Impact of insect pests of female oil palm inflorescences on the quality of palm bunches and palm oil

Abstract

Oil palm is a major cash crop for many countries. In fact, Côte d'Ivoire is the second largest African producer after Nigeria and the first African exporter. Despite this performance, the cultivation of this plant is limited by a variety of pests that strongly affect its production. These include leafminer Coelaenomenodera lameensis, defoliating caterpillars (Latoia spp), pests of the stipe of young palms (Oryctes monoceros), etc. and pests of female oil plam inflorescences. The latter destroys female inflorescences, which leads to malformation of many fruits, negatively impacting on the production of bunches. The objective of this work was to study the impact of female inflorescence pests on the quality of bunches and palm oil. The study was conducted at the CNRA research station in La Mé. The mosquito net placed on isolated female inflorescences allowed the capture and the identification of three main insect pests of female inflorescences of oil palm. These are the Curculionidae beetles Prosoestus minor and Prosoestus sculptilis and the Pyralidae lepidopteran Elaeidiphylos adustalis. These insects cause significant damage in palm groves, ranging from 60% to 70.98% of seeds damaged. Indeed, the large number of fruits damaged by these insects does not affect the quality of the oil produced because the acidity and fluidity of the oil remain within the quality standards. However, further biochemical studies are needed to elucidate real impact of these insects on the quality of the palm oil such such as fatty acid composition, β-carotene and vitamin E.