**2. Overview of** *Elaeis guineensis*

In Malaysia, the production of palm oil has tremendously increased since the 1970s. Government policy on crop diversity has led to an increase in hectares of oil palm trees as shown in **Figure 1**. In 1996, 2.6 million hectares were used for the cultivation of oil palm and this figure is staggering. In 2005 and 2010 the percentage changes in the areas of oil palm tree is about 20% for each of the next five years. The year 2011 has reached 5 million hectares but only three percent different from 2010. The rapid growth in oil palm cultivation has seen in five years of 1965–1970, 1970–1975, and also in 1975–1980. This is due to the crop diversification program [12].

**Figure 1.** *Oil palm plantation in Pahang, Malaysia.*

*Chemical Composition of Parenchyma and Vascular Bundle from* Elaeis guineensis *DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.98421*
