About a dozen plant species account for more than 90% of _the world’s production of vegetable oils and fats. Most commercially traded vegetable oils and fats are obtained either from seeds ( e.g. com oil, groundnut oil, soya bean oil, palm kernel oil) or other parts of fruits ( e.g. olive oil, palm oil). Most of the oil producing plants cultivated in the temperate regions are annuals and oils are largely extracted from the seeds of these plants. The most important oil producing species cultivated in the tropics include two palms, coconut and oil palm, both of which are perennial. The oil palm is quite unique amongst the commercial sources in pro­ducing a kernel oil from the seed and palm oil from the mesocarp of the fruit. It is the highest yielding oil crop, yields in the region of 4· – 6 tonnes of palm oil/hectare/year being considered average in Malaysia