Elaeis guineensis

African oil palm
African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Family:	Arecaceae
Subfamily:	Arecoideae
Tribe:	Cocoeae
Genus:	Elaeis
Species:	E. guineensis
Binomial name
Elaeis guineensis Jacq.
Synonyms
Elaeis dybowskii Hua E. macrophylla A.Chev. (nom. inval.) E. madagascariensis (Jum. & H.Perrier) Becc. E. melanococca Gaertn. E. nigrescens (A.Chev.) Prain (nom. inval.) E. virescens (A.Chev.) Prain Palma oleosa Mill.

Keenan has eaten palm oil (including the less-refined red palm oil), but not whole oilpalm fruits.

One should be careful of the source of the palm oil. Currently rain forests around the globe are being destroyed to plant oil palm. It's popularity exploded after trans fats were determined to be detrimental to one's health. It is now found in many cheap snack foods. There is an environmental movement to persuade large snack food companies to stop consuming this conflict palm. Sourcing organic, rain forest alliance certified palm oil is one way to decrease your eco-footprint if you choose to eat this plant.

Acknowledgements

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Elaeis guineensis, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.