# Elaeis > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Elaeis > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Elaeis.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaeis > Source revision: 1345481136 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Oil palms, genus}} {{Redirect|Oil palm||List of plants known as oil palm}} {{For|the Greek goddess of oil|Elais}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = Elaeis guineensis0.jpg |image_caption = African oil palm (''Elaeis guineensis'') |display_parents = 2 |taxon = Elaeis |authority = [Jacq.](/source/Nikolaus_Joseph_von_Jacquin) |subdivision_ranks = Species |subdivision = *''[Elaeis guineensis](/source/Elaeis_guineensis)'' [Jacq.](/source/Nikolaus_Joseph_von_Jacquin) *''[Elaeis oleifera](/source/Elaeis_oleifera)'' ([Kunth](/source/Carl_Sigismund_Kunth)) [Cortés](/source/Santiago_Cort%C3%A9s_(botanist)) |synonyms = * ''Corozo'' [Jacq.](/source/Nikolaus_Joseph_von_Jacquin) ex [Giseke](/source/Paul_Dietrich_Giseke) * ''Alfonsia'' [Kunth](/source/Carl_Sigismund_Kunth) |synonyms_ref = {{Cite web|url=https://wcsp.science.kew.org/prepareChecklist.do;jsessionid=B754A84A259AC3FD89D6811E7C3E7DE2.kppapp06-wcsp?checklist=selected_families%40%40337021220201538532|title=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families |author=[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew](/source/Royal_Botanic_Gardens%2C_Kew)}} }} '''''Elaeis''''' ({{etymology|el||oil}}) is a genus of [palms](/source/Arecaceae), called '''oil palms''', containing two species, native to Africa and the Americas. They are used in commercial [agriculture](/source/agriculture) in the production of [palm oil](/source/palm_oil). ==Description== {{unreferenced section|date=November 2024}} Mature palms are single-stemmed, and can grow well over {{convert|20|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} tall. The [leaves](/source/leaf) are [pinnate](/source/pinnate), and reach between {{convert|3|-|5|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} long. The [flower](/source/flower)s 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](/source/seed) (the [palm kernel](/source/palm_kernel)), also rich in oil. ==Species== The two species, ''[E. guineensis](/source/Elaeis_guineensis)'' (Africa) and ''[E. oleifera](/source/Elaeis_oleifera)'' (Americas) can produce fertile [hybrids](/source/hybrid_(biology)). The [genome](/source/genome) of ''E. guineensis'' has been sequenced, which has important implications for breeding improved strains of the crop plants.{{cite journal|author1=Singh, R. |author2=Ong-Abdullah, M. |author3=Low, E.-T.L. |author4=Manaf, M.A.A. |author5=Rosli, R. |author6=Nookiah, R. |author7=Ooi, L.C.-L. |author8=Ooi, S.-E. |author9=Chan, K.-L. |author10=Halim, M.A. |author11=Azizi, N. |author12=Nagappan, J. |author13=Bacher, B. |author14=Lakey, N. |author15=Smith, S.W. |author16=He, D. |author17=Hogan, M. |author18=Budiman, M.A. |author19=Lee, E.K. |author20=DeSalle, R. |author21=Kudrna, D. |author22=Goicoechea, J.L. |author23=Wing, R.A. |author24=Wilson, R.K. |author25=Fulton, R.S. |author26=Ordway, J.M. |author27=Martienssen, R.A. |author28=Sambanthamurthi, R. |year=2013|title=Oil palm genome sequence reveals divergence of interfertile species in Old and New worlds|journal=[Nature](/source/Nature_(journal))|volume=500|issue=7462 |doi=10.1038/nature12309|pages=335–339 |pmid=23883927 |pmc=3929164|bibcode=2013Natur.500..335S }} {{gallery|mode=packed |Elaeis guineensis - Fruit and Spice Park - Homestead, Florida - DSC09011.jpg|''[E. guineensis](/source/Elaeis_guineensis)'' (Africa) |Oilpalmmagdalenacolombia-2.jpg|''[E. oleifera](/source/Elaeis_oleifera)'' (Central and South America) }} ==Distribution and habitat== ''E. guineensis'' is native to west and southwest [Africa](/source/Africa), occurring between [Angola](/source/Angola) and [Gambia](/source/Gambia). The American oil palm, ''E. oleifera'' ({{etymology|la|oleifer|oil-producing}}),{{cite book |last=Gledhill |first=David |url=https://archive.org/details/namesplants00gled_746 |title=The Name of Plants |publisher=[Cambridge University Press](/source/Cambridge_University_Press) (CUP) |year=2008 |edition=4 |location=Cambridge |page=[https://archive.org/details/namesplants00gled_746/page/n288 279] |url-access=limited}} is native to tropical [Central](/source/Central_America) and [South America](/source/South_America)Collins Guide to Tropical Plants, {{ISBN|0-00-219112-1}} from Honduras to northern Brazil, and is used locally for oil production. ==Uses== [[File:Liberia oil palm.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Harvesting in [Liberia](/source/Liberia)]] ===Commercial palm oil cultivation=== {{main|Palm oil}} Since palm oil contains more [saturated fat](/source/saturated_fat)s than oils made from canola, corn, linseed, soybeans, safflower, and sunflowers, it can withstand extreme deep-frying heat and resists oxidation.{{Cite journal|doi=10.1002/ejlt.200600192 |title=Frying performance of a sunflower/palm oil blend in comparison with pure palm oil |year=2007 |last1=De Marco |first1=Elena |last2=Savarese |last3=Parisini |last4=Battimo |last5=Falco |last6=Sacchi |journal=[European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology](/source/European_Journal_of_Lipid_Science_and_Technology)|volume=109|issue=3 |pages=237–246 |first2=Maria |first3=Cristina |first4=Ilaria |first5=Salvatore |first6=Raffaele}} It contains no [trans fat](/source/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](/source/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](/source/Abydos%2C_Egypt) dating back to 3000 [BCE](/source/BCE).{{cite book |title=The Cambridge World History of Food |editor1-last=Kiple |editor1-first=Kenneth F. |editor2-last=Conee Ornelas |editor2-first=Kriemhild |year=2000 |publisher=[Cambridge University Press](/source/Cambridge_University_Press) (CUP)|isbn=0521402166 |url=http://www.cambridge.org/us/books/kiple/palmoil.htm |access-date=30 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020201103/http://www.cambridge.org/us/books/kiple/palmoil.htm |archive-date=20 October 2012 }} It is thought that Arab traders brought the oil palm to Egypt.{{Citation needed|date=December 2019|reason=removed citation to predatory publisher content}} ''Elaeis guineensis'' is now extensively cultivated in tropical countries outside Africa, particularly [Malaysia](/source/Malaysia) and [Indonesia](/source/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.{{Cite web |date=August 24, 2018 |title=Why palm oil is so controversial |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/palm-oil-health-impact-environment-animals-deforestation-heart-a8505521.html |website=[The Independent](/source/The_Independent)}} Palm oil plantations are under increasing scrutiny for [social and environmental harm](/source/Social_and_environmental_impact_of_palm_oil), particularly because [rainforests](/source/rainforests) with high [biodiversity](/source/biodiversity) are destroyed, [greenhouse gas](/source/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.{{Cite news |title=Palm Oil Plantations Are Blamed For Many Evils. But Change Is Coming |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/04/21/396815303/palm-oil-plantations-are-blamed-for-many-evils-but-change-is-coming |access-date=2017-07-19 |work=[NPR](/source/NPR) |language=en}} In 2018 a [Christmas](/source/Christmas) TV advertisement by UK supermarket chain [Iceland Foods Ltd](/source/Iceland_(supermarket)), produced by [Greenpeace](/source/Greenpeace), was banned by the UK advertising watchdog [Clearcast](/source/Clearcast),{{Cite web |date=November 9, 2018 |title=Opinion: Iceland's Christmas advert ban for being 'too political' is heartless |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/iceland-christmas-advert-banned-tv-greenpeace-palm-oil-political-emma-thompson-a8626416.html |website=The Independent}} 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.{{Cite news |date=April 10, 2018 |title=Iceland supermarkets to ban palm oil in own-brand products |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43696948 |work=[BBC News](/source/BBC_News)}} Almost all wildlife declines in both [diversity](/source/species_diversity) and [abundance](/source/abundance_(ecology)) in oil palm plantations. {{Cite journal |last=Eggleton |first=Paul |year=2020 |title=The State of the World's Insects |journal=[Annual Review of Environment and Resources](/source/Annual_Review_of_Environment_and_Resources) |publisher=[Annual Reviews](/source/Annual_Reviews_(publisher)) |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=61–82 |doi=10.1146/annurev-environ-012420-050035 |issn=1543-5938 |doi-access=free}} ===Fiber=== ''Elaeis'' was found to be a cheap source of [nanofiber](/source/nanofiber) by Fahma et al. 2010. It is especially suited to production in [Indonesia](/source/Indonesia) where [cellulosic](/source/cellulose) waste is already an abundant byproduct.{{cite journal | last1=Abdul Khalil | first1=H.P.S. | last2=Bhat | first2=A.H. | last3=Ireana Yusra | first3=A.F. | title=Green composites from sustainable cellulose nanofibrils: A review | journal=[Carbohydrate Polymers](/source/Carbohydrate_Polymers) | publisher=[Elsevier](/source/Elsevier) | volume=87 | issue=2 | year=2012 | issn=0144-8617 | doi=10.1016/j.carbpol.2011.08.078 | pages=963–979}} ==See also== * ''[Attalea maripa](/source/Attalea_maripa)'', another oil-producing palm * [Energy and the environment](/source/Energy_and_the_environment) * ''[Journal of Oil Palm Research](/source/Journal_of_Oil_Palm_Research)'' * [List of Arecaceae genera](/source/List_of_Arecaceae_genera) * [Social and environmental impact of palm oil](/source/Social_and_environmental_impact_of_palm_oil) ==References== {{Reflist|2}} ==External links== * {{commons category-inline}} * {{cite web | title=Oil palm - Diseases and Pests, Description, Uses, Propagation | website=[Pennsylvania State University](/source/Pennsylvania_State_University) PlantVillage | url=http://plantvillage.psu.edu/topics/oil-palm/infos | access-date=2020-11-19}} * {{cite web|url=http://niphm.gov.in/IPMPackages/Oilpalm.pdf|title=AESA BASED IPM PACKAGE - OIL PALM|website=[Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine, and Storage](/source/Directorate_of_Plant_Protection%2C_Quarantine%2C_and_Storage) and [National Institute of Plant Health Management](/source/National_Institute_of_Plant_Health_Management)}} * {{cite web | title=NATIONAL FOOD SECURITY MISSION - OILPALM | website=[Andhra Pradesh](/source/Andhra_Pradesh_Department_of_Agriculture), [Horticulture Department](/source/Horticulture_Department) | url=http://horticulture.ap.nic.in/Section%20wise/NMOOP/NMOOP/index.html | access-date=2020-11-19 | archive-date=2021-02-27 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227005535/https://horticulture.ap.nic.in/Section%20wise/NMOOP/NMOOP/index.html | url-status=dead }} {{Arecaceae genera}} {{Palm oil}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q7609983}} {{Authority control}} Category:Oil palm Category:Cocoseae Category:Flora of Sierra Leone Category:Arecaceae genera Category:Oil seeds Category:Taxa named by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Elaeis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaeis) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaeis?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.