The traditional free-range system of livestock rearing contributes to the socioeconomic well-being of most rural households in Ghana. The traditional management system exposes livestock to a high disease incidence, but healthcare support for animal production is limited. Ethnoveterinary practice is an integral part of livestock treatment, particularly in rural communities where veterinary services are poor. However, documentation of the plants used for ethnoveterinary treatment of livestock is scant in the country. Given the dearth of information on ethnoveterinary treatment, this study aimed to document the cultural significance and level of agreement of plant species used for treating livestock ailments in the Adaklu district. Ethnoveterinary data were collected from 120 respondents using semi-structured questionnaires. Quantitative ethnobotanical indices were used to ascertain the most culturally significant plant species for livestock healing. It was found that 38 plant species were used to treat various livestock ailments. Ethnobotanical indices revealed that Mangifera indica, Elaeis guineensis, Khaya senegalensis, Spondias mombin, and Physalis peruviana were the most culturally significant plant species for treating livestock ailments. Mangifera indica was found to be the most versatile species for treating livestock ailments and had the highest cultural importance (CI). This study reveals the high cultural importance of plants in the Adaklu district to improve livestock healthcare. The perceived efficacy influences the selection and utilization of a resource for folk medicine. The study recommends isolating and characterizing the active compounds in the most culturally significant plants and testing the properties on the medical conditions attributed to these plants.

Ganoderma boninense is a basidiomycete pathogen of African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) and the causal agent of basal stem rot (BSR) disease, which is the most destructive fungal disease of oil palm in Southeast Asia. The disease is fatal for infected palms and can result in 50 to 80% losses in oil yields because of a reduction in productive life span and a yield decline of infected oil palms. In this study, G. boninense isolates collected from different locations and planting blocks with different palm ages were molecularly characterized using microsatellite genotyping. Results showed high pathogen genetic diversity (He = 0.67 to 0.74) among planting blocks and between oil palm estates. Two nearby planting blocks with similar planting ages (i.e., 1999 and 2001) had a similar percentage of BSR incidence (>20%) but showed distinct Ganoderma genetic structure as detected using STRUCTURE. Similar results were obtained from another trial site where planting blocks differing in planting age but located only less than 1 km apart showed a diverse genetic background. The pathogen genetic admixture of the oldest planting (>30% BSR incidence) differed significantly from the younger planting (1.8 to 2.8% BSR incidence, breeding trial block), suggesting that the host-pathogen genotype interaction may impact the Ganoderma genetic variation over time. The genetic structure of G. boninense, as revealed in this study, implies positive selection resulting from the pathogen genetic variation, host-pathogen interaction, and possible introductions of novel genetic variants (through spores) from adjacent plantings. These findings offer new insights into the genetic changes of G. boninense over time. The information is essential to design disease management strategies and breeding for BSR resistance in oil palm.

Water scarcity is a significant constraint on agricultural practices, particularly in Colombia, where numerous palm cultivators rely on rainfed systems for their plantations. Identifying drought-tolerant cultivars becomes pivotal to mitigating the detrimental impacts of water stress on growth and productivity. This study scrutinizes the variability in drought responses of growth, physiological, and biochemical variables integral to selecting drought-tolerant oil palm cultivars in the nursery. A comprehensive dataset was compiled by subjecting seedlings of eleven cultivars to four soil water potentials (-0.05 MPa, -0.5 MPa, -1 MPa, and -2 MPa) over 60 days. This dataset encompasses growth attributes, photosynthetic parameters like maximum quantum yield and electron transfer rate, gas exchange (photosynthesis, transpiration, and water use efficiency), levels of osmolytes (proline and sugars), abscisic acid (ABA) content, as well as antioxidant-related enzymes, including peroxidase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and superoxide dismutase. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) elucidated two principal components that account for approximately 65% of the cumulative variance. Noteworthy enzyme activity was detected for glutathione reductase and ascorbate peroxidase. When juxtaposed with the other evaluated cultivars, one of the cultivars (IRHO 7001) exhibited the most robust response to water deficit. The six characteristics evaluated (photosynthesis, predawn water potential, proline, transpiration, catalase activity, sugars) were determined to be the most discriminant when selecting palm oil cultivars with tolerance to water deficit.

Elaeis guineensis and E. oleifera are the two species of oil palm. E. guineensis is the most widely cultivated commercial species, and introgression of desirable traits from E. oleifera is ongoing. We report an improved E. guineensis genome assembly with substantially increased continuity and completeness, as well as the first chromosome-scale E. oleifera genome assembly. Each assembly was obtained by integration of long-read sequencing, proximity ligation sequencing, optical mapping and genetic mapping. High interspecific genome conservation is observed between the two species. The study provides the most extensive gene annotation to date, including 46,697 E. guineensis and 38,658 E. oleifera gene predictions. Analyses of repetitive element families further resolve the DNA repeat architecture of both genomes. Comparative genomic analyses identified experimentally validated small structural variants between the oil palm species and resolved the mechanism of chromosomal fusions responsible for the evolutionary descending dysploidy from 18 to 16 chromosomes.

Skincare industries are growing rapidly around the globe but most products are formulated using synthetic chemicals and organic solvent extracted plant extracts, thus may be hazardous to the users and incur higher cost for purification that eventually leads to phytonutrient degradation. Therefore, this study aimed to formulate a stable natural formulation with antioxidant and antimicrobial activities by using supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO 2 ) extracted palm-pressed fiber oil (PPFO) as an active ingredient with virgin coconut oil (VCO) as a formulation base. PPFO was extracted from fresh palm-pressed fiber (PPF) while VCO was from dried grated coconut copra using SC-CO 2 before being subjected to the analyses of physicochemical properties, phytonutrient content and biological activities including antioxidant and antimicrobial. The nanoemulgel formulations were then developed and examined for their stability through accelerated stability study for 3 months by measuring their pH, particle size, polydispersity index and zeta potential. The results showed that PPFO contained a high amount of phytonutrients, especially total carotenoid (1497 ppm) and total tocopherol and tocotrienol (2269 ppm) contents. The newly developed nanoemulgels maintained their particles in nano size and showed good stability with high negative zeta potentials. Sample nanoemulgel formulated with 3% PPFO diluted in VCO as effective concentration showed significantly stronger antioxidant activity than the control which was formulated from 3% tocopheryl acetate diluted in mineral oil, towards DPPH and ABTS radicals, with IC 50 values of 67.41 and 44.28 µL/mL, respectively. For the antibacterial activities, the sample nanoemulgel was found to inhibit Gram positive bacteria S. aureus and S. epidermidis growth but not the Gram negative strain E. coli. Overall, this study revealed the potential of SF-extracted PPFO as an active ingredient in the antioxidant topical formulations thus future study on in vitro skin cell models is highly recommended for validation.

Bud Rot, caused by Phytophthora palmivora, is considered one of the main diseases affecting African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis). In this study, we investigated the in vitro molecular dynamics of the pathogen-host interaction by analyzing gene expression profiles from oil palm genotypes that were either susceptible or resistant to the disease. We observed distinct interactions of P. palmivora with resistant and susceptible oil palms through co-expression network analysis. When interacting with susceptible genotypes, P. palmivora exhibited upregulation of carbohydrate and sulfate transport genes. These genes demonstrated co-expression with apoplastic and cytoplasmic effectors, including cell wall degrading enzymes, elicitins, and RxLR motif effectors. The pathogen manipulated susceptible oil palm materials, exacerbating the response and compromising the phenylpropanoid pathway, ultimately leading to susceptibility. In contrast, resistant materials exhibited control over their response through putative Heat Shock Proteins (HSP) that maintained homeostasis between primary metabolism and biotic defense. Co-expressed genes related to flavonoids, WRKY transcripts, lectin-type receptors, and LRR receptors may play important roles in pathogen control. Overall, the study provides new knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying the interaction between E. guineensis and P. palmivora, which can contribute to controlling Bud Rot in oil palms and gives new insights into the interactions of P. palmivora with their hosts.

Hybrid crude palm oil (HCPO) HIE OxG is notable for its abundance of carotenoids, tocopherols, and tocotrienols. Investigating cellular antioxidant activity (CAA) and the non-cytotoxicity of oil nanoparticles is crucial for understanding the behavior of these phytochemicals in biological systems and ensuring the safety of products. Nanoparticles of HCPO, encapsulated with jackfruit by-products were produced and characterized for CAA and cytotoxicity in Caco-2 cells. The nanoparticles exhibited nanoscale diameters (<250 nm), uniform distribution and stability (polydispersity index < 0.25; zeta potential JSF-NP -12.46 ± 0.15 mV and JAF-NP -13.73 ± 1.28 mV). JSF-NP and JAF-NP demonstrated superior CAA compared to the free HCPO across all concentrations, without inducing cytotoxic effects on differentiated Caco-2 cells. This study underscores the importance of investigating the CAA of edible oil nanoparticles, with non-cytotoxicity indicating biological safety and the potential to safeguard intestinal epithelial cells. Thus, JSF-NP and JAF-NP emerge as promising delivery systems for future HCPO applications.

Agriculture is expanding rapidly across the tropics. While cultivation can boost socioeconomic conditions and food security, it also threatens native ecosystems. Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), which is grown pantropically, is the most productive vegetable oil crop worldwide. The impacts of oil palm cultivation have been studied extensively in Southeast Asia and - to a lesser extent - in Latin America but, in comparison, very little is known about its impacts in Africa: oil palm\'s native range, and where cultivation is expanding rapidly. In this paper, we introduce a large-scale research programme - the Sustainable Oil Palm in West Africa (SOPWA) Project - that is evaluating the relative ecological impacts of oil palm cultivation under traditional (i.e., by local people) and industrial (i.e., by a large-scale corporation) management in Liberia. Our paper is twofold in focus. First, we use systematic mapping to appraise the literature on oil palm research in an African context, assessing the geographic and disciplinary focus of existing research. We found 757 publications occurring in 36 African countries. Studies tended to focus on the impacts of palm oil consumption on human health and wellbeing. We found no research that has evaluated the whole-ecosystem (i.e., multiple taxa and ecosystem functions) impacts of oil palm cultivation in Africa, a knowledge gap which the SOPWA Project directly addresses. Second, we describe the SOPWA Project\'s study design and-using canopy cover, ground vegetation cover, and soil temperature data as a case study-demonstrate its utility for assessing differences between areas of rainforest and oil palm agriculture. We outline the socioecological data collected by the SOPWA Project to date and describe the potential for future research, to encourage new collaborations and additional similar projects of its kind in West Africa. Increased research in Africa is needed urgently to understand the combined ecological and sociocultural impacts of oil palm and other agriculture in this unique region. This will help to ensure long-term sustainability of the oil palm industry-and, indeed, all tropical agricultural activity-in Africa.

Oecophylla smaragdina F., the Asian weaver ant, is one of the oil palm plantation\'s (Elaeis guineensis) potential predators, for the invasive bagworm species Metisa plana Walker, but this ant is a nuisance species that irritates plantation workers with their sharp bites. Here we assess the foraging activities (FA) of O. smaragdina\'s major workers, identify its inactive times and the existence of supervision, a novelty for social insects. Between 2018 and 2022, the pattern of trunk foraging activity was used as a mitigation measure. The relationship between trunk FA and air temperature (AT), relative humidity (RH), air pressure (AP), and rainfall interception (RI) was also investigated. Our results showed that, O. smaragdina is a strictly diurnal ant species, has little to no crepuscular activity, and stopped foraging during darkness. Moreover, veteran bigger workers systematically acted as supervisors by monitoring trails, intercepting, and bringing back to nests smaller individuals during heat peaks. In relation to population size relative abundance, all colonies displayed greater intensity during the warmest daily periods with higher mean forager density among the bigger colony, regardless of the dry-rainy intervals corresponded to minimal activity from late scotophase to early photophase and showed a bimodal pattern. Thus, forager activity peaked between 1100-1530 h and 1745-1845 h, and an average two-fold daily sudden decrease in intensity between 1620 and 1650 h as a partial cut-off period (first report). Furthermore, foraging activity, AT, AP showed a significant positive correlation while RH was negative. Finally, we found that from the base palm trunks, defensive territorial layers extended to 5 m on average with different spatial configurations indicating greater foraging density within the first 2 m. Our study shows O. smaragdina daily low activity periods, before 1000 h, being the most suitable to avoid forager attacks to facilitate pruning and harvesting tasks.

Interspecific hybrid crude palm oil (HCPO) HIE OxG derived from crossbred African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) and American Caiaué (Elaeis oleifera) is prominent for its fatty acid and antioxidant compositions (carotenoids, tocopherols, and tocotrienols), lower production cost, and high pest resistance properties compared to crude palm oil. Biodegradable and sustainable encapsulants derived from vegetable byproducts were used to formulate HCPO nanoparticles. Nanoparticles with hybrid crude palm oil and jackfruit seed flour as a wall material (N-JSF) and with hybrid crude palm oil and jackfruit axis flour as a wall material (N-JAF) were optimized using a 22 experimental design. They exhibited nanoscale diameters (<250 nm) and were characterized based on their zeta potential, apparent viscosity, pH, color, and total carotenoid content. The nanoparticles demonstrated a monodisperse distribution, good uniformity, and stability (polydispersity index < 0.25; zeta potentials: N-JSF -19.50 ± 1.47 mV and N-JAF -12.50 ± 0.17 mV), as well as high encapsulation efficiency (%) (N-JSF 86.44 ± 0.01 and N-JAF 90.43 ± 1.34) and an optimal carotenoid retention (>85%). These nanoparticles show potential for use as sustainable and clean-label HCPO alternatives in the food industry.