When you think of palm tree fruit, you probably only think of a
coconut or maybe dates.
Did you know that wax, oil , jelly and wine are also produced from their fruits.
Not all kinds are edible. It really does depend on what kind of palm it comes from.
You have probably eaten many dates in your lifetime, but l bet you never thought much about where they came from.
There's a lot of people who think they were more related to the fig or a prune maybe, which of course is a dried plum.
If you live in Europe or in the Middle East dates from palms would be common knowledge, and same if you were from California or Arizona.
It was not common knowledge that this is type of palm tree fruit for many folks coming from Canada or the northern states.
Spain has the
Canary Island date palm that is thriving on the islands. It is a highly prized tree in landscapes. The the palm tree fruit it produces is edible but for the size of tree you don't get much fruit.
The Middle East is probably the biggest producer of dates in the world because the date palms grow the best in the dry arid conditions of the desert.
They don’t have to be cooked to be eaten and many farms leave the dates on the trees not just to ripen but to dry some too before being harvested.
The wax palm grows a fruit very similar to the Christmas palm tree in looks.
This palm tree fruit
comes out green and is red when it is ripe. Their fruits look like small radishes or large cherries.
There are really two types of wax palms.
One produces wax from their leaves and stalks and is used as sealing wax.
While the other wax palm grows mainly in South America and gets the wax from their fruits/seeds.
This wax is quite soft and is easy to add fragrance to-making great for candles.
This is Columbia’s national tree. They grow in the valleys of the Andes at higher elevations than you'd probably guess. 1000 ft + above sea level.
Believe it or not they get to be over 200 ft tall, that’s more than 20 stories!
Oil palms are grown in plantations and their fruit is harvested for the oil.
One type of this tree is native to Africa and another to South America.
Both are now grown in various parts of the world.
The oil is used for food products, cleaning products and for the production of biodiesel.
I bet you never thought about it but palm oil is some of the healthiest available.
It is used in a multitude of products from salad dressing to shampoo.
Some oil palms have both the seed's husk and inside kernels used for palm oil.
Another catch here is that there are also palms whose leaves are also used to produce oil but a completely different kind.
Two kinds of palm fruit.
One on right is used in biodiesel.
The above is a type used more for edible oil.
My favorite palm fruit and more than likely yours too, is the coconut and running in a close second is banana.
The coconut palms that are grown on farms in an orchard type of setting are now recycled for their lumber once the tree is finished its coconut production.
Did you know that a coconut palm could be a productive fruit producer for 70 years?
Holy cow, compared to other fruit trees I’d have to say they have a long fruitful life!
The Pindo palm produces a yellow or orange colored fruit that look similar to dates.
There are lots of people out there who will make a great jelly or wine from these.
You can also eat them raw straight off the tree.
For a simple jelly recipe using this kind of palm tree fruit click here visit the Pindo palm page and watch a short video.
The acai berry that is so popular and healthy comes from that kind of palm.
The fruit of the saw palmetto (a bush or scrub palm) is used for a men's prostate health supplement.
I bet that too was something you may not have known.
There are lots healthy products on the market that come from these great trees.
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