What grows on a palm tree? Oil palm fruits. Biological description of the acai palm

Somehow, while living in Krabi, we saw strange fruits on palm trees several times a day, which are not eaten. We even lived in a house in Krabi, which stood in a palm grove, and grew up there, as we later figured out the oil palm!

Oil palm grove

By the way, while we were wintering in Thailand, we saw a lot of plants and their fruits, edible and not so much. In large supermarkets such as MAKRO, TESCO, BIG-C you can find absolutely everything, well, or 99% of what you need, familiar products, because these stores are created specifically for farangs.

So, Firstly we knew that there are date palms (since Egypt). As well as coconuts, which are full in Thailand, from them I myself extracted coconuts :). Well, and low banana palms, the fruits and even the leaves of which are used for cooking.

Secondly, it seems that everything that can be eaten from the vegetation of Tai was sold at local markets, and we tried a lot of fruits. However, the fruits of the oil palm were unknown to us and did not look like anything.

Third, there were so many oil palm plantations in Krabi that I could not help but be interested in them. The fruits were interesting orange red, are protected by thorns, large than something resembling porcupines. As a normal curious person, I had to figure it out!

As a result, we were lucky to see the cut fruits of the oil palm tree up close, in one of the palm groves, when we returned from MAKRO by a short road. I even tried to break off the fruit to see how it looks from the inside, but it turned out to be so dense, and the spikes are so sharp and strong that I can’t imagine how the Thais cope with them.

Unripe oil palm fruit

You will not envy the oil palm fruit picker, each branch is very heavy and prickly, grows to the trunk of the palm tree where it cannot be cut off, it must be cut down.

On the Internet, I found (not the first time, of course) various palm fruits, and determined that it was oil palms that surrounded us. But why are there so many?

Turns out it's part Agriculture in Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The first palm plantation appeared in Malaysia, and along with rubber, oil, gas; oil, from the fruit of the oil palm, is one of the articles of Indonesian and Malaysian exports. Therefore, we saw such an abundance of these palms in Krabi (this city is located on the border with Malaysia), in other regions of Thailand there are more coconut palms.

There are 2 types of oil: palm oil proper and palm kernel oil. The first is a rather thick red-orange mass obtained by squeezing the fleshy fruits and further cleaning. Oil of the second type, with a characteristic smell and taste of nuts, is made from palm seeds.

Tropical oils are widely used in confectionery business and cooking, as well as in the production of margarine. Palm oil sachets are placed in packages with Doshirak noodles, for example, which I used when I was a student. It is also used to fry chips, and in some tropical countries and for dressing salads.

Sweet juice is obtained from incisions in the petioles of inflorescences, and they drink it in fresh, and also used to obtain alcoholic beverages. From one plant you can get about 4 liters of juice per day.

More from palm oil are obtained good soap, high-quality candles, are used in medicine as the basis for ointments, and, perhaps, the most important thing ...

There are cars that run on this fuel. However, this is not the same gasohol (91st gasoline biofuel), which is obtained by diluting 91st gasoline with ethanol, which is much cheaper in Thailand. At every gas station you will find both standard gasoline (91, 95, 98 octane) and gasohol!

Palm oil has been known since ancient times. Archaeologists have discovered some ancient finds that undeniably indicate that palm oil was used in cooking around the third millennium BC. e. At that time, palm oil was mined only on the African continent. And only in the 18th century sailors from Europe brought palm oil to us. And along with the oil, palm trees themselves began to actively spread, serving as raw materials for oil. At first they were bred for beauty, as they were quite unpretentious and looked very attractive thanks to huge clusters of palm fruits. But over time, they began to produce palm oil in the countries of Southeast Asia. Now in modern world It is Asian countries that are the main producers and exporters of palm oil.

For a more detailed view, search the pictures for "oil palm fruits".

Also watch a video about our palm grove in Krabi, where oil palms grew:

Did you know that date palms are divided into male and female? The male specimen has a different type of flowers, which makes it possible to distinguish it from the female "individual". Since ancient times, it has been known that good harvest need male and female date palms. For several dozen women's - one man's. One palm tree can produce a quarter of a ton of dates.

A palm tree is ideally suited for life in the desert: its trunk can protect not only from heat, but also from cold too. Additional protection provide dead leaves. By the way, fresh leaves palms are very durable and the inhabitants of the corresponding latitudes make clothes from them. Thus, people are well protected from the scorching sun and dust. In very hot weather the palm tree grows only at night, resting during the day.

But how does a date palm in the desert do without water? Fortunately, without water, it does not grow. The reality is that the date only grows where groundwater comes fairly close to the surface, and with its powerful, long roots, the palm tree can reach them. The surroundings form an oasis, to the delight of those who travel through the arid regions. You, if you decide to grow a date palm at home, do not worry - in our latitudes, even in the greatest heat, the date will feel great.

Of the five thousand varieties of dates, everything can be divided into three groups: dry, semi-dry and juicy. Naturally, juicy ones are the most expensive and tasty, but in many respects they are inferior to dry ones. The latter are known for strengthening the walls of blood vessels, have antioxidant and antiradical activity.

Peaches, of course, do not grow on the Venezuelan peach palm. Its eighteen-meter trunk and even leaves are covered with very sharp needle-like spines that protect ripening fruits from people and animals.

Egg-shaped bright red or orange-yellow fruit the size of a small peach or apricot hang in huge clusters, similar to grapes. The fleshy outer part of the fruit tastes like a chestnut and if boiled in salt water, you get tasty dish rich in vitamins. Sometimes these fruits are roasted and eaten with molasses or watered. sugar syrup. In the Central and South America peach palms planted in whole plantations.

In Upper Egypt, the doom palm grows (in other places it is called the ginger palm). It differs from other palm trees interesting feature. On a tree 10-12 meters high, 3-4 branches grow. Each of them ends with a bunch of fan-shaped leaves, between which flowers appear: on one tree - female, on the other - male. In female trees, the flowers are replaced by large clusters of beautiful shiny yellow-brown fruits. There are up to 200 of them in one bunch. The ginger palm is the most important source of food for the poor in Egypt (they eat the fibrous mealy husk of the fruit, which tastes like gingerbread).

Doom palm - the only branching palm in the world

In the swampy forests and flooded lowlands of tropical America, Africa and Madagascar, the raffia palm tree grows, from the sweet juice of which wine is made. The fruits and apical bud of raffia are used as food as a vegetable, and oil is pressed from the seeds.

Another genus of wine palms is jubea. It combines honey or wine, palm, elephant and wonderful Chilean. They grow in the mountains along the Pacific coast of Chile up to a height of 1200 meters.

Their smooth 25-meter trunks with a diameter of about a meter serve as a source of sweet juice up to 400 liters from one adult tree, which, in turn, is used to make molasses (hence the name honey palm) and wine. The fruit is 4-5 centimeters long with edible pulp similar to coconut. The leaves are used to make fiber and also serve as roofing material.

Main source vegetable oil in the tropics - the fruits of coconut and oil palms. The oil palm grows in the western part of Equatorial Africa. On a trunk about 30 meters high, bearing over 150 three-meter pinnate leaves, clusters of drupe fruits hang. One such brush consists of 600-800 fruits and weighs up to 25 kilograms. The seeds of the fruit contain about 50% of the so-called palm oil used to make margarine.

In Oceania, along with the coconut palm, which gives milk and butter, grows breadfruit. All types of trees of the genus Artocarpus of the mulberry family are called breadfruit. They bear fruit in "loaves" weighing up to 12 kg! In the pulp of oval fruits, starch accumulates, which, as it ripens, turns into ... dough. “If someone plants a breadfruit tree, he will do more to feed his descendants than a grain grower. cultivating his field all his life in the sweat of his brow .. ”- wrote James Cook.

Usually breadfruit trees bear fruit for 70-75 years. On one tree, 700-800 “loaves” ripen annually. The fruits are filled with sweet pulp. From unripe fruits they make drinks, and from ripe ones they bake something similar to bread. The fruits of the Indian breadfruit are impressive - up to a meter in diameter! The branches could not withstand such a load, so the "loaves" grow right on the trunk. The African breadfruit traculia has smaller fruits - up to half a meter in diameter and weighing up to 14 kg. Patriarch survives in Madagascar breadfruit trees- height 20 m, girth of the trunk 50 m.

And from the starch of the sago palm growing in New Guinea, pancakes are made. The palm tree blooms at the age of 16, it is true, they are cut down, before flowering, when in its core the largest number starch. The core is removed, pressed through a small sieve onto a hot metal surface and sago is made, from which the palm is called sago.

Without any processing, you can use the milky juice of the milk tree itself - the Venezuelan galactodendron. Its composition is close to cow's milk and resembles cream with sugar! And if the juice is boiled, then a delicious curd mass is formed.

In Madagascar, you can admire a stunning tree from the Begonia family with bizarre fruits. It is called sausage, because on its branches there are a lot of brown sausage-shaped fruits randomly hanging on long stalks. Each such "sausage" can be about half a meter long and 10 cm in diameter. However, this is also the name of the Japanese aukuba. Its leathery leaves are covered with golden yellow spots and dots, somewhat reminiscent of pieces of fat on a sausage cut. The resemblance, however, is rather distant.

Off the east coast of Africa - the focus of strange, peculiar forms of plant life. Here, on the rocky slopes of the mountains, you can find a cucumber tree (Dendrosicyos socotrana) - a plant with prickly wrinkled leaves, thorny, similar to ordinary cucumber fruits and a thick stem swollen with milky juice, consisting of soft whitish cellular tissue, which is easily cut with a knife. It is the only tree in the gourd family.

On the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, a palm tree also grows, the thickened juice of nuts of which, in its own way, palatability almost indistinguishable from butter.
There are also plants - "lollipops". For example, the leaves of the Paraguayan stevia shrub are more than 300 times sweeter than sugar, and the leaves of Mexican sugar grass - 1000 times. red berries herbaceous plant The tomatocus dannelia from the African savannah is 2,000 times sweeter than sugar, and the red berries of Dioscorephyllum cumminisia from the forests of Nigeria and other West African countries are 3,000 times sweeter. In West Africa, the sweetest plant grows - the ketemf shrub, which contains the substance toumatin, which is 100,000 times sweeter than sugar!

On the islands of Oceania there is a view tropical trees- "cakes". They grow in abundance yellowish fruits that taste like sweet cakes.

Candy tree, or Japanese raisin tree, is a representative of the buckthorn family, native to Japan and China - sweet hovenia. To be precise, they are actually dry, and the taste of this vegetable candy is not for everyone: it resembles sour inedible raisins, but the twisted axis of the inflorescence holding them is juicy and fleshy. Each tree can produce 35 kg of "candy", neither sweet nor rum-flavored.

In the forests grows the plant calir-kanda, called in the local dialect “deceive the stomach”. After eating 1-2 leaves of it, a person feels full for whole week despite the fact that the leaves do not contain any nutrients. Due to the ability to create the illusion of satiety, tablets and infusions from the leaves of calir-kanda are recommended for people who want to lose weight.

A plant like a palm tree represents jubilation, a sunny beginning, glory and honesty. The straight trunk of the palm symbolizes triumph, blessing and victory. The constancy of the palm tree in its irreplaceable foliage, permanent greenery gave reason to associate the power of the tree with the symbol of victory. No wonder the palm branch has long been awarded to the winner along with the laurel wreath. The palm among the peoples of the territories in which it grows is a tree of life, self-reproducing like an androgynous.

The image of a palm tree without fruits symbolizes the masculine principle and in many cultures is associated with a phallic symbol - the basis male power. Palm tree with dates symbolizes the feminine and fertility.
Palm tree, both at a young and at an old age, brings a large number of fruits became a symbol of prosperity and longevity in old age.

Different countries endow the palm tree with their own symbolism, so in China the palm tree means dignity, fertility and retirement, in Arabia the palm tree is the tree of life. In Christianity, the palm tree characterizes the righteous, immortality, the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem, divine blessing, paradise, and the triumph of the martyr before death. Separately, palm branches represent triumph and glory, victory over death, sin, and resurrection. Early Catholicism associated the palm tree with burial and ranks this plant as a symbol of the person who made the pilgrimage. In Egypt, the palm tree is counted among the calendar trees, which let out a new branch only once a month. In Greece, the palm tree is the emblem of Apollo of Delos and Delphi.

Botanical name: Acai, or Euterpe (Euterpe) - a genus of tropical trees of the palm family (Arecaceae), growing in the rainforests of the Amazon. One of the most valuable types of palms, the edible fruits of which have high nutritional qualities.

Acai homeland: Brazil.

Lighting: photophilous.

The soil: wet and swampy soils along river banks.

Watering: moisture-loving.

Maximum tree height: 30 m

Average lifespan of a tree: 45 -65 years old.

Landing: propagated by seeds.

Biological description of the acai palm

Acai is a powerful tree with a height of 12 to 30 m, with several thin strong trunks that grow from one seed and have a common root system. After the death of old trunks, young shoots grow to replace them, and 4-6 trunks of different ages can grow in one place at the same time.

The root system of the palm tree is adapted to exist in conditions of periodic flooding and has aerial roots (pneumotophores), which allow, if necessary, to extract nutrients straight out of the rising water.

Acai leaves are pinnately dissected, up to 3 m long, with drooping segments, green with a reddish tinge, collected in a rosette at the top of the trunk. The flowers are small, yellowish, very numerous, collected in large paniculate inflorescences hanging down.

What are the properties of acai berries?

Acai fruits (see photo below) are juicy purplish-black or dark green drupes up to 2.5 cm in diameter, collected in huge branched clusters of 500-900 pieces. By appearance resemble grapes or blueberries, differing from them in a much thinner layer of pulp and a large seed enclosed in a hard shell. The taste of berries resembles raspberries or blackberries with an original nutty tint. 4-7 kg of fruits are harvested from one palm tree, during the season, from July to December, 2 crops have time to ripen on the tree.

The natural habitat of acai is swamps and floodplains in the central part of the South American continent, from Brazil and Peru to Belize. The most common are two types:

Euterpa edible (E. Edulis)

Euterpe vegetable, or cabbage palm (E. oleracea)

The latter at a young age can be grown as a houseplant.

Where are Amazonian grapes used?

The tree is widely used by the indigenous population of the Amazon. In some areas, for example, in the Brazilian province of Para, where there are especially many palms of this species, the processing of their fruits and wood is carried out in industrial scale and forms the backbone of the region's economy.

The fruits and the tasty core of the trunks are used as food, which is considered a delicacy among the locals. In addition, young leaves and leaf buds of palm trees are used in cooking here, they are eaten raw and boiled. The cores of the trunks are more often obtained from the edible Euterpa (E. Edulis).

Acai fruit with good taste and high nutritional value, are valued not only at home, but also in other countries. Due to its delicate texture and ease of damage, the crop is harvested only by hand. Berries are stored for no more than 5 hours after picking, and are consumed fresh only in places of natural palm growth. Here they are added to ice cream and desserts, used to make various drinks. So, a cocktail made from a mixture of mashed fruits and milk in Brazil is called acai juice, this tonic and nutritious drink is very popular and is sold everywhere in the country. In other regions of the world, the product is delivered after processing.

At home, this type of palm has not only food application. Its thin and strong trunks, not damaged by insects, are used to make rafters and beams, hats are made from leaves, mats and baskets are woven, and roofs are covered with them. Fruit mass is used for livestock feed, added to soil mixtures for plants.

Useful properties of acai berries

The Indians of the Amazon call the acai palm the "tree of life" and have known about it since ancient times. healing qualities. The fruits are widely used in the diet of local tribes, sometimes making up to 40% of their diet. It has also been observed that in areas where large quantities eat acai berries, people, despite being naked in the sun for a long time, practically do not have cancer and other skin diseases, they look younger than their years and remain healthy and energetic for a long time. This fact interested scientists, and in 2004 data were published on the study of the composition and useful properties acai berries, until then little known in the world.

The research results were sensational. The fruits were the champions in antioxidant content among plants, their amount is twice as much as in blueberries, ten times as much as in grapes and thirty-three times as much as in red wine. Vitamins C, K, A and E, which are part of acai berries, almost all B vitamins, vegetable steroids and fibers, vital minerals (potassium, magnesium, calcium, zinc, iron, etc.) also determine high nutritional value product. Up to 50% of its volume is occupied by polyunsaturated fatty acid omega-3 and omega-6, whose role in maintaining human health can hardly be overestimated.

It is not surprising that since the beginning of our century, the palm tree has been cultivated in many countries, and its fruits have been actively promoted as "the number 1 superfood in the world." This characteristic of the "Amazon grapes" (another common name for acai) was first given by the famous American TV presenter Oprah Winfrey. And although the berry is not a panacea for all diseases and does not lead to instant healing, the benefits of acai in the prevention of atherosclerosis, arrhythmia and coronary heart disease, lowering cholesterol and high pressure, increasing mental and physical performance has been proven by numerous scientific research. There is evidence of anti-cancer activity insoluble fiber contained in the fruit pulp. In addition, acai products are high in calories (100 g contains up to 185 kcal), contain a lot of protein and fat, thanks to which they contribute to the growth muscle mass and are used in the nutrition of athletes.

Currently, Acai is becoming more and more popular all over the world. Because the shelf life fresh berries extremely small, they cannot be transported and are sold in the form of juices, purees, fruit cocktails and yoghurts, soluble powders that can be added to various drinks as well as tablets.

Beneficial acai oil

An oil is produced from the fruits, which, due to its regenerating, restoring, nourishing and moisturizing effect, is a valuable cosmetic product. Acai oil is obtained from fruits by cold pressing, which allows you to save almost 100% of nutrients. The polyunsaturated fatty acids included in its composition, natural antioxidants and vitamins provide a high antioxidant potential of the product. Distinctive feature oil - its thermal stability, so it has long terms storage and can be added to other, less persistent cosmetic oils as a stabilizing antioxidant additive.

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DATE FRUIT

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What are palm trees? What types of palm trees grow on our Black Sea coast? Can they be grown at home? Which of them can be grown independently from seeds? Here we will try to answer these questions. To begin with - general information.

Palm leaves are characterized by pinnate and fan type. The leaves are spirally arranged on petioles. Flowers unisexual or bisexual. The fruits are a drupe or a nut.

Palm trees grown at home from seed, long time are in a rosette state, and only after the rosette reaches the required diameter, the stem begins to grow in height. This feature makes it possible to keep young, grown from palm seeds in room conditions. For this, the most suitable the following types Palm trees: Canarian date, capitate butia, palmetto sabal, low (squat) cameromps, thread-bearing washingtonia, Fortune's trachycarpus.

Canarian date

The Latin name is Phoenix canariensis Chahand. This plant is dioecious, evergreen. It develops like a tree, but more like a large wide bush 10-20 m tall, with a massive, unbranched false trunk, covered with the bases of old leaves.

In open ground on the Black Sea coast, the palm tree reaches a height of 12-15 m. The leaves are large, up to 4 m. There are sharp needle-like spines along the edges of the leaf petiole.

This palm tree blooms in summer and autumn. Male inflorescences up to 2 m long, female inflorescences shorter. The fruit is ovoid, yellowish-brown, 2.5 cm long, with rough pulp, inedible. Propagated by seeds.

Date finger edible

The Canarian date should not be confused with the edible date, the palmate date (Phoenix dactylifera). Unfortunately, the seeds extracted from the fruits of an edible date germinate poorly - after all, before the dates get to the consumer, they significantly lose their germination capacity. In addition, the temperature required for germination, 20-25 ° C, can only be maintained in greenhouses and greenhouses.

The city of Basra in southern Iraq is considered the world capital of edible dates. 420 varieties of this species are concentrated here. Arabic wisdom says that "the palm tree should stand in the water with its base, and drown in the hot rays of the sun with its top."

The date palm is a dioecious plant. The ancient Egyptians and Greeks hung several male panicles inside the crowns, pouring out pollen, since without artificial insemination, female specimens are fruitless.

Butia capitate

The Latin name is Butia capitata. This type of palm is native to Brazil. It grows in mountainous areas on sandy soils. The butia trunk has a characteristic capitate thickening at the base, gradually tapering upwards.

The emergence of new leaves begins in April and continues until the end of September. During the growing season, from 4 to 9 leaves are formed, and each lives up to 7 years.

The palm tree is beautiful with its openwork crown, lush inflorescences and fruits.

In the open field of the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, butia begins flowering and fruiting from the age of 10-12. Rarely blooms indoors.

In butia, the seed is rounded oblong, pointed at the ends, up to 20 mm long and 10 mm wide, with three distinct sutures. In the lower part there are three rounded pores, closed with loose corked tissue - this is the place where the embryo exits.

Seeds contain about 60% liquid coconut oil. Butia fruits are used for eating raw and for making jams and liqueurs.

Before germinating butia seeds, it is recommended to carry out their long-term stratification in wet sand or peat. Mechanical stratification is possible - sawing of seed coats or careful destruction of corked tissue with a sharp metal object.

Freshly harvested seeds germinate after stratification within 35-45 days. In some cases, the process can take up to 24 months.

Butia capitate is frost-resistant - it can withstand temperatures down to -10 ° C. Drought-resistant. Grows well in sandy soils.

At room conditions, butia requires regular watering, and in summer the plant must be fed with flower fertilizers once every two weeks. For it, you should use the soil mixture for palm trees, sold in stores.

Sabal palmetto

This type of palm (lat. Sabal palmetto) is native to North America. Its single trunk in the open ground reaches a height of 20 m. The leaves are fan-shaped.

Inflorescences up to 2 m long. The fruit is a black globular drupe.

On the Black Sea coast, sabal palmetto blooms and produces viable seeds that usually germinate within four months.

Stratification at 35° (about one month) shortens germination time. soaking in hot water(about 90°C), and especially the removal of the cap over the embryo also accelerates seed germination. At home, young, not yet opened, leaves are used as food as vegetables, they are called “palm cabbage!”

Chamerops squat

The botanical name of this palm species is Chamaerops humilis. Came to Europe from Africa. Cultivated in greenhouses for over 300 years. This is a bushy palm tree with several trunks 2-3 m high, growing from a common base. In the Sochi arboretum of the Research Institute of Gorlesecology there are specimens with 7-10 or more trunks in a bush.

The palm grows slowly. During the summer it forms up to 7 leaves, which usually live for 7 years. Blooms in May-June. The fruit is a drupe, ripens in November-December.

The palm tree is drought-resistant, undemanding to the soil. Propagated by seeds.

Seeds in the pulp of the fruit do not germinate. After removing the pulp, they germinate within 2 months at room temperature. Removing the cap causes accelerated germination of seeds in 11 days.

Washingtonia filamentous or filamentous

The Latin name is Washingtonia filifera. She is native to southwestern North America. This is a very beautiful fan palm. The trunk in the homeland reaches a height of 30 m. The leaves are fan-shaped with delicate thin threads hanging between the leaf segments.

Inflorescences are compound. Flowers bisexual with strong smell. The fruit is an indehiscent drupe.

On the Black Sea coast, it blooms and bears fruit abundantly, the fruits ripen in December. This is one of the fastest growing palm trees.

Easily propagated by seeds. Germination 80-90%. At a temperature of 35 ° C in greenhouse conditions, seedlings appear on the seventh day. Under normal conditions - within a month.

This type of palm tree will look good in spacious rooms - halls, offices, greenhouses. Care is simple, but there is one feature - in winter it will feel more comfortable in cool conditions. If you can not maintain the temperature in the room no higher than 20 ° C (preferably 15-18 ° C), then the dishes with the plant should be kept in a pan with water and sprayed daily. At high temperature indoors and dry air, it can drop leaves.

Seeds remain viable for up to 5 years.

Trachycarpus Fortune

This type of palm (lat. Trachycarpus fortunei) in its homeland, in China, Burma, Japan, grows up to 10 m. At the top of the trunk it forms a bunch of fan-shaped leaves, the petioles of which reach a length of 0.5 to 1.5 m. The flowers are unisexual, dioecious , collected in large paniculate inflorescences. The fruit is a drupe. Abundantly fructifies from 20 years. Blossoms in May, fruits ripen in December-January.

It is the most hardy of all fan palms.

It is undemanding to the soil. Easily propagated by seeds. Seeds germinate within a month.

Young plants at room conditions are recommended once a year to transfer into pots more than large size. This accelerates their growth and makes it possible to remove rotten and dried parts of the root. All transplanting work must be carried out in the spring, at the beginning of the growing season.

Trachycarpus Fortune tolerates transplantation well in adulthood.

In many places on the Black Sea coast, it gives abundant self-seeding and runs wild.