History of Palm Oil

History of Palm Oil
The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is a native of West Africa. It is also found in Central and East Africa and Madagascar in isolated localities with a suitable rainfall. It has been traded overland, since archeological evidence indicates that palm oil was most likely available in ancient Egypt.

The British Industrial revolution created a demand for palm oil for candle making and as lubricant for machinery. In the early nineteenth century, West African farmers began supply a modest export trade, as well as producing palm oil for their own food needs. After 1900, European-run plantations were established in Central Africa and Southeast Asia, and the world trade in palm oil continued to grow steadily, reaching a level of 250,000 tones (metric tons) per annum by 1930.

The oil palm was first introduced to Southeast Asia in 1848, when four seedlings from West Africa, were planted in the botanical gardens in Java. One Belgian Engineer noticed that palms grew here more quickly and bore a richer fruit that counterpart in the Congo. This help the palm oil industry grow quickly in Sumatra and Malaya. This rapid expansion came not only because of growing confidence in oil palm but also because of the grave postwar problems of the rubber industry.

The invention of the hydrogenation process for oils and fats in 1902 created the possibility of Western employment of palm products as, for example, in the making of margarine. Yet hydrogenation was more useful for liquid oils like groundnut, palm kernel, and coconut oils than form palm oil.
History of Palm Oil