy

Palm oil is typically considered the most controversial of the cooking oils – for political, health, and environmental reasons. Palm oil plantations are under increasing scrutiny for social and environmental harm, particularly because rainforests with high biodiversity are destroyed, greenhouse gas output is increased, and because people are displaced by palm-oil enterprises and traditional livelihoods are negatively impacted. Especially in Indonesia, there is also growing pressure for palm oil producers to prove that they are not harming rare animals in the cultivation process.

In 2018 a Christmas TV advertisement by UK supermarket chain Iceland Foods Ltd, produced by Greenpeace, was banned by the UK advertising watchdog Clearcast, as it was deemed too political. This was an animated short, starring a fictional orangutan named Rang-tan produced to raise awareness of the environmental impact of the production of palm oil, and the dangers orangutans face as a result. Iceland Foods had committed to banning palm oil from its own-brand products by the end of 2018.

Almost all wildlife declines in both diversity and abundance in oil palm plantations.

Fiber

Elaeis was found to be a cheap source of nanofiber by Fahma et al 2010. It is especially suited to production in Indonesia where cellulosic waste is already an abundant byproduct.

See also

• Attalea maripa, another oil-producing palm
• Journal of Oil Palm Research
• Energy and the environment
• List of Arecaceae genera
• Social and environmental impact of palm oil

References

1. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families".
2. Singh, R.; Ong-Abdullah, M.; Low, E.-T.L.; Manaf, M.A.A.; Rosli, R.; Nookiah, R.; Ooi, L.C.-L.; Ooi, S.-E.; Chan, K.-L.; Halim, M.A.; Azizi, N.; Nagappan, J.; Bacher, B.; Lakey, N.; Smith, S.W.; He, D.; Hogan, M.; Budiman, M.A.; Lee, E.K.; DeSalle, R.; Kudrna, D.; Goicoechea, J.L.; Wing, R.A.; Wilson, R.K.; Fulton, R.S.; Ordway, J.M.; Martienssen, R.A.; Sambanthamurthi, R. (2013). "Oil palm genome sequence reveals divergence of interfertile species in Old and New worlds". Nature. 500 (7462): 335–339. Bibcode:2013Natur.500..335S. doi:10.1038/nature12309. PMC 3929164. PMID 23883927.
3. Gledhill, David (2008). The Name of Plants (4 ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (CUP). p. 279.
4. Collins Guide to Tropical Plants, ISBN 0-00-219112-1
5. De Marco, Elena; Savarese, Maria; Parisini, Cristina; Battimo, Ilaria; Falco, Salvatore; Sacchi, Raffaele (2007). "Frying performance of a sunflower/palm oil blend in comparison with pure palm oil". European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology. 109 (3): 237–246. doi:10.1002/ejlt.200600192.
6. Kiple, Kenneth F.; Conee Ornelas, Kriemhild, eds. (2000). The Cambridge World History of Food. Cambridge University Press (CUP). ISBN 0521402166. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
7. "Why palm oil is so controversial". The Independent. August 24, 2018.
8. "Palm Oil Plantations Are Blamed For Many Evils. But Change Is Coming". NPR. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
9. "Opinion: Iceland's Christmas advert ban for being 'too political' is heartless". The Independent. November 9, 2018.
10. "Iceland supermarkets to ban palm oil in own-brand products". BBC News. April 10, 2018.
11. Eggleton, Paul (2020). "The State of the World's Insects". Annual Review of Environment and Resources. 45 (1). Annual Reviews: 61–82. doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-012420-050035. ISSN 1543-5938.
12. Abdul Khalil, H.P.S.; Bhat, A.H.; Ireana Yusra, A.F. (2012). "Green composites from sustainable cellulose nanofibrils: A review". Carbohydrate Polymers. 87 (2). Elsevier: 963–979. doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2011.08.078. ISSN 0144-8617.

External links

• Media related to Elaeis at Wikimedia Commons
• "Oil palm - Diseases and Pests, Description, Uses, Propagation". Pennsylvania State University PlantVillage. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
• "AESA BASED IPM PACKAGE - OIL PALM" (PDF). Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine, and Storage and National Institute of Plant Health Management.
• "NATIONAL FOOD SECURITY MISSION - OILPALM". Andhra Pradesh, Horticulture Department. Retrieved 2020-11-19.

v t e Arecaceae genera
Baker & Dransfield (2016) taxonomy
Calamoideae	Eugeissoneae Eugeissona Lepidocaryeae Oncocalamus Eremospatha Laccosperma Raphia Lepidocaryum Mauritia Mauritiella Calameae Korthalsia Eleiodoxa Salacca Metroxylon Pigafetta Plectocomia Myrialepis Plectocomiopsis Calamus
Nypoideae	Nypa
Coryphoideae	Sabaleae Sabal Cryosophileae Schippia Trithrinax Zombia Coccothrinax Hemithrinax Leucothrinax Thrinax Chelyocarpus Cryosophila Itaya Sabinaria Phoeniceae Phoenix Trachycarpeae Chamaerops Guihaia Trachycarpus Rhapidophyllum Maxburretia Rhapis Livistona Licuala Johannesteijsmannia Pholidocarpus Saribus Lanonia Acoelorraphe Serenoa Brahea Colpothrinax Copernicia Pritchardia Washingtonia Chuniophoeniceae Chuniophoenix Kerriodoxa Nannorrhops Tahina Caryoteae Caryota Arenga Corypheae Corypha Borasseae Bismarckia Satranala Hyphaene Medemia Latania Lodoicea Borassodendron Borassus
Ceroxyloideae	Pseudophoenix Ceroxylon Juania Oraniopsis Ravenea Ammandra Aphandra Phytelephas
Arecoideae	Podococcus Orania Sclerosperma Roystonea Reinhardtia Manicaria Hyospathe Leopoldinia Iriarteeae Iriartella Dictyocaryum Iriartea Socratea Wettinia Chamaedoreeae Hyophorbe Wendlandiella Synechanthus Chamaedorea Gaussia Cocoseae Beccariophoenix Jubaeopsis Voanioala Allagoptera Attalea Butia Cocos Jubaea Syagrus Parajubaea Acrocomia Astrocaryum Aiphanes Bactris Desmoncus Barcella Elaeis Euterpeae Euterpe Prestoea Neonicholsonia Oenocarpus Geonomateae Welfia Pholidostachys Calyptrogyne Calyptronoma Asterogyne Geonoma Pelagodoxeae Pelagodoxa Sommieria Areceae Actinorhytis Archontophoenix Actinokentia Chambeyronia Kentiopsis Areca Nenga Pinanga Basselinia Burretiokentia Cyphophoenix Cyphosperma Lepidorrhachis Physokentia Carpoxylon Satakentia Neoveitchia Cyphokentia Clinosperma Dypsis Lemurophoenix Marojejya Masoala Calyptrocalyx Linospadix Howea Laccospadix Oncosperma Deckenia Acanthophoenix Tectiphiala Ptychosperma Ponapea Adonidia Balaka Veitchia Carpentaria Wodyetia Drymophloeus Normanbya Brassiophoenix Ptychococcus Jailoloa Manjekia Wallaceodoxa Rhopalostylis Hedyscepe Nephrosperma Phoenicophorium Roscheria Verschaffeltia Bentinckia Clinostigma Cyrtostachys Dictyosperma Dransfieldia Heterospathe Hydriastele Iguanura Loxococcus Rhopaloblaste

• Oil palm
• Cocoseae
• Flora of Sierra Leone
• Arecaceae genera
• Oil seeds
• Taxa named by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin