Ethnobotany of raffia palm (Raphia hookeri), productivity assessment and characterization of raffia palm oil from the Niger Delta, Nigeria
Abstract
Raffia palm (Raphia sp) occurs abundantly in the wild in the freshwater zone of the Niger Delta, Nigeria. This study was carried out to assess the use, biomass productivity and characterization of raffia palm oil. Ripe raffia palm fruits were sampled from the three core Niger Delta States (Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers). The oil was extracted using mechanical method and was characterized. Results show that the relative density of the oil was 0.8700 – 0.9039, free fatty acid (FFA) content of 1.13% (Delta), 6.92% (Bayelsa) and 9.74% (Rivers), acidity value of 2.26% in Delta state, 13.94% in Bayelsa state and 19.48% in Rivers state (P<0.05), iodine value of 26.79% was recorded in the raffia palm oil from Rivers state, 28.60% from Bayelsa and 31.10% from Delta state. The peroxide value of the raffia oil was 5.58 mg KOH/g (Rivers state), 7.22 mg/KOH/g (Delta state) and 7.68mg/KOH/g (Bayelsa state) (P<0.05). The saponification number was 25.16 mgKOH/g in the oil from Bayelsa, 32.72 mgKOH/g from Delta and 213.18 mgKOH/g for Rivers state (P<0.05). The parameters fairly fell within the Nigerian standard for vegetable oil. The wild palm has a biomass productivity of 933 trees/ha in Bayelsa and Delta states and 1066 trees/ha in Rivers, but the apparent differences was not statistically significant (P>0.05). Raffia palm is currently underutilized by indigenous people for building construction, production of brooms, basket, ropes and constriction of fish, crab and turtle traps. Edible insect larva is obtained from the palm. Palm wine and locally fermented gin are the major uses of raffia palm. We conclude that raffia palm can be utilized as second generation biofuel feed stock to mitigate food versus fuel conflicts.
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