By
Awake! correspondent in the Solomon Islands
GUADALCANAL—to many people the name of the
island is synonymous with some of the most savage fighting of World War II.
Today, however, any who return to this former battleground in the Solomon
Islands will find a very different scene—seemingly endless regiments, not of
soldiers, but of stately oil palms.
The soil beneath these lush and majestic oil
palms once covered tons of leftover bombs and other hazardous war materials.
But these war implements have been removed to make way for the oil palm. How
did cultivation of this tree get started? And why can we say that this
beautiful tall tree is multipurpose?
A Rich History
The first modern description of a tree
resembling the oil palm was recorded in the mid-15th century by the Venetian
Alvise Ca’da Mosto, who explored the western coast of Africa. Then, nearly
500 years ago, African slaves took the fruit with them to countries across
the Atlantic. Thus palm oil has emerged as one of the most widely used
vegetable oils in the world today. Oil palms yield more oil per acre than any
other oil-producing plant. In addition, the oil palm is a perennial plant that
bears fruit and oil for 25 to 30 years.
An important factor in the production of palm
oil, especially in some lands in the Far East, was a discovery made in the late
1970’s. Previously it was thought that oil palms were mainly pollinated by the
wind. Therefore, a poor crop was attributed to unfavorable climatic conditions.
However, recent research has revealed that pollination is done mainly by
insects! Thus, the transfer from West Africa to the Far East of insects that
could pollinate the trees proved to be beneficial.
The oil palm’s reddish-orange fruit yields
two kinds of oil. Both are used in a variety of products, some of which you
likely use. Before we consider these, let’s visit a palm oil mill and see how
the oil is extracted.
Processing the Golden
Fluid
As we approach the mill, our tour guide
greets us and takes us inside. All around us heavy machinery is operating. The
first step in processing the fruit of the oil palm, he explains, is to place it
in a huge cylindrical steam oven. Each bunch of fruit has about 200 date-size
fruitlets, which are tightly packed together. The steam oven sterilizes the
fruit and helps to loosen the fruitlets from the bunch.
The next step is to separate the fruitlets
from the bunch by using a machine called a stripper. The detached fruitlets are
then sent to a huge blender, where the fleshy outer pulp is separated from the
nut. This fibrous outer flesh is then squeezed in a huge extruder, or press, to
obtain crude palm oil. After being cleaned and refined, the palm oil is ready
to be shipped.
There is, however, a second type of oil. This
comes from the nut. The oil palm’s nut must first be cracked open to get at the
kernel. Afterward, the kernels are pressed to release their precious liquid.
This oil is called palm-kernel oil.
The residue from the kernels is used to
produce a nutritious livestock feed. Similarly, after the fruitlets have been
stripped away, the remnants of the fruit bunches are returned to the fields to
serve as mulch. The fruit’s fiber and shells are also recycled, being used as
fuel for the mill’s boilers. Quite an efficient operation!
From Ice Cream to
Face Cream
Palm oil is the second most widely used
vegetable oil in the world, after soybean oil. The World Book Encyclopedia
says: “During the 1700’s, the English used palm oil as a medicine and hand
cream.” Today, however, it can be found in ice cream, margarine, shortening,
and cooking oils, as well as in such nonfood products as soaps and cosmetics.
Palm-kernel oil is also used in the
manufacture of margarine as well as chocolate and other confectioneries. But
that is not the end of the oils’ uses. After additional processing, components
of palm and palm-kernel oil are made into pharmaceuticals, soaps, detergents,
candles, and even explosives!
Indeed, the oil palm has found a welcome home
in the Solomon Islands. The impact of the oil palm on the economy is
highlighted by the fact that 13 percent of the country’s exports come from this
tree.
When we look up at an oil palm, it is amusing
to imagine that a product of this bright-orange fruit may be dripping off a
laughing child’s mouth in the form of ice cream and that it may be on his
mother’s face, in her makeup. Yes, the oil palm is a versatile tree, and we can
be thankful for its bountiful fruitage.
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