PART TWO

P – Q DIRECTORY OF COMMODITIES

PALM OIL

Especially Elaeus guineensis

(see palm-kernel oil)

Production

1992 Main palm oil producers (thousands tonnes)

Malaysia                                                        6,373

Indonesia                                                       3,162

Nigeria                                                            900

Colombia                                                        304

Thailand                                                          270

Papua New Guinea                                          206

Zaire                                                               183

Ecuador                                                          167

China                                                              140

Cameroon                                                       107

World                                                           12,821

Source:FAO estimates

Grades

Buyers classify crude palm oil (CPO) by the region from which it comes.  Since most major producers subsides their refining industry,a growing proportion of world trade is in refined palm oil.  The standard grade for refined oil is known as RBD (refined ,bleached, and deodorised.)  This standard defines limits of half a percent for free fatty acid, moisture and foreign materials.  The colour of refined oil is also usually specified.

Uses

Palm oil is one of the more important vegetable oils, representing about 16 per cent of world vegetable oil production and 40 per cent of world trade in vegetable oils.  This reflects the fact that many other vegetable oils are used in the country of production.

It is used in margarines and cooking oils but also in soap, lubricants and skin creams.

Production method

Palm oil is made from the outer layers, or mesocarp, of the fruit of the oil palm.  The palm oil tree begins to produce fruit about 3 years after planting, reaches a maximum yield after 10 years and can continue bearing fruit for 60 years.  In practice, however, trees are replanted in plantations every 25 to 30 years as yields decline with size and age.  The trees do best in humid, tropical climates.

Bunches of the fruit are cut with cutters mounted on long poles.  They are then left to ferment for several days before being boiled and pounded to extract the oil, which rises to the surface where it can be skimmed off.  The nut (seed)inside the fruit is separated for further processing to extract a different oil, palm kernel oil.  Noth the mesocarp and kernel contain about 50 per cent oil but different varieties of tree produce different ratios of sizes of kernel and mesocarp.

Cheap, small-scale palm oil extraction plants have been developed by the central palantations Crop Institute of India.

Refining is carried out on an industrial scale.

Main market features

Palm oil competes with all the other mainstream vegetable, such as soya, rape, sunflower, coconut, that can be used in margarine, cookingoils and salad oils as well as soaps, etc.  the major manufacturese of these products can, to a certain extent, change the mix oils to get the best advantage from their relative price at any given time.  A large proportion of the market for palm oil is in Europe and the USA, major producers of competing vegetable oils which enjoy the advantsge of being subsidised by internal agricultruaal protection schemes.

These factors tend to put a cap on the price level of the oil,  it is the sales to large Asian antions (Pakistan, India,and China) that increasingly define the price below this limit.

The very small difference in price between crude and refined palm oil is because of the heavy subsidy given by producing countries to their local refining industries.

Palm oil is traded on the Kaula Lumpur commodities exchange.

Prices

Malaysian RBD, US$ per tonne, fob:

1991 – 352, 1992 – 352, 1993 – 407, 1994 – 402, 1995 – 635.

PALM-KERNEL OIL

(See palm oil)

Palm-kernel oil is made from the kernel of the same fruit from which palm oil is made.  For this reason most of the top palm-kernel oil and palm oil producers are the same countries.

1992 main producers (thousands of tonnes)

Malaysia                                                        1785

Indonesia                                                       551

Nigeria                                                          369

Brazil                                                             225

Zaire                                                               75

Colombia                                                        53

Cameroon                                                       53

Papua New Guinea                                          50

Thailand                                                          49

Guinea                                                             40

World                                                           3577

Source: FAO estimates

Palm-kernel oil accounts for about 4 per cent of global vegetable oil consumption.  It is very similar to palm oil but different enough to have some other uses.  It is, for instance, an ingredient in artificalcream, ice-cream, chocolate and other confectionery.  Otherwise, like palm oil, it is used in margarine and cooking oils.  The crude oil can be used directly for soap-making.

Although producing countries are increasingly processing more kernels, a larger proportion of palm-kernel oil is processed and refined in developed countries than is palm oil.

The kernels are crushed in continuous screw presses (expellers) to extract the juice and the oil is removed from the juice by solvent extraction.  After this process the oil is filtered to remove small pieces of the nut of ‘foots’.  In the refining process the free fatty acids are removed and the oil is bleached and deodorised.  Special fats used in confectionery (hard stearine and liquid oleine) can be produced from the refined oil by fractional crystallisation using a solvent.  The remains of the kernel after pressing are used as cattle cake.

Palm-kernel oil is a saturated fat and, as such, is considered to be a health risk by some.  A more significant risk to its market has been the development of genetically engineered canola (vegetable rape), which is grown in temperate climates and which has been modifies to produce lauric acid, the main fatty acid unique to palm and palm kernels oils.

Prices

Crude Malaysian/Indonesian, cif UK, UD$ per tonne:

1992 – 660, 1993 – 470, 1994 – 650, 1995 – 595.

PAN (also known as betel vine)

Piper betel

(See betel nut)

The leaves of the betel vine are chewed with the betel nut as a mild stimulant.  The leaves are also sometimes eaten by themselves after meals to aid digestion.  They may be used as a flavouring; the leaves from the female inflorescences in savoury dishes.  Pan is grown all over South -East Asia and East Africa and exported by India and Pakistan, mainly to ethnic communities in the west.

The plant is a unisexual evergreen climber and id grown up stakes.  The leaves are picked from 18 months after planting and can be harvested up to four times a year.  The upper leaves of the plant are considered to be best.  After cutting the leaves are covered for two or three days to bleach them before they are marketed.

In early 1995 the retail price for pan leaves in London was £0.59 sterling per ounce.  This indicates that the cif Europe price at the time was about US$0.50 per ounce.

PAPAIN

(See papaya)

Papain is an enzyme which is extracted from the milky juice of the unripe papaya fruit.  The enzyme has similar properties to some protein-digesting enzymes found in the stomachs of animals.

It is used locally and throughout the world as a meat tenderiser.  The usual grade used in food dissolves about 35 times its own weight of lean meat.  It is deactivated by cooking.  It is also used medically to prevent adhesions and in medical research.  A new use has been found as an ingredient in cleansing fluids for soft contact lenses.  In very low concentrations, it is used in indigestion remedies.

Chymopapain, another enzyme derived from the same source, is used in medicine to dissolve discs in lumbar spine injuries.

PAPAYA (also known as paw paw)

Carica papaya

Papaya are grown all the tropics, where many people grow one or a few trees near their houses for a convenient supply of fruit.  The papaya can be grown in warm temperate zones but at much slower rate.  In some countries they are grown commercially in plantations.  There are many varieties but the smaller varieties are preferred in export markets as fresh fruit, whereas larger varieties are preferred for canning.  Some varieties of trees produce fruit unevenly as they can change sex every few years.  Papaya trees produce fruit in the first year of planting.  They are quite well known in developed countries, both as fresh fruit and in cans.

1992 Main producers of papaya (thousands of tonnes)

Brazil                                                             1400

Thailand                                                        542

Indonesia                                                       355

India                                                              320

Zaire                                                             210

China                                                            125

Philippines                                                     105

Colombia                                                        66

Peru                                                                50

Mozambique                                                   44

World                                                           3929

Source: FAO estimates

Papaya are also exported by Barbados, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa, Venezuela.

They are normally exported in 4 kg cartons.

Two other commercial products can be produced from the papaya plant – papain and pectin.  Papain is an enzyme used to tenderise meat and is contained in the fruit.  Pectin, which can be used to make certain jams and jellies, is extracted during the canning process.

In early 1995 the wholesale price for Brazillian papaya on the London market was £8 sterling for a 4 kg carton.

PASSION FRUIT

Genus passifora

Passion fruit  have become familiar fruit in Northern super-markets.  The juice of the fruit is widely used, often mixed with those of other tropical fruits.  It is also used to flavour ice-cream and included in fruit salads.

There are two main types.  The edulis has purple fruit and is sweeter.  The flavicarapa produces yellow fruit and is best suited to lowland areas.  The trees start fruiting and is best suited to lowland areas.  The trees start fruiting from their second year.

It is now grow commercially and exported by many countries including Australia, brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Kenya, New Zealand, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, Uganda, USA, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Packing is usually in 2 kg to 4 kg cartons.

In early 1995 the wholesale price for Colombian passion fruit on the London market was £2 sterling per kilo.

PATCHOULI OIL

Genus pogostrmon

Production

Indonesia produces about 80 per cent of the world’s supply of patchouli oil (which amounts to about 500 tonnes per year).  China and Malaysia share most of the remaining production, but Brazil and Taiwan are minor producers.

Grades

The quality of the oil varies between the different countries of production.  It has been noted that the quality of patchouli oil improves with age.  Commercial grades should have the following physical properties:

Optical rotation at 20 degrees C                    Minus 40 to 66

Acid value                                                     4maximum

Refractive index at 20 degrees C                    1.505 to 1.512

Solubility in ethanol at 20 degrees C               1 in 10 volumes

Uses

Patchouli oil is the basis for many higher-quality perfumes.  It can be found in soaps, aftershave lotions, etc.  it was particularly fashionable in the 1960s and 1970s as a scent in its pure form and has had something of a revival in the mid-1990s.

The oil has a ‘woody’ fragrance and gives a very solid foundation to the perfumes in which it is used.  Its chemical structure has so far defies synthetic substitution.

Consumption

The USA consumes about 200 tonnes of the oil each year.  Other developed countries including Germany, UK, Japan, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands import a few tens of tonnes per year.  India is also an important consuming country.

Production method

The plant from which patchouli is derived (popstemon cablin) grows to about 1.5 meters tall.  It grows wild in many tropical countries but it is grown in plantations for oil production.  The oil is extracted from the leaves and stem of the plant.  The first crop can be gathered from 6 to 7 months after planting (using cuttings) and can go on at 6-month intervals for 2 to 3 years.  The plant tends to exhaust the soil easily and must be grown in rotation with other crops.  The stems and leaves are dried for 2 to 3 days after harvesting.  The oil is extracted from them by steam distillation.

Main market features

Demand for the oil varies with fashion and economic climate.  This causes the price structure to be a little unstable, which may discourage new producers.  All foreseeable demand is likely to be fulfilled from existing sources.  The product is traded by specialist merchants based in consuming countries and directly between suppliers and consuming companies.

Prices

Singapore, standard, per kilo, cif:

1991 –£6.90 sterling, 1992 – US$12.50, 1993 – US$19, 1994 – US$20, 1995 – US$22

PECAN NUTS

Carya pecan and Carya illinoenensis

The pecan nut can be grown in cool tropical and warm temperate conditions.  USA production, which is confined to the southern states and amounts to about 80,000 tonnes of in-shell nuts, dominates the international market.  Other producers are Mexico, Australia, South Africa, Israel, Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Egypt.

The nut is very like a walnut with a smooth shell.  The pecan tree is productive for many decades.  Very many varieties are available to the grower to suit different conditions.  The nut has a high unsaturated oil content which has endeared them to the health food industry.  The nuts are used in cakes, biscuits, confectionery and in ice-cream.  About 10 per cent of pecans are sold in their shells to consumers.  Pecan meal, ie very small pieces generated during shelling, is used for animal feed.

The pecan industry has been developed only over the last century and has involved large capital expenditure, especially in the USA where trees are grown on large plantations and harvesting and processing are highly mechanised, although some collection is still made from wild or ‘naïve’ trees.  The USA, as well as being the largest producer and major exporter, is the largest consumer of the nut.  UK and Germany, Canada and Japan are also important consuming countries.

Most pecans are traded without their shell.  The kernel of a pecan nut weighs about 50 per cent of the whole nut.  Consumers in developed countries are only interested in nuts of a consistently high quality.  Harvesting is done by hand in many countries but mechanical harvesting helps to ensure high quality control.  The mechanical harvesting helps to ensure high quality control.  The moisture content of the nut kernels must be reduced by drying to 45 per cent as soon as possible after harvesting to prevent mould and discolouration of the kernels.

Quality, and therefore price, is judged by individual consuming companies on the colour and size of the kernel.  Light-coloured, large kernels are favoured.  The nut must not be damaged by insects.  In the tropics, pecans are especially prone to embryo rot, which can be controlled by making sure that fallen nuts are quickly taken up from the ground and by keeping the nuts dry.  Pecan kernels are normally vaccum packed or packed in nitrogen.  They can be safely frozen for longer storage life.

Pecan pieces, medium Large pieces, medium pieces, medium small pieces, small pieces and meal.  Since Halves are sought after by bakers they fetch about one third of the Halves price.

The USA both exports and imports pecans.  Mexico is the main exporter to USA (2000 to 3000 tonnes per annum).  The US harvest normally begins in mid-October but US growers always have a race against time to get their crop to the market in time for thanksgiving (the fourth Thursday of November) when huge quantities are consumed, especially in the traditional pecan pie.  Non US producers such as mexico could thus benefit from the high prices paid in the US for early pecans.

The US government gives local growers a high-quality information service on the market and is responsible for breeding new varieties of the nut for local growers with better resistance to disease, thinner shells and higher yields.

Prices

US origin, ex-shell, ex store UK, US$ per Ib:

1992 – 3.90, 1993 – 3.90, 1994 – 4.25, 1995 – 4.25.

PEPINO (also known as melon pear)

Pepino can be grown in tropical as well as as warm, temperate conditions.  It has a small international market as fresh fruit but it is also sold in cans.  It is exported by Chile, Colombia, Israel, Kenya, New Zealand, Peru and USA.

In early 1995 the wholesale price for Colombian pepino on the London market was £12 fruit.

PEPPER

Piper nigrum

Production

1994 main producers (thousands of tonnes)

India                                                              50

Brazil                                                             20

Indonesia                                                       15

Vietnam                                                         15

Malaysia                                                        12

World                                                           172

In 1994 pepper production was  in the downward part of its cycle caused by very low prices in the previous few years.

Consumption

Europe and the USA are by far the largest importers, taking about 45,000 tonnes per year each.  Some reexporting of ground pepper is done, especially from Germany and the Netherlands India is such a large consumer of pepper that it is not an effective exporter of good-quality peppercorns, even though it doubled production between 1980 and 1990 and is now the largest producing country.

Grades

Black, white and green peppercorns are produced from the same plant by different processing methods.  The pepper plant has no botanical relationship with sweet peppers or pimiento.  White and black pepper are traded in the whole peppercorn and ground form.

Quality is assessed on density (B1, the top Brazilian grade weighs at least 560g per litre), size of peppercorns (for black peppercorns, under 4 mm diameter is considered small and 6 mm are large), and cleanliness (they should contain no more than 1.5 per cent dust or other foreign matter).  The term ‘garbled’ means hand-picked and such peppercorns fetch a higher value.

Quality is increasingly assessed by chemical properties rather than by subjective views of samples.  Standards for imports into USA (mainly from Brazil and Indonesia) are set by the American Spice Trade Association.

Green peppercorns represent a tiny proportion of the trade and are sold in jars to keep them soft and moist.

Uses

As a spice and condiment.

Production method

There are several commercially exploited varieties of the pepper plant.  The plant is a vine which begins to produce a crop between 18 months and four years after planting and which reaches  maturity  a year later, when production declines.  The pepper plant needs about 3 meters of rainfall a year and it thrives best near the equator.  It is propagated by cuttings.

Black and white peppercorns are produces from the same plant.  After harvesting the corns are laid in the sun to be fermented.  They are then threshed, dried and cleaned (washed).  White peppercorns are produced by stripping ripe, black peppercorns of their outer skin after soaking in water.  (The noxions waste is often difficult to dispose of.)  Green peppercorns are kept for sale in a mosit state after harvesting.

The plant is vulnerable to an incurable root fungs – fusarium, caused by phytophthera palmivora.

Market features

The global trade in pepper stagnated at the beginning of the 1990s with both production and consumption at low levels.  Very low production levels and poor care of vines owing to previous low prices in the early 1990s caused prices to improve in 1995.  optimism about future higher prices is encouraging more plantings (1994), notably in Brazil, which expects production to double by the year 2000, but by the time these plants reach maturity prices are likely to be falling once again.

It is this cycle of high prices encouraging more production which in turn (after two years or so taken for vines to Mature) causes prices to fall, that characterises the pepper market.

Although white pepper prices are generally higher than those of black pepper, the difference in price over several years has not been sufficient to make it worth the extra processing in many producing areas.  This has caused the differential to increase significantly.

International donor agencies are pressing pepper producers to adopt modern agricultural techniques to improve yields, but this is likely to lower prices.

India and Indonesia levy export taxes.

The fall in sales to the former USSR have impacted mainly on Indian exports.

A great deal of the added value for pepper comes from the cleaning, grinding and packaging of the product in consuming countries, which protect their spice-processing industry with tariff barriers and stringent health regulations.  Western consumers pay 1000 per cent more per kilo for the packaged product than producers receive.  These consumers are suspicious of anything other than well-packaged and well-known brands.

The international trade in pepper is conducted by merchant houses in the countries of origin and the main importing countries, especially the Netherlands, Belgium and the USA.

The Indonesian-based international Pepper Community (IPC) has in 1985 and 1991, tried to encourage its members, Indonesia, brazil, India, and Malaysia, to restrict production to improve prices, but the cyclical nature of the market and international pressure have rebdered these attempts largely unsuccessful.

The international General produce and Association based in London offers a recognised contract on pepper  and an arbitration service.

The pepper market (especially white) is notorious for its susceptibility to market manipulation by speculators and historically prices are very volatile.

Prices

Brazil black grade No 1 fob US$ per tonne:

1991 – 1350, 1992 – 900, 1993 – 1325, 1994 – 1600, 1995 – 2550

Sarawak, Muntok white fob US$ per tonne:

1991 – 1050, 1992 – 1000, 1993 – 1525, 1994 – 3100, 1995 – 3800.

PHYSALIS

Physalis alkekengi

This is very exotic-looking fruit has become fashionable in Europe over the last few years, probably because of its market in the developed world, however, once its novelty has worn off.

It is exported from several countries including Colombia, Egypt, Kenya and South Africa.

The fruit must be marketed complete with its brown paper like calyx.  It is generally packed in cartons containing 6 to 8 punnets of 100g, each containing 10 to 15 individual fruit.

In early 1995 the wholesle price of Colombia physalis on the London market was £7 sterling for a carton of 12 fruit.

PHYSIC NUT (also known as Barbados nut)

Jatropha curas

This nut grows in the tropical regions of the South and Central America as well as on some Caribbean islands.  It is the seed of a metre tall tree.  The nut can only be eaten after it has been thoroughly roasted.  Otherwise, the unroasted nut is a powerful purgative.  The oil from the nut is used for cooking and to make soap.

PIASSAVA

Attalea funifera and Leopoldinia piassaba

This is coarse, woody fibre obtained from the leaf-steaks of two types of palm tree.  It is produced in its native Brazil budt only Sierra Leone grows it for international consumption.  Possibly up to 10,000 tonnes are traded each year.

Piassava is used for making the traditional British heavy-duty yard broom and other tough brushes.  It was once traded in the full, natural length of about one metre, but consumers now prefer to take it in lengths of about 25 cm.  It has been subjected to severe competition from synthetic products, but fabricators of piassava report that customers are likely to make further substitutions.  These fabricators trade directly with the growers’ sales agents and deal on long-term contractual arrangements.

In 1995, piassava was trading at about US$1500 per tonne cif European port.

PIGEON PEA (also known as yellow dhal, congo bean)

Cajanus cajan

Pigeon peas are already an important source of protein in many tropical area.  About 2 million tonnes are grown annually and the crop is likely to become even more important in the future.  In India, which is the largest producing country, it is usually consumed in the form of dhal.  Kenya is the second largest producer and Uganda, the Dominican Republic and Burma are also large producers.  As much of the crop can be grown in tiny plots or in the backyards (unlike wheat or rice), it is difficult to make estimates of true production.  In the Caribbean region the fresh green bean is a popular vegetable.  In this form, it is exported from India, Jamaica, Kenya and Uganda.  Otherwise, almost all pigeon peas are consumed in the countries of production.  After threshing, the dried plant is used as a fuel or for thatching.

Pigeon peas must be grown in bright sunshine.  The plant is fairly drought resistant that it does best in humid conditions.  In India and Africa it is often mixed with other crops such as maize or sorghum.  The beans are usually harvested by hand about six months after planting, but some new hybrids, developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, mature is less time.  The plants are then left in bundles for a few days to dry and are then threshed.  Harvesting is made more difficult by the uneven ripening of the beans on the plant.

Pigeon peas contain more minerals and ten times more fat than ordinary peas, as well as five times more vitamin A and three times more vitamin C.  The green pea is more nutritious than the dried bean.  As with other members of the pea family, pigeon peas impart nitrogen to the soil and improve it for growing other crops.

Unfortunately, up to half the crop can be lost to a particular caterpillar, Helicoverpa armigera, but, according to the New scientists, the international Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropical based in Hyderabad has developed a biological insecticide which is very effective and which is very effective and which will soon be available to farmers.

PINEAPPLE

Ananas comosus

There is a very large international trade in pineapples and almost all are grown in subtropical regions.  The fruit is eaten but is canned in huge quantities and its juice is drunk by itself and blended with juices.  There are very many varieties of the plant, some being favoured for canning and others for fresh consumption.  Pineapple juice is very acidic and cans must be lined with especially thick layers of tin coating.  The plant is grown commercially in large plantations.  Harvesting is still undertaken by hand.

Production, canning and export are largely controlled by huge multinationalcorporations, ntably those based in the USA.  The industry is notorious for harsh working conditions and a hostile attitude to trade unions.

1992 Main producers (thousands of tonnes)

Thailand                                                        1,900

Philippines                                                     1,170

China                                                            1,000

India                                                                820

Brazil                                                               800

Vietnam                                                           500

USA                                                               499

Indonesia                                                         380

Mexico                                                            299

Kenya                                                             270

World                                                           10,490

Source: FAO estimates

Among other exporting countries are Costa Rica, Ecuador, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Puerto, Rico, South Africa, St Lucia and Uganda.  Exports are generally made in 10 kg to 20 kg boxes.

In early 1995 the wholesale price for Ivory Coast pinapples on the London market was £1 sterling each.

PITAHAYA

This cactus fruit looks a little like a prickly pear.  Colombian growers are making a great effort to introduce it to other markets.  For this reason Guatemala, the other main exporter, is losing some of its share of this very small market.

In early 1995 the wholesale price of Colombia pitahaya on the London market was £12 sterling for a carton of 12 fruit.

PLANTAIN

(See bananas)

Plantains are particular varieties of bananas which can only be eaten in the cooked form.  They can be baked, boiled or fried.  In some Latin American countries fried plantain ‘chips’ are very popular.  Some plantains are quite curved.  Straight varieties are known as French plantains.  Far less plantains are grown than bananas.

1992 Main producers (thousands of tonnes)

Uganda                                                         8,099

Rwanda                                                         2,900

Colombia                                                      2,745

Zaire                                                             1,830

Nigeria                                                          1,350

Ghana                                                           1,200

Ivory Coast                                                   1,170

Ecuador                                                          930

Cameroon                                                       860

Tanzania                                                          794

World                                                           26,797

Source: FAO estimates

Almost all plantains are consumed in the countries of origin but some international trade exists, mainly to satisfy the needs of people with origins in the tropics.  Exporting countries include Colombia, Coasta Rica, Hondura, Venezuela and the Windward islands.  They are generally sold separately to consumers rather than in ‘hands’.  They are packed in between 20 kg and 50 kg.

In early 1995 the wholesale price for Colombian plantains on the London wholesale market was £22 sterling for a 20 kg carton.

POLLEN (also known as bee bread)

(See honey)

Pollen is the male fertilisation of flowering plants collected by the honey bee.  It is used mainly as a food supplement and in tonics sold in health food shops.  It is also used in various cosmetics including skin creams

The main producing countries are china, USA, Argentina, Australia, Israel, Mexico, Coasta Rica, Chile and Uruguay.

Pollen is collected by beekeepers in a pollen trap placed at the entrance to the hive.  Only a small proportion of the pollen taken into the hive by the bees may be collected in order to ensure that the normal life of the hive is not disrupted.  About 3 kg of pollen can be collected in this way from each hive per year.  The moisture content of the pollen must be reduced to about 5 per cent immediately after collection to avoid fermentation taking place.  This is done by warming at about 35 degrees C.  overheating causes the destruction of the useful ingredients of the product.  Containers must be hermetically sealed.

There are no universally recognised grades of pollen.  Individual consumers (importers) test samples and buy according to their own standards.  A completely clean product with a moisture content of less than 5 per cent is required by all buyers.

Almost all consumption of pollen is in the highly developed countries of North America, Australia, Japan and especially Europe.

The total world market for pollen is no longer larger than a few hundreds tonnes a year, but its use is growing.

Most of the trade is conducted by the companies that prepare package and wholesale the product.  They buy directly from the producers.

Prices

In 1994 the CIF London price for Chinese pollen was about US$1.50 per kilo.

POPPY

Especially papaver somniferum

The opium poppy is the commercial source of morphine, the most important natural painkiller:  it cannot be synethesised chemically.  Codeine, a less popent painkiller, is also derived from opium as well as being extracted from the poppy leaves and stems.  Some 200 tonnes of opium alkaloids are used in medicine each year.  Heroin, also derived from the poppy, is one of the world’s most dangerous drugs.

The same species of poppy yields the harmless ripe poppy seed which is used widely in oriental cooking and as a sprinkling on breads.

The main legitimate sources of opium for medical use are India, Turkey and Bulgaria.  The plant is grown for its seed in very large quantities in the Indian subcontinent and in Europe.

Prices

European seed, US$ per tonne:

1992 – 850, 1993 – 850, 1994 – 850, 1995 – 850.

POTATO (also known as irish potato, spud

Solanum tuberosum

Although many more potatoesare grownin cool climated than in the tropics, potatoes are an important staple food in both the developing and developed world and are grown in almost every country.

1992 Main producers (thousands of tonnes)

Russian Federation                                        37,800

China                                                            33,937

Poland                                                           23,388

Ukraine                                                         20,427

USA                                                             18,671

India                                                              15,500

Germany                                                       10,975

Belarus                                                          8,000

UK                                                               7,882

Netherlands                                                   7,595

World                                                           268,492

Source: FAO estimates

Potatoes are tubers which grow on the underground stem of an annual plant.  For commercial production they are propagated by planting small parts of the tuber which bear small buds, known as eyes, that grow into plants identical to the parent plant.  They grow best in well-drained soil in warm and comparatively dry climates.

In northern hemisphere early varieties of potatoes are planted in February or March and other varieties are planted a little later.  High prices are paid in developed countries for early ‘new’ potatoes which mature in the North in June.  Countries that are able to supply new potatoes to these markets before June can, therefore, expect to achieve good prices.

Many varieties of the vegetable are available to suit most climatic conditions.  Potatoes contain about 80 per cent water but also enough energy, dietary fibre, protein and vitamin C for a complete human diet, although it would be necessary to eat about 5 kg a day to achieve this.

In early 1995 the wholesale price of potatoes from the Canary islands on the London market was £14 sterling for a 10 kg carton.

PRICKLT PEAR

Genus opunita

The prickly pear is well known throughout the developed world where it is mainly eaten fresh, although many consumers are discouraged from eating the plant by the fine spines in the skin.

Exporting countries include Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, Spain and USA.  Packing is usually in 3 kg cartons.

In early 1995 the wholesale price of Colombian prickly pear on the London market was £9 sterling for a carton of 18 fruit.

PROPOLIS

(See honey)

Propolis is a resinous substances gathered by bees from certain tress.  A specialist group of worker bees in a bee colony gather and store propolis for use in sealing holes in the sides of the hive.  It can be gathered by the beekepper either by scraping the storage area in the hive or by scraping the sides of the hive where it has been applied by the bees.  The bees can be stimulated to apply the substance to a plastic sheet with holes in it which they attempt to fill.  The propolis can then be scraped from the sheet.

It is produced in all the countries that produce honey but the main producing countries are China, USA, Brazil and Australia.  In Europe, Spain, France, Italy and Germany are major producers.  There are no universally accepted grades for propolis.  Individual buyers test samples from producers and buy according to their own standards.  Propolis for use in the cosmetics industry or as medicine must be free of any physical or chemical contamination.

Several countries in Europe, Latin America and Japan have registered medicines based on propolis.  The registration process is expensive and slow, but it is likely that other medicinal products will be developed in these and other countries.  Most of these medicines are used to treat skin complaints and internal lesions.

The cosmetics industry finds some use for the substance in skin creams.  Some propolis is used in certain varnishes, especially for vanishing stringed instruments.

Consumption is highest in Europe but much of its supply is produced locally.  Japan and the USA are the best markets for tropical suppliers.

Propolis should be stores in opaque containers as its properties can be destroyed by the light.  It can freeze dried.

The international market for propolis is very small.  Producers sell directly or through sales agents to the companies that import, prepare and pack the products in which it is included.

Prices

1n 1992 propolis was trading in Europe at about US$50 per kilo.

PYRETHRUM

Chrysanthenthmum cineraefolium

Chicals derived from pyrethrum are the world’s main organic, biodefrageable pesticides.  Pyrethrum products are used to kill a wide variety of insects including cockroaches, mosquitoes, houseflies and fleas.  Although other chemicals can kill insects more efficiently, pyrethrum products can be relatively safely ingested or inhaled by humans and other mammals.  This means that they can be used in kitchens, aeroplanes, restaurants and where food products need protecting.  They can also be used in verterinary applications.

Kenya produces about 13,000 tonnes a year.  Tanzania probably produces about a quarter of that tonnage and Rwanda and Ecuador are minor producers.

Most pyrethrum is grown by small-scale farmers, probably because there is not yet a cost effective mechanical means of harvesting.  This discourages plantation production.  A project to find a mechanical means to harvest a highly productive cloned plant in Tasmania is, apparently, yet to come to a successful solution.

The content of pyrethrin, the active ingredient, is enhanced in the growing plant by hot weather, but with short periods of cool temperatures.  For this reason it is best produced at high altitudes in the tropics.

The dried and ground flowers are treated with a solvent, usually light petroleum, to recover the extract.  All the main producing countries now have extraction and refining plants.  Sophisticated brand-named products are, however, made in the main centres of consumption, the USA, EU and Japan.

There is no doubt that pyrethrum, complying as it does with the trend towards the use of ‘natural’ products, could have a very good future. The problem is that the large multinational corporations, who between them control the production of pyrethrum-containing products, have an in-built concern about the stability of the third-world countries in which it is produced.  To compete with the dozens of synthetic substitutes, pyrethrum not only needs to be cheaply but consistently available as well.  The low-intensity ethnic conflict in Kenya and the outright civil war in Rwanda, combined with irregular weather conditions in East Africa, do not improve the view of the product held by these companies.

In Kenya production is overseen by the pyrethrum Board of Kenya (PBK).  This organisation acts an intermediary between the growers and the companies that purchase the crop.  Since 1993, the PBK has made strenuous efforts to maintain regular supplies.

There are very few companies which buy pyrethrum in large quantities and they have a very strong influence on the market.  Among them are Johnson, Russel, Bayer, Sarah Lee and Sumitomo.

Pyrethrum is traded in the form of crude of refined extract.  The crude extract is traded with a content of 1 per cent to 1.5 per cent (typically 1.3 per cent) pyrethrin.  The refined extract is available at a 25 per cent and 50 per cent pyrethrumcontent in a liquid form.

Some pyrethrum products that have been produced under highly controlled conditions, such as those being introduced under highly Tasmanian project, can be used medicinally, especially to treat headlice.  Some products command higer prices.

Prices

In 1995 a 25 pe cent pyrethrin refined extract was trading at US$85 per kilo.

QUASSIA AMARA

Quassia amara

Quassia amara is a drug obtained from the quassia tree which grows in South America and the Caribban.  The active ingredient is obtained from the bark and roots of the tree.  It is a very bitter substance which is not used medicinally to reduce fevere and as a treatment for roundworm infestation, but also as a flavouring, mainly in soft drinks (an imitation of hops).  Dyes are also made from the product.

QUILLAIA BARK (also known as soap bark, Quillaja

Quillaia saponaria

The inner bark of an 18 metre high ever green tree grown in south America and the Caribbean contains an active ingredient saponin which is used locally as a detergent (quillaia means ‘to wash’ in Maapuche).  It is the product’s soapy propertises and its non-toxicity which account for its major uses in developed countries.  It is a traditional ingredient in ginger beer and gives the drink its ‘head’ after pouring.  For the same reason it is added to root beer in America.  It is also used in developed nations as an ingredient in some shampoos and foam baths.

About 50,000 quillaia trees are cut down every year in Chile alone.  This is causing serious concern, especially as it is the mature trees, which yield bark in the most economic quantities, that are mainly felled.  A programme to plant new trees has recently been launched.

The bark, which contains about 25 per cent of the active ingredient is processed in consuming countries to extract saponin for use in drinks.

It is traded in ‘whole’ or ‘chopped bark’ form.

Prices

Jamaican cif Europe, £ sterling per kilo:

1991 – 1.78, 1992 – 1.78, 1993 – 1.78, 1994 – 1.98, 1995 – 2.50.

QUININE (also known as cinhona)

Especially cinchona ledgeriana grafted to a cinchoma succirubra rootstock

Quinine was once the only recommended medicine used to alleviate malaria (the widespread tropical disease carried by infected mosquitoes).  Although the active ingredient found in quinine can be made synthetically, it is not economically feasible to do so.  Its use declined after the Second World War in favour of more powerful anti-malarial drugs which could be produced synthetically.  The malaria parasite evolves so quickly, however, that even these new drugs have evolves so quickly, however, that even these new drugs have become less effective and some doctors are using quinine once more.

The drug is extracted from the bark of the small cinchona tree.  The tree is native to south America but it nearly became extinct there owing to overexploitation in the nineteenth century.  Some 90 per of quinine now comes from Java, Indonesia, where it is propagated from seed and later grafted.  It is also produced in India and Sri Lanka.  The tree is best grown on volcanic soils in regions with a very high rainfall.

Harvesting can begin in the fourth year by thining out the small trees, but all the remaining trees are uprooted after 10 years.  The bark is stripped by beating the roots, branches and trunks of the uprooted tree and dried to a 10 per cent moisture level.  The active ingredient, in the form of the sulphate, is then extracted by mixing the bark with milk of lime and treating with boiling alcohol and sulphuric acid.  The hydrochloride is also produced for some customers.

Quinine also has the effect of reducing fever and is the medicinal ingredient in tonic water.  It is contained in some sunburn lotions for its antiseptic qualities.

Most trade is in the sulphate or hydrochloride and is conducted between the large Indonesian suppliers and the drug and soft drink companies based in industralised countries.

In early 1995 the market price for the active ingredient, quinine hydrochloride dihydrate, was between US$100 and US$120 per kilo.

QUINOA

Chenopodium album

Quinoa is a tiny millet-like grain grown almost exclusively in the Andes mountain regions of South America.  Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Bolivia are significant producers.  Most is grown by local Indian communities for their own consumption.  It grows at altitudes which are unsuitable for corn cultivation.

Some local farmers’ associations are trying to export some quantities in order to have access to foreign currency that can be spent on welfare and other communal benefits.  A producers’ association in Bolivia has developed a product that they call Royal quinoa, which is a high-grade, large grain product developed specifically for the export market.

Quinoa has a high protein content and a slightly nutty flavour.  It is beginning to develop a market for itself in developed countries as a health food product.  It is prepared in the same way as rice, but locally it is mainly consumed in soups or as a kind of porridge.  In the  USA the product is quite well known in health food circles but the export is as yet very small – Bolivia exported only 380 tonnes to Europe (mainly Germany) in 1993 but Japan is said to be a growing market.  Some health food importers are trying to promote the product by offering recipes on the packets.  Quinoa can be dehydrated, which preserves it for long periods.

Impoters in developed countries are importing quinoa in bulk and paid US$860 per tonne fob South America in 1994.  They were than making it up in fancy packaging and retailing it at about US$1 for a 125g sachet.  One importer was losing grain through the holes for the hessian sacks in which it was exported and was trying to find an exporter who could market the product in paper-ply or polypropylene bags.

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