History of Palm Oil.

  Written records of palm oil are available from Portuguese travellers to West Africa in the 15 th century. However, archaeological finds in pyramids at Abydos in Egypt produced fatty residues with analytical characteristics of oxidised palm oil. They dated back to 5000 BC, so perhaps the oxidation is not surprising.

The oil palm or the botanical name is Elaeis guineensis , it is a native of equatorial West Africa, preferring high rainfall and the more open land along river banks. Oil Palm is one of the most commercialize plant on earth today and it can be harvested after 3 years old and continue to be harvested for another 22 years. The fruit on the wild trees grows in bunches weighing up to 10kg and containing hundreds of fruitlets like small plums. The flesh is oily, and oil can be recovered by very simple means, so that it is probable that palm oil has been recovered and used for human food for tens of thousands of years. The primitive extraction procedures are still in use in the villages today. A typical method consists of cutting the bunches, usually after climbing the tree, and allowing them to ferment in a heap for 6-7 days. The fruit has softened and can be very easily plucked from the bunch stalk. The fruit is then pounded in a mortar, and the mash accumulated in a clay-lined pit or an old canoe. Oil is skimmed off, allowed to drain or squeezed out of the fibre. Water may be added to the mash to assist separation. Finally the oil is boiled till dry. This produces "hard" oil of about 20% free fatty acids. A more laborious process consists of removing the fruitlets from the bunch after only 2-3 days, boiling them in water until soft, and then proceeding as before. "Soft" oil of 7-10% free fatty acids is produced. While the strong flavour resulting from these methods is highly appreciated in local dishes, it is not acceptable to Western palates.

Exports in hundredweight quantities began in the late 18 th century to Liverpool and Marseilles. A big boost to the trade was given by the anti-slavery legislation in the first part of the 19 th century. The carrying of slaves from West Africa to North & South America and the Caribbean had been a lucrative trade for British shipping, and they needed an alternative. The trade in palm oil increased by leaps and bounds. Barrels in knocked-down form were put together in Africa, taken to the villages, filled with oil and paddled in canoes to the port. Some early export volumes are shown in Table 1.

Table 1
Palm Oil Imports into the UK

Serious quality improvements in Nigerian palm oil only took place after the Marketing Board instituted a grading system based on free fatty acids, with premiums for the better grades. There was an immediate response from the village producers and within a year or two the specification for Grade 1 could be lowered from 9% FFA to 4.5%. Initially in 1950 only 0.2% of production qualified, but within 4 years this became 50% and in 1955 the limit was tightened to 3.5% FFA. It should be noted that this is close to the average free fatty acid content of Malaysian crude palm oil today! While today both small-scale mechanical oil mills and large modern mills are in operation in West Africa, production has lagged and cannot always meet domestic demand. The region has ceased to be a factor in the world market for palm oil.

In Asia, the oil palm was introduced into the botanical gardens at Bogor in Java in 1848, and used by planters as an ornamental tree. Its commercial exploitation started in Sumatra after 1910 and in Malaya (currently known as West Malaysia) in the 1920s. Right from the beginning it was used as an export crop, so that quality control and bulk handling systems were initiated. Growth was however slow until the late 1950s, when Malaysia decided to diversify significantly away from rubber, the principal export crop. The decision coincided with a need to settle landless people and to open up jungle areas, which were still harbouring troublesome communist terrorists after the end of World War II. A principal agent of this development was the government Federal Land Development Agency (FELDA) which undertook jungle clearance and the settling of smallholders. FELDA continues to be a major successful participant in the palm oil industry. Developments in oil palm in South East Asia have continued and more recently also in Central and South America. Supplies available to the world market are shown in Table 2, giving export tonnages from the producing regions.

Table 2
Exports of Palm Oil (x 1000 tonnes)

Today, Malaysia is number one palm oil producer in the world and Malaysia supply more than 11 millions tonnes of palm oils per year, which is about 50% of the world's supply of palm oil and Indonesia is the second largest world producer of palm oil producing approx 30% of world palm oil volume.