Argan tree cultivation in Algerian desert Sahara (case of Adrar Province)

ABSTRACT

The morphological characteristics of the Argan tree Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels planted in the Adrar province (Sahara Desert, Algeria) in 2010 on 0.7 hectares at the Forest Experiment Station show good domestication ability. After 12 years, the recorded success rate was 20.56%. Principal Correspondence Analysis of morphological variables demonstrated five groups of 23 subjects of Argan trees. Two more sites were planted in 2016 and 2018. Success rates of 80% and 42%, respectively, have been recorded in 2021. The oil production from almonds of Argan seeds is good, showing oil recovery efficiencies of 38.27% for mechanical pressing and 59.27% for Soxhlet-assisted hexane extraction.

KEYWORDS:

• Argan
• characterisation
• oil
• planting
• Adrar
• hyper-arid

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.