Around the World in 40 Fruits – Volume 27 – By Dr. Marli Botha – Article 27 of 40
By Dr. Marli Botha
In Angola they have a popular saying: ‘A piece of meat has an outer layer of flesh, an intermediate layer of bone and an inner layer of flesh’. What is it? A palm fruit: it has an outer edible layer, the mesocarp; then a layer of shell, inedible, and the kernel inside, edible. The solution to this puzzle summarizes the botanical and cultural characteristics of the palm fruit.
Let’s unwrap this tropical treasure and explore its layers – both physical and cultural.
- The fruit pulp has a gingerbread-like taste and the young fruit contains a white fluid resembling coconut milk.
- The oil palm fruit is an oval-shaped drupe, 2.5 by 5cm, with a 2.5cm diameter. It consists of a thin, pliable exo-
- carp, an orange/red pulpy mesocarp and a hard nut containing a single kernel.
- Oil palm fruits are borne tightly clustered in large bunches which may weigh from 5kg in young poor palms, to as much as 40kg in 15 year old palms that are is good condition.
