Oil yields for Allanblackia parviflora (tallow tree) in Ghana: the effects of oil extraction methods, tree morphology and environmental characteristics

Abstract

This study provided understanding of the oil yields from Allanblackia parviflora fruits in Ghana. The study sought patterns of variations in oil yield between 157 trees, 16 communities and 3 ecological zones. Ecological zone and soil properties were considered as surrogates for growing conditions associated with tree and fruit morphology. Kernel and seed oil yields were determined using the manual screw press ranged from 31.3 to 61.8% and 0.2 to 36.8%, respectively. Large variations were observed between individual trees, and significant oil yield differences were observed between the 16 communities. There were no relationships between oil yields and soil properties, even though tree-totree differences were observed. The farmers' estimated ages of the trees predicted kernel oil yields: very young and very old trees revealed medium and low kernel oil yields, respectively. Kernel oil yields were also seen to be influenced by ecological zone. Most of the low kernel oil yielding trees were identified in the semi deciduous forest zone (SD), and more trees in wet evergreen forest zone (W) were identified as very high kernel oil yielding trees. Trees selection for domestication can be based on tree phenotype and providing environmental conditions similar to the wet evergreen forest zone.

Diversity, Chemical Composition, and Domestication Potential of Allanblackia parviflora A. Chev. in West Africa

“…Nutritional analyses showed that the seeds contained 4.3% protein, 2.0% ash, 5.7% crude fibre and 17.1% carbohydrates, with the moisture content being 3.4%. Additionally, Sefah et al [58] confirmed the moisture content of A. parviflora seeds to be 3.2%. Nutritional values from A. parviflora seeds were compared with those from A. floribunda and other tropical fruit trees such as Vitelaria paradoxa Kotschy and Theobroma cacao L.,1753 and are summarized in Table 2.…”

“…For instance, morphological and genetic diversity assessment using genetic markers have been reported for A. floribunda in Cameroon [24,25] and A. stuhlmannii in Tanzania [25,68]. However, there is very limited knowledge on studies focusing on the genetic diversity of A. parviflora in West Africa using molecular markers even though some work has been done on the morphological aspects in Ghana [4,17,58]. Genetic markers are employed, for instance, for the estimation of differences between natural and domesticated plant populations, gene flow, fingerprinting, genetic structure, and hybridization, and are therefore essential in breeding programmes and development of new varieties [69,70].…”