Organisms Associated With Palm Oil Fruit
Need help with a related project topic or New topic? Send Us Your Topic
DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE PROJECT MATERIAL
Organisms Associated With Palm Oil Fruit
Chapter One: Introduction
Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is a cross-fertile arborescent monocot of the Elaeis genus native to West Africa (Hartley, 1988). Its diploid genome contains 16 homologous chromosome pairs (Schwendiman et al., 1982).
Flow cytometry estimates its physical size at 3.9 pg/2C (Rival et al. 1997). Oil palm is the world’s largest source of vegetable oil and fat, producing 40 million tonnes of palm oil and 4.4 million tonnes of palm kernel oil each year. The finest types produce ten times more oil per hectare than soybeans.
The fruit of the oil palm is a drupe. It is composed of a pulp (mesocarp) from which palm oil is derived, an endocarp known as the shell, and a kernel that contains oil. Three fruit variants exist as a result of a key bi-allelic co-dominant gene termed Sh, which regulates the presence or absence of the shell and the degree of endocarp lignification.
The dura type (genotype Sh+/Sh+) produces huge fruits with a thick shell and a relatively small mesocarp in weight. The pisifera type (genotype Sh−/Sh−) is normally female-sterile, and its rare fruits are relatively small, with no visible shell and a substantial volume of mesocarp.
The tenera type is a hybrid Sh+/Sh− genotype that produces fruits with an intermediate thickness shell and ample mesocarp. Tenera cultivars, which are naturally more productive for palm oil, are commercially enhanced and distributed to planters.
For optimal development and output, the crop requires high, year-round rainfall, little or no dry season, and a consistent high temperature. Soil should be deep and well-drained. The crop thrives primarily in tropical lowlands below 400 metres altitude, which were once covered by deep rainforest.
Dry periods and temperatures below 18°C have little effect on vegetative development, but they do diminish yield. Oil palm has become the world’s leading supplier of vegetable oil. There are three types of oil palms: dura, pisifera, and tenera, with the latter being mostly used for economic production.
The oil is concentrated in the fruit bunches, which consist of fresh fruit pulp, as well as the fruit kernels. The oil content in the fruit pulp is approximately 50-60%, or 20-22% of the bunch weight; oil content in the Palm oil has traditionally been regarded a low-value culinary oil due to the difficulties of changing its fatty acid profile.
According to Usoro (1974), the production and processing of oil palm are key sources of employment for many rural inhabitants who possess large groves of less than 2 ha. The trees are of unimproved kinds with low yields and inadequate disease resistance.
It takes around eight to ten years to mature, growing over 30 feet tall with an average yield of 1.21 bunch weight (Njoku, 1990). The trees’ height makes harvesting difficult, especially during the rainy season, when climbing is nearly impossible.
1.2 Biodiesel from oil palm
Oil palm is one of the most productive and profitable tropical crops used for biofuel generation. Under ideal conditions, high-yielding oil palm cultivars created through breeding programs can produce more than 20 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches/ha/year, equivalent to 5 tonnes of oil/ha/year (excluding palm kernel oil).
The oils account for 10% of the palm’s total dry biomass, while the remaining 90% could be used to make fibre and cellulosic material for second-generation biofuels (Basiron, 2007). Biodiesel production from oil palm has increased in recent years, especially in Africa and Latin America (Mitchell, 2011).
Oil palm production has traditionally been managed as part of a mixed farming system in West Africa. Today, the majority of production is being extended as an industrial-scale monocrop, bringing considerable environmental hazards as well as repercussions on local societies, particularly for those with minimal economic resources (Colchester, 2010).
Modern oil palm farming is distinguished by huge monocultures with uniform age structure, low canopy, sparse undergrowth, a low-stability microclimate, and extensive fertiliser and pesticide application (Fitzherbert et al., 2008). The oil palm tree produces fruits starting in the third year, with yield per tree continuously increasing until it reaches a peak at around 20 years (FAO 2002).
Consequently, oil palm plantations are frequently demolished and replaced at 25 to 30 year intervals (Wahid et al., 2005). Palm oil production degrades freshwater and soil quality, and has a negative impact on local communities that rely on ecosystem products (such as food and medicine) and ecosystem services (such as hydrological cycle regulation and soil protection) provided by forests (Fitzherbert et al, 2008).
From an ecological standpoint, oil palm monocultures may establish impermeable barriers to species migration, making plants more susceptible to disease. Palm oil seed cultivation and harvesting are primarily done manually
with one employment created for every 2.3 ha. A major challenge is putting policies and processes in place to address issues such as inequities between small-scale, frequently informal producers and large, transnational oil palm operations.
The environmental impact of palm oil production and use can be evaluated over its whole life cycle. This entails taking a holistic approach to emissions, beginning with raw material extraction and ending with recycling or disposal.
Impacts are heavily influenced by land-use change conditions, the use of conventional fuels, fertilisers, pesticides, and waste generation (Menichetti et al., 2008). Four aspects define the environmental sustainability of palm oil-based biodiesel production:
(1) land-use change;
(2) soil quality;
(3) biodiversity; and
(4) water quality impacts (Stichnothe et al, 2011). Land-use conversion from forest to oil palm is likely the most important factor for assessing environmental sustainability in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Degraded agricultural fields cause biodiversity loss, increased soil erosion, nutrient loss, and greenhouse gas emissions. Notably, biodiesel made from palm oil, which is marketed as a low-carbon alternative to petrol, frequently emits significantly more GHG emissions into the atmosphere than it replaces, especially when the palm oil plantations were formed through deforestation (Menichetti et al., 2009; World Bank 2010).
1.3 Objectives of the Study
To identify the organisms linked with palm oil fruit.
To isolate and identify the organisms.
Need help with a related project topic or New topic? Send Us Your Topic