DOI: 10.36347/sajb.2020.v08i05.001

Pages: 111-117

In Cameroon, most of the crude palm oil (CPO) consumed locally is produced by the informal sector and is generally of poor quality. The quality of palm oil is mainly determined by its acidity which is generated by a very active lipase present in the mesocarp of ripe palm fruits. Previous studies showed a strong variability of this trait amongst progenies, and the segregation of forms suggested a monohybridism with dominance of the strong acidity allele. The objective of this study was to get more insights into this mechanism by explaining the phenotypic variability of palm oil acidity (POA) in view of possible production of seeds bearing this low oil acidity trait. Individual palms were grouped in classes based on their level of acidity from the mean and standard deviation. Figures of each class of acidity were compared to the theoretical proportions derived from the normal distribution using Chi square test (χ2) at 5% significance threshold according to the genetic determinism of POA previously demonstrated. POA assessment of 650 palms indicated a strong variability, with values ranging from 0.5 to 42% and an average of 10 ± 8%. The normal distribution of F2 into 3 classes around 1.34 ± 0.6, 15 ± 6 and 21.92 ± 5%, corresponded to the genotypes « papa », « Papa » and « PaPa » respectively conferring low, average and high acidity traits. This suggest the presence of minor genes around the major gene controlling POA, with the dominance of high acidity form.