Oil palm natural diversity and the potential for yield improvement
African oil palm has the highest productivity amongst cultivated oleaginous crops. Species can constitute a single crop capable to fulfil the growing global demand for vegetable oils, which is estimated to reach 240 million tons by 2050. Two types of vegetable oil are extracted from the palm fruit o...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2015-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Plant Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpls.2015.00190/full |
| _version_ | 1819267553483030528 |
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| author | Edson eBarcelos Sara ede Almeida Rios Raimundo N.V. Cunha Ricardo eLopes Sérgio Yoshimitsu Motoike Elena eBabiychuk Aleksandra eSkirycz Sergei eKushnir |
| author_facet | Edson eBarcelos Sara ede Almeida Rios Raimundo N.V. Cunha Ricardo eLopes Sérgio Yoshimitsu Motoike Elena eBabiychuk Aleksandra eSkirycz Sergei eKushnir |
| author_sort | Edson eBarcelos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | African oil palm has the highest productivity amongst cultivated oleaginous crops. Species can constitute a single crop capable to fulfil the growing global demand for vegetable oils, which is estimated to reach 240 million tons by 2050. Two types of vegetable oil are extracted from the palm fruit on commercial scale. The crude palm oil and kernel palm oil have different fatty acid profiles, which increases versatility of the crop in industrial applications. Plantations of the current varieties have economic life-span around 25-30 years and produce fruits around the year. Thus, predictable annual palm oil supply enables marketing plans and adjustments in line with the economic forecasts. Oil palm cultivation is one of the most profitable land uses in the humid tropics. Oil palm fruits are the richest plant source of pro-vitamin A and vitamin E. Hence, crop both alleviates poverty, and could provide a simple practical solution to eliminate global pro-vitamin A deficiency. Oil palm is a perennial, evergreen tree adapted to cultivation in biodiversity rich equatorial land areas. The growing demand for the palm oil threatens the future of the rain forests and has a large negative impact on biodiversity. Plant science faces three major challenges to make oil palm the key element of building the future sustainable world. The global average yield of 3.5 tons of oil per hectare (t) should be raised to the full yield potential estimated at 11-18t. The tree architecture must be changed to lower labor intensity and improve mechanization of the harvest. Oil composition should be tailored to the evolving needs of the food, oleochemical and fuel industries. The release of the oil palm reference genome sequence in 2013 was the key step towards this goal. The molecular bases of agronomically important traits can be and are beginning to be understood at the single base pair resolution, enabling gene-centered breeding and engineering of this remarkable crop. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T21:19:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-94f4c9a672ed42cea77fa442d6031496 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-462X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T21:19:00Z |
| publishDate | 2015-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Plant Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-94f4c9a672ed42cea77fa442d60314962022-12-21T17:30:49ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Plant Science1664-462X2015-03-01610.3389/fpls.2015.00190119945Oil palm natural diversity and the potential for yield improvementEdson eBarcelos0Sara ede Almeida Rios1Raimundo N.V. Cunha2Ricardo eLopes3Sérgio Yoshimitsu Motoike4Elena eBabiychuk5Aleksandra eSkirycz6Sergei eKushnir7EMBRAPA - Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa AgropecuáriaEMBRAPA - Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa AgropecuáriaEMBRAPA - Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa AgropecuáriaEMBRAPA - Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa AgropecuáriaFederal University of ViçosaVale Institute of TechnologyVale Institute of TechnologyVale Institute of TechnologyAfrican oil palm has the highest productivity amongst cultivated oleaginous crops. Species can constitute a single crop capable to fulfil the growing global demand for vegetable oils, which is estimated to reach 240 million tons by 2050. Two types of vegetable oil are extracted from the palm fruit on commercial scale. The crude palm oil and kernel palm oil have different fatty acid profiles, which increases versatility of the crop in industrial applications. Plantations of the current varieties have economic life-span around 25-30 years and produce fruits around the year. Thus, predictable annual palm oil supply enables marketing plans and adjustments in line with the economic forecasts. Oil palm cultivation is one of the most profitable land uses in the humid tropics. Oil palm fruits are the richest plant source of pro-vitamin A and vitamin E. Hence, crop both alleviates poverty, and could provide a simple practical solution to eliminate global pro-vitamin A deficiency. Oil palm is a perennial, evergreen tree adapted to cultivation in biodiversity rich equatorial land areas. The growing demand for the palm oil threatens the future of the rain forests and has a large negative impact on biodiversity. Plant science faces three major challenges to make oil palm the key element of building the future sustainable world. The global average yield of 3.5 tons of oil per hectare (t) should be raised to the full yield potential estimated at 11-18t. The tree architecture must be changed to lower labor intensity and improve mechanization of the harvest. Oil composition should be tailored to the evolving needs of the food, oleochemical and fuel industries. The release of the oil palm reference genome sequence in 2013 was the key step towards this goal. The molecular bases of agronomically important traits can be and are beginning to be understood at the single base pair resolution, enabling gene-centered breeding and engineering of this remarkable crop.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpls.2015.00190/fullBreedingHybridgermplasmOil palmE.guineensisE. oleifera |
| spellingShingle | Edson eBarcelos Sara ede Almeida Rios Raimundo N.V. Cunha Ricardo eLopes Sérgio Yoshimitsu Motoike Elena eBabiychuk Aleksandra eSkirycz Sergei eKushnir Oil palm natural diversity and the potential for yield improvement Frontiers in Plant Science Breeding Hybrid germplasm Oil palm E.guineensis E. oleifera |
| title | Oil palm natural diversity and the potential for yield improvement |
| title_full | Oil palm natural diversity and the potential for yield improvement |
| title_fullStr | Oil palm natural diversity and the potential for yield improvement |
| title_full_unstemmed | Oil palm natural diversity and the potential for yield improvement |
| title_short | Oil palm natural diversity and the potential for yield improvement |
| title_sort | oil palm natural diversity and the potential for yield improvement |
| topic | Breeding Hybrid germplasm Oil palm E.guineensis E. oleifera |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpls.2015.00190/full |
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