What is "palm oil"

Palm \Palm\, n. [AS. palm, L. palma; -- so named fr. the leaf resembling a hand. See 1st Palm, and cf. Pam.]

1. (Bot.) Any endogenous tree of the order Palm[ae] or Palmace[ae]; a palm tree.

   Note: Palms are perennial woody plants, often of majestic size. The trunk is usually erect and rarely branched, and has a roughened exterior composed of the persistent bases of the leaf stalks. The leaves are borne in a terminal crown, and are supported on stout, sheathing, often prickly, petioles. They are usually of great size, and are either pinnately or palmately many-cleft. There are about one thousand species known, nearly all of them growing in tropical or semitropical regions. The wood, petioles, leaves, sap, and fruit of many species are invaluable in the arts and in domestic economy. Among the best known are the date palm, the cocoa palm, the fan palm, the oil palm, the wax palm, the palmyra, and the various kinds called cabbage palm and palmetto.

2. A branch or leaf of the palm, anciently borne or worn as a symbol of victory or rejoicing.

   A great multitude . . . stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palme in their hands.
   --Rev. vii. 9.

3. Hence: Any symbol or token of superiority, success, or triumph; also, victory; triumph; supremacy. ``The palm of martyrdom.'' --Chaucer. So get the start of the majestic world And bear the palm alone. --Shak. Molucca palm (Bot.), a labiate herb from Asia ( Molucella l[ae]vis), having a curious cup-shaped calyx. Palm cabbage, the terminal bud of a cabbage palm, used as food. Palm cat (Zo["o]l.), the common paradoxure. Palm crab (Zo["o]l.), the purse crab. Palm oil, a vegetable oil, obtained from the fruit of several species of palms, as the African oil palm ( El[ae]is Guineensis), and used in the manufacture of soap and candles. See El[ae]is. Palm swift (Zo["o]l.), a small swift ( Cypselus Batassiensis) which frequents the palmyra and cocoanut palms in India. Its peculiar nest is attached to the leaf of the palmyra palm. Palm toddy. Same as Palm wine. Palm weevil (Zo["o]l.), any one of mumerous species of very large weevils of the genus Rhynchophorus. The larv[ae] bore into palm trees, and are called palm borers, and grugru worms. They are considered excellent food. Palm wine, the sap of several species of palms, especially, in India, of the wild date palm ( Ph[oe]nix sylvestrix), the palmyra, and the Caryota urens. When fermented it yields by distillation arrack, and by evaporation jaggery. Called also palm toddy. Palm worm, or Palmworm. (Zo["o]l.)

   1. The larva of a palm weevil.

   2. A centipede.

n. An edible plant oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palm (''Elaeis guineensis'').

n. oil from nuts of oil palms especially the African oil palm

Palm oil (also known as dendê oil, from Portuguese) is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms, primarily the African oil palm Elaeis guineensis, and to a lesser extent from the American oil palm Elaeis oleifera and the maripa palm Attalea maripa.

Palm oil is naturally reddish in color because of a high beta-carotene content. It is not to be confused with palm kernel oil derived from the kernel of the same fruit, or coconut oil derived from the kernel of the coconut palm ( Cocos nucifera). The differences are in color (raw palm kernel oil lacks carotenoids and is not red), and in saturated fat content: palm mesocarp oil is 41% saturated, while palm kernel oil and coconut oil are 81% and 86% saturated fats, respectively.

Along with coconut oil, palm oil is one of the few highly saturated vegetable fats and is semi-solid at room temperature. Like most plant-based products, palm oil contains very little cholesterol.

Palm oil is a common cooking ingredient in the tropical belt of Africa, Southeast Asia and parts of Brazil. Its use in the commercial food industry in other parts of the world is widespread because of its lower cost and the high oxidative stability ( saturation) of the refined product when used for frying.

The use of palm oil in food products has attracted the concern of environmental activist groups; the high oil yield of the trees has encouraged wider cultivation, leading to the clearing of forests in parts of Indonesia and Malaysia in order to make space for oil-palm monoculture. This has resulted in significant acreage losses of the natural habitat of the orangutan, of which both species are endangered; one species in particular, the Sumatran orangutan, has been listed as critically endangered. In 2004, an industry group called the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was formed to work with the palm oil industry to address these concerns. Additionally, in 1992, in response to concerns about deforestation, the Malaysian Government pledged to limit the expansion of palm oil plantations by retaining a minimum of half the nation's land as forest cover.