Accumulation Of Carbohydrate Reserve And Its Composition In Oil Palm Trunk

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Date
2016-08
Authors
Abdul Hamid, Zubaidah Aimi
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Abstract
This objective of this study was to investigate the accumulation and composition of carbohydrate reserves which is also known as non-structural carbohydrate in the oil palm trees. The experimental trees were divided equally into 2 groups namely non-fruit removal and fruit removal trees. The effect of fruit removal on the non-structural carbohydrate in oil palm trees was assessed. By associating the mechanisms of this reserve to the climate changes, it could help to understand the effects of climate change to the carbohydrate content. Oil palm trees showed an ability to adjust it temporary non-structural carbohydrate to a current demand and during the fruit production. Starch and sugar are the main component of non-structural carbohydrate contained in the oil palm tree. Study on the topological distribution in oil palm trunks showed that the starch was the major component at the top part of the trees. The starch content in the young and old oil palm trees has been determined. As a result, old oil palm tree contains high starch content due to it less utilized compared to young tree with the mean concentration between 2.02% and 3.93%. Under the fruit removal treatment, starch content in the oil palm trees was found higher compared to the non-fruit removal trees while the sugar content showed opposite gradient. Sucrose is a predominant sugar present in the oil palm trunks for both non-fruit removal and fruit removal trees, followed by glucose, fructose and other sugars. Under this fruit removal treatment also, we postulated that the non-structural carbohydrate in oil palm trees will increase from the beginning until the end of the study. As a result, it did not show any changes in accumulation and remains constant during the experimental periods. This fluctuation may due to the source-sink imbalances periods such as fruit filling and environmental stress. Climate change showed a respond to a fluctuation of non-structural carbohydrate in the oil palm trunks. The non-structural carbohydrate in felled trees from the fruit removal treatment under the storage time has been examined and the accumulation of total sugar was found increase and reduction of starch content. The study of α- amylase activity and it function in the felled trunks has been evaluated. The result showed that the α- amylase activity exist and functional to degrade the starch into sugar. Protein content in the felled trunks after storage days showed to be low at initial days before it increased after 15 days and became constant thereafter
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The accumulation and composition of carbohydrate reserves , non-structural carbohydrate in the oil palm trees.
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