Grove of coconut and oil palms. How palm trees are grown to produce palm oil. What's in your name

Global population growth requires an increase in the number of products. Vegetable oil is no exception. The world produces and consumes huge quantities of it. In Russia, the most common type of vegetable oil is sunflower oil. In addition to it, there are still several dozen varieties, all of them have a name according to the plant or fruit from which they are produced. The most popular include palm, soy, rapeseed, olive and sunflower. Moreover, they also differ in the level of global production and consumption, for example, palm oil takes the leading position, accounting for 36%, soybean oil is in second - 26%, rapeseed is in third - 15%, and sunflower oil is only in fourth, occupying 9 percent of the total. .

What is it made from?

Palm oil is extracted from the fruits of the oil palm, which is native to West Africa. Its Latin name – Elaeisguineensis – is translated as “olive” (elaion) and “Guinean” (guineensis). The first mention of it is found in the records of traders traveling across the African continent, dating back to the 15th century. However, today the main suppliers of this natural product steel Indonesia and Malaysia. It's not hard to guess why - thanks to the tenacity and hard work of these East Asian peoples, and of course the warm and humid climate there. A third of the world's palm oil is grown and produced in these regions. In nature, palm trees can reach 30 meters, cultivated varieties - 15 meters. The tree begins to bear fruit at the age of 3-4 years. From one hectare of young palm trees you can collect up to 3 tons of fruits, from mature plants - up to 15 tons. Palm trees grown on plantations produce crops 2-4 times a year. The fruits of the oil palm, similar to plums, grow in whole fruit clusters - “heaps” of thousands, weighing from 25 kilograms.

What are palm tree fruits?

Looks like oil palm fruit They look like a plum or a date, under the pericarp of which there is an oily pulp, followed by a nut shell with an inner kernel (palm kernel oil is also prepared from it).

What are the main types of oils made from oil palm fruits?

Palm oil color directly depends on the color of the fruit pulp. It can have a wide range of colors: from yellowish to dark red shades. Its scent is reminiscent of violets. After processing, including rectification (separation into components), bleaching and deodorization, it can be used for food. The refined product is mainly used during frying and as a salad dressing. It is also one of the components in the preparation of ice cream, chips, “quick” cereals, chocolate, various bakery and confectionery products, sausages, mayonnaise, etc.

Palm kernel oil extracted from kernels its characteristics are very similar to coconut, and is often used with/instead of it. The production and processing process of this type is more complex and expensive. It is produced in smaller quantities and is valued higher than usual. The scope of application of the palm kernel product is the production of high-quality expensive cosmetics and perfumes.

About beneficial and harmful properties

It's impossible not to say that there are types according to the degree of processing: raw, refined and technical.
The most expensive of them is the first - unprocessed. But it does not occur here. In the unrefined palm oil a lot of vitamin E, provitamin A, carotenoids. This positive side product properties.
Its harm lies in:

1. high content of saturated fats,
2. high melting point, or refractoriness,
3. low levels of linoleic acid.

If such a degree of benefit/harm possesses something that has not undergone purification, then the refined product loses its benefits - that’s for sure, and the harmful characteristics increase.

Next view according to the degree of processing - technical. Most often, this type is used for the production of inexpensive cosmetics and technological lubricants. It's the cheapest. And therein lies the catch. Many food manufacturers, in order to save money, add a technical variety to their production process. There is no need to talk about its harmfulness. You just need to remember the unprocessed product and increase it elevenfold!

Whether or not to buy products that contain palm oil is up to everyone to decide for themselves.

Candidate of Pharmaceutical Sciences Igor Sokolsky

We approached Freetown on a sunny, hot day, and the breeze brought to us the wonderful smells of West Africa... Palm oil, flowers, rotting vegetation created a delightful, intoxicating bouquet.
Gerald Durrell. Catch me a colobus

African oil palm. Photo: Marco Schmidt/Wikimedia Commons/CC-BY-SA.

Oil palm fruits. The oil from the seeds of this palm tree is called palm kernel oil. Photo: Bongoman/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA.

Table 1. Melting point of refined deodorized fatty oils intended for Food Industry.

Table 2. Content (in grams) of fatty acids in 100 g of non-drying semi-solid oils. Source: USDA SR-23. USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference.

Table 3. Content (in grams) of fatty acids in 100 g of vegetable oils. Source: USDA SR-23. USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference.

Table 4. Vitamin E content and energy value of 100 g of oils. Source: USDA SR-23. USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference.

Along with the growth of the planet's population and an increase in living standards, the need for food, including vegetable oil, is growing. Over the past ten years, the world has seen a steady increase in the production and consumption of the main types of vegetable oil - palm, soybean, rapeseed and sunflower. The structure of its industrial production is as follows: palm oil occupies 35.8%, palm kernel oil - 4.1%, soybean oil - 26.1%, rapeseed oil - 15.1%. The most common in Russia sunflower oil is only in fourth place with a share of 8.6%.

The source of palm oil is the African oil palm, the Latin name of which is Elaeis guineensis, derived from the Greek words elaion - olive and guineensis - Guinean. The monoecious palm of the palm family grows up to 20-30 m in the wild, and up to 10-15 m in the cultivated state.

Although the oil palm is native to the humid tropics of West and Central Africa, the main plantations and production are concentrated in Malaysia and Indonesia. The industriousness of these countries' populations and climate have created particularly favorable conditions for the production of more than three-quarters of the palm oil consumed worldwide. These same countries also have the highest per capita consumption so far.

Oil palm grows well in humus-rich soil with plenty of rain and bright sun. Fruits suitable for oil production appear on three to four year old plants. The number of fruits collected increases as the palm matures. Young palm trees produce about 3 tons of fruit per hectare, while 20-year-old palms produce about 13-15 tons.

Wild palm trees bear fruit twice a year, and plantations can produce up to four harvests. The fruit of an oil palm consists of 600-1200 fruits with a total weight of 25-50 kg.

The fruit of the oil palm is a drupe the size of a plum. It is surrounded by juicy fibrous pericarp pulp, which serves as the main raw material for the production of palm oil. Beneath the hard shell is a soft seed called the palm kernel. Palm kernel oil is extracted from the seeds.

Freshly pressed palm oil is orange-colored yellow, pleasant taste and violet smell. In its unprocessed form, it is used only for technical purposes.

With slight heating, this oil can be divided into two fractions: liquid (oleapten) with a melting point of 12-24 o C and solid (stearoptene) with a melting point of 44-56 o C. Most of the crude palm oil is subjected to rectification, bleaching and deodorization, after which it becomes suitable for use in food purposes.

Palm kernel oil extracted from the seeds has a yellow color and a light, pleasant aroma. It is obtained in much smaller quantities and using more complex technology, so it costs more than palm oil and is mainly used for the production of high-quality cosmetics and detergents.

About 80% of palm oil is used in food in one form or another. It is used as a vegetable oil for frying, salad dressing, or used in the food industry, adding to ice cream, chocolate, chips, cereals instant cooking, frozen foods, bakery products.

Palm oil, like palm kernel oil, is used for the production of personal care products, cosmetics and household chemicals, including soap and other detergents, toothpaste, lotions, and creams. In world practice, it is also used as a raw material for the production of biofuel.

About 60% of total palm oil is consumed in Asian countries, mainly in Indonesia, India and China. The European Union accounts for 10% of consumption (6 million tons per year), the USA - 2% (1.2 million tons).

Reasons for the growing production and consumption of palm oil include its ability to be used in a wide variety of food and non-food applications, competitive pricing, growing demand from emerging markets, the absence of trans fatty acids and the possibility of obtaining products from genetically modified palms.

In our country, palm oil has acquired a reputation as a “dangerous” and “difficult to digest” fat. Only without understanding anything about the digestion process can one persistently write that “palm oil is not digestible, since its melting point is higher than the temperature of the human body.” Meat and fish steaks, pork chops, chicken cutlets, vegetables, fruits and 99.9% of other products also do not dissolve at the temperature prevailing in the human stomach and intestines, but this does not prevent them from being safely digested when eaten in moderation.

For those who are not convinced by this argument, I advise you to carefully study the table. 1.

Solid and semi-solid fats and oils intended for the manufacture of sweets, cakes, ice cream and other delicious products should not have a melting point higher than normal temperature human body only so that confectionery products do not have a greasy aftertaste. That is why, and not because it “does not dissolve” in the stomach, the confectionery industry uses a fraction of refined and deodorized palm oil with a melting point close to 35.6 o C.

Since professional nutritionists believe that the most healthy part of fats are polyunsaturated acids, from this point of view it turns out that palm oil has a clear advantage over cocoa butter and especially butter, which no one has ever thought of throwing a stone at. . The numbers given in the table eloquently speak about this. 2. In the same table you can see the difference in the content of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in palm and palm kernel oil, which is one of the reasons for limiting the use of the latter for food purposes.

And if palm oil is significantly inferior in the content of unsaturated fatty acids to liquid oils of vegetable origin (Table 3), then in comparison with semi-solid vegetable cocoa oil and animal butter it has a clear advantage.

With almost equal energy value (calorie content) in terms of vitamin E content, palm oil is practically second only to sunflower oil (Table 4).

It is not palm oil itself that is harmful, but the excessive amount of sweets and other confectionery products that contain it. Any, even the most beneficial vegetable oil, which is considered to be olive oil, consumed in large doses, can disable the entire gastrointestinal system of the body and thereby cause irreparable harm to health.

Palm oil, which is used in the food industry, is much closer to natural products, in contrast to margarine, which, apparently due to the habit that has arisen over a long period of use, for some reason does not cause severe criticism.

When discussing the benefits or harms of palm oil, one should not miss such an important point as where, in what form and why it is used. The quality of edible palm oil is guaranteed by the presence of a standard Russian Federation- GOST R 53776-2010 “Palm oil. Refined deodorized for the food industry." Such a document could appear only if, based on scientific research it has been proven that this product in certain quantities can be safely used for the production of food products.

Palm oil that has not undergone preliminary rectification is prohibited from being used for food purposes in all countries. In this form, it, as well as palm kernel, serves as a raw material for the production of soap, cosmetics, candles, etc. And only after a complex of technological operations for purification, fractionation, refining and bringing to certain conditions, the very same palm oil that is in everything In the world, it has become the most used and cheapest fat in the food industry, regarding which there is still no scientifically proven data worthy of attention on its harmful effects on the human body.

Oil palm is the most productive : homeland - Africa, Western Guinea, where wild palm trees are still harvested and oil is obtained in villages using traditional methods.

Guinea oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) gives the most record harvest among all oilseeds - 4–8 tons of oil per hectare per year!

But Guinea oil palm has certain disadvantages. It grows exclusively in the warm, humid equatorial climate between 18° north and south latitude. The areas suitable for oil palm cultivation are very limited.

Oil palm is the most productive palm tree

In addition, this plant does not reproduce vegetatively - a palm tree can be grown only from seeds.

Over the course of 4–6 years, the oil palm grows, forming a rosette of leaves, and only after that it forms a trunk. Maximum fruiting begins 15–20 years after sowing and continues until approximately 70 years old.

Therefore, large oil palm groves often belong to royal families and are passed down through generations.

Since the 15th century The palm tree began to be grown in different parts of Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.

In 1870, the oil palm was first brought to Malaysia, was used as an ornamental plant, decorated city streets, and since 1917 it began to be grown for commercial purposes.

Currently, Malaysia is the largest producer and exporter of palm oil in the world.

Malaysia and Indonesia mainly specialize in cultivating a hybrid palm tree called Tenera. This variety produces about 4 tons of palm oil, approximately 0.5 tons of palm kernel and 0.6 tons of cake per hectare.

Palm tree "Tenera"

The palm reaches maturity at 3 years and bears fruit for 35 years. It produces the highest oil yield per hectare compared to other crops.

Palm fruits grow in large clusters, reaching a weight of 10–20 kilograms and numbering about 2 thousand individual fruits. Palm oil is obtained from the pulp that envelops the fruit, in a simple way: The fruits are boiled, crushed and squeezed.

The pulp contains about 49% palm oil, and the kernel contains about 50% palm kernel oil.

Palm "Tenera" begins to bear fruit 30 months after planting, and up to eight years the yield is constantly increasing. Then for five years the yield remains at the same level. From the age of 13, the yield gradually decreases. By the age of 25, the plantation should be renewed.

Oil palm is the most productive, as it produces a crop once every 20 days. That is, every 20 days you need to collect new ripened fruits. Considering that there are few workers, and they go gradually throughout the palm forest, timing is very important so as not to disrupt them, because the palm tree will begin to grow new flowers and fruits only after cutting off the old ones.

And, therefore, 20 days are counted after the harvest. And when there are failures, for example, workers did not come out due to heavy rains or for another reason, then the whole cycle is disrupted. They climb palm trees with the help of “crampons”, cut off the fruits with a chainsaw, and they fall to the ground.

Palm oil is one of the most ancient vegetable oils used by humans for cooking.

Palm oil is already in use more than 5000 years.

Palm oil is extracted from the fruits of the oil palm, namely the pulp of the fruit, which is first squeezed and then boiled. They grow mainly in tropical countries, particularly West Africa.

IN in kind the product is a liquid substance, has an orange-yellow color and has a rather pleasant aroma and sweet taste. At temperatures below thirty degrees the oil becomes solid , reminiscent of margarine in structure.

Palm oil is the hardest vegetable oil

Palm oil is the only one in the world that is called solid vegetable oil. , similar in composition to animal fats.

Palm oil consists mainly of saturated fatty acids, which differ ability to be stored for a long time, without changing its properties.

The oil contains palmitic acid in large quantities, but despite this, it also contains other saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, in particular stearic, oleic, arachidic, linoleic, myristic, lauric, etc.

In addition, the oil contains vitamins E, D, K, lecithin, phytosterols, squalene, coenzyme Q10, magnesium, phosphorus, etc. This product is quite high in calories, the energy value is about 900 kcal per 100 g of product.

Today, palm oil is the No. 1 oil in terms of production and consumption in the world.

The main consumers of palm oil are developed countries - Europe, America, Japan.

Why is palm oil so widespread?

Firstly, it is stored for a long time without changing the taste and, accordingly, makes it possible to produce products with longer shelf life. Palm oil in a box can be stored at room temperature for 1 year, and it does not change its properties and does not go rancid, unlike sunflower oil.

Secondly, palm oil is very cheap since the crop is harvested almost every day.

And thirdly, This oil can be hydrogenated, during which it changes from a liquid to a solid state. The resulting mass can be added to anything - it is cheap (for example, compared to milk fat) and convenient. And these qualities, of course, were immediately appreciated by product manufacturers.

Palm oil - both solid and liquid

Palm oil is divided into technical and food - solid and liquid, groups- white, yellow, red palm oils.

Elite grade - red palm oil

Red palm oils are the “cream” of palm oil, “Elite”. Next, industrial oil is squeezed out - for mass production of products (Lushin, Doshirak, Chips, etc.), and only then - low-grade industrial oil.

Oil is also extracted from palm seeds . It's called palm kernel , it is lighter than palm and resembles coconut. There are other types of palm oil.

In the culinary field, palm oil in terms of usage level can be compared with coconut oil. Confectioners unanimously claim that this product is simply irreplaceable in the production of their products, especially those intended for long-term storage.

It is used in the production of margarine and other substitutes for natural butter, is an ingredient in the manufacture of condensed milk, crackers, crackers, chocolate, cheese, bread, ice cream, cakes, pastries, confectionery, and many other products.

Many people know about the existence of palm oil. Today it is one of the most used and widespread plant products throughout the world. In this article we will consider some questions regarding this curious exotic plant that produces such a necessary product: what is an oil palm, where does it grow, etc.

First of all, I would like to note that the very first description of a tree resembling an oil palm was made by a Venetian named Alvise da Cada Mosto back in the 15th century. This scientist was engaged in research in

More than 50 years ago, the oilseed made a long journey along with slaves across the Atlantic Ocean, after which this oil became so widespread throughout the world.

Yes (southwestern part Pacific Ocean), where you can see endless rows of which produce oil.

Oil palm: photo, description

It is a plant of the palm family and one of the species of the oil palm genus.

In the wild, it is a huge tree, the height of which can reach from 20 to 30 meters, but in cultivation it more often grows from 10 to 15 meters. The main trunk of a palm tree appears only in the 4-6th year of life, and in the shade (under the forest canopy) - only after 15-20 years. An adult tree has a trunk diameter of 25 centimeters.

The root system of the palm tree is quite powerful, but, as a rule, it does not lie very deep. Mature plants at the base of the trunk have numerous adventitious roots extending to the sides. Some plants have such dense appendages that cover the trunk up to a height of 1 meter.

The leaves of the palm tree are long (up to 7 meters), large and feathery. In an adult plant, you can count 20-40 of them in the crown. But every year up to 25 leaves of the palm die off, again being replaced by new ones. Large thorns cover the leaf petioles.

In addition to all of the above, this amazing oil palm is very beautiful and majestic in appearance.

Fruit

This is an ordinary drupe about the size of a date. The oval-shaped fruit of the oil palm tree is covered on top with a fibrous pericarp, inside of which there is pulp containing oil. Under this pulp there is a nut covered with a fairly strong shell, inside of which there is a kernel (or seed). The latter mainly consists of endosperm, and the seed embryo is small.

The oil palm (fruit photo above) has a huge number of drupes. The mass of each of them is 55-100 g. They are collected in paniculate inflorescences containing a total of 1300 to 2300 fruits.

Characteristics of oils

Palm oil is made from the pulp of the fruit. Its color can vary from dark yellow to dark red shades, and it is mainly used as a technological lubricant and for soap production.

Produced from the kernels of palm fruits. Its properties and composition are similar to coconut oil and are often used instead.

Although this oil has a melting point of 27 to 30 degrees Celsius, it is very often subjected to hydrogenation, used in a mixture with other liquid vegetable oils or separately to obtain edible lard in the production of margarine.

To produce one ton of palm oil, four and a half tons of fruit are needed.

Harvesting

The oil palm, as noted above, has a huge number of fruits. At the same time, plantation workers collect the ripe harvest in the amount of up to 2 tons (this is from 80 to 100 bunches) daily by hand. It should be noted that one bunch reaches a weight of 25 kg. And each of them contains about two hundred fruits.

Collecting the fruits is very difficult and labor-intensive, because they are located approximately at the height of a four-story building. How is this done? Workers attach sharp knives to the end of an extendable pole. With the help of them, pickers cut fruits from trees and collect them in heaps on the side of the road. Then the bunches go to the processing plant.

Places of growth

Oil palm grows in countries with hot climates. Where is it grown? There is an African palm of this type (Elaeis guieneensis). Although its homeland is tropical Africa (Nigeria), it grows in Malaysia, Central America and Indonesia.

There are also places where such palms are grown (species Elaeis melanococca, Acrocomia and Coco Mbocaya) and in South America(particularly in Paraguay). This plant is cultivated for the production of technical and edible oils.

Productivity

A wild-growing oil palm tree blooms and bears fruit only in the 10-20th year of life, while a specially cultivated plant begins to bear fruit in the third or fourth year after planting.

Maximum productivity is achieved at the age of 15-18 years, and the total lifespan of this exotic plant averages from 80 to 120 years.

A little history

Oil from the fruits of this wonderful useful plant have been made since ancient times. During archaeological excavations, a jug with obvious traces of palm oil was discovered (African burial grounds dating back to the 3rd millennium BC).

The cultivation of palm trees on an industrial scale began only in the twentieth century. At that time, companies that produced soap and margarine were interested in the oil of its fruits.

Large-scale palm cultivation began in Indonesia in 1911 and in Malaysia in 1919. The areas planted with these plants in African countries also began to expand.

Today, the oil palm is one of the leading crops in the world used for the production of vegetable oil. According to statistics, more than 9 million tons were produced in 1988, and production grew more and more every year.

Usage

The natives themselves usually use the freshest oil obtained from drupes for food, which at that time tastes like nuts. Subsequently, its taste and smell change to not very pleasant.

In general, the oil palm is used in quite a variety of ways: ropes are made from the fibers of its young leaves, dry leaves are used to weave mats, curtains, and roofing for huts is also made from them. Baskets are woven from the stems, quite tasty young shoots are used for food (the so-called palm cabbage), and wine is made from palm sap.

In England, oil is used to lubricate machines and make candles.

IN last years palm trees began to be grown in Brazil.

In conclusion - about the features of using oil

It is surprising that palm oil, used in metallurgy (lubricants for, etc.), is also used in the food industry.

It is used in the production of leavening additives, ice cream, and in the industrial frying of potatoes (chips).

In addition, it is used in the production of cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. And since the early 2000s, palm oil has been quite actively used in the production of biofuels.

Oil palm, or Eleis (lat. Elaeis)- a genus of plants with only two species, one of which grows in Africa and the other in South America. The genus belongs to the Palm family (lat. Palmaceae). The oil palm is famous for its oil, which is obtained from the pulp of the plant's fruit. This oil is widely used today in the food industry, causing conflicting opinions about its benefits and harms for the human body, especially for children.

What's in your name

The Latin name of the genus “Elaeis” is based on a consonant Greek word meaning “oil”, and not just any oil, but one that in Russian has the adjective “liquid” or “vegetable”. Since palm oil, produced by humans from the fruits of palm trees of this genus since ancient times, is precisely vegetable and liquid, it gave rise to botanists to give the Latin name Palms.

Description

The oil palm is a single-stemmed tree over 20 meters high. The feathery leaves that form the crown at the top of the trunk reach a length of three to five meters.

The small flowers have three sepals and three petals, forming numerous dense clusters.

From the dense cluster of flowers, huge bunches are formed, consisting of reddish fruits the size of a large plum. Each fruit consists of a fleshy and oily shell, inside which is a palm kernel or seed. This seed is also rich in vegetable oil.

Two species of the genus "Elaeis"

1. Elaeis guineensis (lat. Elaeis guineensis), called African oil palm, or briefly, Oil palm, was born in the western part of the African continent, where since ancient times (five thousand years before the present day) palm fruits have been used by people to obtain oil. From there, the oil palm later moved to the island of Madagascar, and also moved to the Asian continent, to countries with a tropical climate. Exactly this type palm trees provide palm oil to people around the world.

The African oil palm has a powerful root system that can provide nutrition and moisture for trees whose height can reach from 20 to 30 meters. Palm trees grow slowly, because they have nowhere to rush, since the lifespan of a tree reaches 120 years. At the beginning of its life, the palm tree resembles a shrub more than a tree, and only after three to five years does the tree trunk begin to form due to the petioles of dying leaves layering on top of each other.

The feathery spreading large leaves, of which there are from 20 to 40 in mature trees, partially die off annually, being replaced by fresh ones that form a fluffy crown at the top of the trunk. The strong leaf petioles are protected by sharp thorns, which can easily injure your hand.

In the axils of the leaves, dense inflorescences of numerous small flowers are born, which turn into huge clusters of fruits, the color of which can be orange, purple or black. Palm oil is produced from the fleshy pulp and seeds inside this pulp.

2. Eleis oleifera (lat. Elaeis oleifera), called American oil palm, born in South America. Although vegetable oil is also produced from its fruits, it is used by the local population without entering world markets. In addition, the pulp of the fruit is used to feed livestock and maintain the health and beauty of hair.

Eleis oleifera is much less common in nature than the previous species. It is also inferior to the African oil palm in terms of tree size, and accordingly, the fruits of the palm are much smaller than those of the leader.

This does not prevent the American oil palm from delighting its owners four times a year with a harvest of red-orange fruits, from the kernel of which a fatty oil is obtained, similar in composition to coconut oil.