Resumen de Etnobotánica de la palma de aceite en Cuba

Julio I. Martínez Betancourt, Ramón Batista, Jorge Poltronieri

• The African oil palm tree (Elaeis quineensis Jacq. Arecaecae) grows in the tropics and it is used for the production of several fats, as well as in traditional medicine and in African folk religions. In traditional medicine, the palm oil is not only used for external application in rheumatism, but also as an antirheumatic, emollient and intestinal antiparasitic. It is of great importance in Cuban folk religions where it is used as amulet and fetish; the priests belonging to both "Regla de Palo" and "Regla de Ocha-Jjá", calleed "babalaos" or "Santeros" , use the palm oil and several parts of the plant, specially the seecls and fruit, in very complex and systematized divination rituals.