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The mbocayá palm: An economic oil plant of paraguay
Author(s) -
Markley Klare S.
Publication year - 1955
Publication title -
journal of the american oil chemists' society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.512
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1558-9331
pISSN - 0003-021X
DOI - 10.1007/bf02639697
Subject(s) - palm kernel , palm oil , tonne , palm , temperate climate , pulp (tooth) , palm kernel oil , pulp and paper industry , agroforestry , geography , forestry , mathematics , environmental science , agricultural science , horticulture , botany , biology , engineering , archaeology , medicine , physics , pathology , quantum mechanics
Summary The mbocayá palm ( Acrocomia totai Mart.) is one of a number of oil palms found in Latin America which is exploited for its pulp and kernel oils. Since the products of many of these palms are consumed locally or are exported to neighboring countries or Europe, they are little known in the United States. The mbocayá is one of these palms which has been exploited commercially for its kernel oil for about 50 years and for a lesser time for its pulp oil. The kernel oil is similar in composition to that of other American oil palms but is unique in being more unsaturated and having a lower melting point which clearly reflects the more temperate environment in which this palm thrives. Paraguay contains 6 to 7 million of these palms which produce annually an estimated 55,000 to 120,000 metric tons of fruit, only a part of which is processed for oil. In recent years production of kernel oil has varied between 2,000 and 2,700 metric tons and pulp oil between 500 and 1,100 metric tons, all of which has been consumed locally or exported to Argentina. Processing mbocayá fruit presents many difficulties not encountered with most oilseeds but which are similar to those encountered in processing most American oil palm fruits. This is the first comprehensive report in English on the mbocayá palm and its economic importance.