Developments in palm oil

Palm oil is derived from the mesocarp of oil palm fruit and palm kernel oil is obtained from the kernel inside the nut. The palm known as Elaeis guineensis originates from West Africa. The current planting material in Malaysia is a cross of Dura and Pisifera variety known as Tenera. The palm is the most prolific oil producing plant and the national average yield in Malaysia is 4.0 tonnes per hectare per year with 11% of that quantity as palm kernel oil, a co-product. The production of palm oil in the world for 1992 was 12.02 million tonnes of which Malaysia (53.2%) and Indonesia (24.1%) are the two largest producers.1 Both these countries are expected to increase production with Malaysia expected to reach 6.8 million tonnes by 1993 and Indonesia to reach 3.3 million tonnes in 1993.2 In 1992, the share of palm oil production in the world was 14.2% and it is expected that by the year 2000, palm oil will be as important as soyabean oil (19.8%) contributing 16.4% of the world's total oils and fats.3 The developments in palm oil are reviewed as follows. However, recent publications on palm oil have appeared.4a-c