Industrial Crops and Products, 2 (1994) 89-95 0 1994 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. 0926-6690/94/$07.00 89 Growth and oil production of argan in the Negev desert of Israel A. Nerd”, E. Eteshola”, N. BorowyC and Y. MizrahPb “ The Institutesfor Applied Research, and the bDepartment of Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion Universit_v of the Negev, Beer-Sheva. Israel. and cUniversitiit Hohenheim, Stuttgart. Germany (Received 1 I March 1993; accepted 24 May 1993) Abstract Nerd, A. Eteshola, E. Borowy, C. and Mizrahi. Y. 1993 Growth and oil production of argan in the Negev desert of Israel. Industr. Crops Products, 0: 00-00. Argan (Argania spinosa L.) is a wild tree native to southwestern Morocco. It bears a plum-sized fruit with one to three kernels rich in oil. The oil is highly prized as an edible and cooking oil by the local people. Our study was carried out to investigate the possibility of domesticating the species. Seedlings were planted in the Negev Desert of Israel at the location Qetura with a high summer temperature and brackish water and at the location Ramat Negev with a low winter temperature and good-quality water. Average tree height in the seventh year was 4.OkO.6 m at Qetura and 4.6kO.6 m at Ramat Negev. Best yielders produced dry fruits between 20 and 25 kg/tree at both sites in the sixth and seventh years, and average orchard yield was three-four-times lower as a result of high variation between the trees. Kernels comprised 6.5% of fruit weight and contained 55% of oil. In the seventh year, oil yield was 0.6 kg/tree at Qetura and 50% lower at Ramat Negev. The higher oil yield at Qetura is related to higher average fruit yields, higher kernel weights and higher oil content of the kernels than the values for Ramat Negev. Characteristics of the fruits and fatty acid composition of the argan oil and the chemical composition and quality characteristics of the defatted argan kernel meal are being presented. Fruit components, such as the pericarp (45% of fruit weight), and the defatted meal (3.5% of fruit weight) can be used as animal feeds. The meal is characterized by a high protein content (46%) and a high in vitro digestibility (96%). Environment; Salinity; Growth; Fruiting; Oil; Defatted meal: Domestication Introduction The argan (Arganiu spinosa L., Sapotaceae) is a medium to large, thorny evergreen tree native to semidesert areas of southwestern Morocco. The tree bears plum-sized fruits which have a bitter pericarp, and a stone-like structure, containing one to three kernels with a high oil content (more than 50%) (Prendergast and Walker, 1992). The tree is very important to the economy of the local people in its native area: its wood is used for timber and Correspondence: A. Nerd, The Institutes for Applied Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 1025, Beer- Sheva 84110, Israel. SSDI 0926-6690(93)E0008-8 fuel, the leaves and the pericarp of the fruit is eaten by goats and camels, and the kernels serve as a source of edible oil. The oil has a high dietetic and culinary value because of its high percentage of unsaturated fatty acids (up to 80%) and its rich flavor and aroma (Farines et al., 1984; Morton and Voss, 1987). The oil is marketed mainly inside Morocco and commands higher prices than olive oil (Prendergast and Walker, 1992). Despite its high potential to be a cash oil crop, cultivation of argan is very rare, and stands in natural habitats suffer from over-exploitation or from cutting down to enable planting of agricultural crops (Morton and Voss, 1987). Recently, as a part of our program to introduce