Each fruit is made up of an oily, fleshy outer layer (the pericarp), with a single seed (the palm kernel), also rich in oil.

The genome of E. guineensis has been sequenced, which has important implications for breeding improved strains of the crop plants.

Palm oil was also discovered in the late 19th century by archaeologists in a tomb at Abydos dating back to 3000 BCE.

[citation needed] Elaeis guineensis is now extensively cultivated in tropical countries outside Africa, particularly Malaysia and Indonesia which together produce most of the world supply, as well as domestically in the Americas.

Especially in Indonesia, there is also growing pressure for palm oil producers to prove that they are not harming rare animals in the cultivation process.