Raffia Palm

Medicinal Uses

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Fruit  Oil  Sap  Seed  Stem | Edible Uses: Drink  Oil  SweetenerThe sap from the trunk is fermented to make palm wine[297 , 317 ]. It is also used to make a sweet beverage[301 ]. The sap can be obtained either by cutting down the trunk and allowing the sap to drain out, or by boring a hole in the trunk near the apex[297 ]. An edible starch is obtained from the stem[301 , 317 ]. Fruit - boiled and eaten[297 , 317 ]. An oil is obtained from the fruit[297 ]. The boiled fruit pulp yields a yellow fat known as raphia butter - it has a good taste when fresh[301 ]. The fruits are crushed, water is added and the mixture boiled then left to cool. The floating oil is then skimmed off and used in cooking[398 ].. The seed is edible[301 , 317 ].

Cultivation

Industrial Crop: Fiber  Industrial Crop: Wax  Management: Standard  Regional Crop  Staple Crop: Oil  Staple Crop: SugarA plant of the tropics, it is able to succeed in subtropical areas. Plants succeed in moist tropical climates where temperatures never fall below 10?c, the average annual rainfall is 1,500mm or more and the driest month has 25mm or more rain[297 ]. Requires a sunny position in a wet soil[314 ]. A monocarpic plant - growing for several years without flowering, then producing a massive inflorescence and dying after setting seed[200 ]. Flowering Time: Early spring, Late spring, Mid spring. Bloom Color: White. Spacing: 20-30 ft. (6-9 m) 30-40 ft. (9-12 m) over 40 ft. (12 m).

Known Hazards

None known

Habitats

Moist, swampy ground[200 ]. Riverine and groundwater forest[364 ]. Gallery forests, freshwater swamp forest, along river banks and in the western shoreline forests of Lake Victoria, at elevations from sea level to 2,500 metres[398 ].