# Heart of palm
Heart of palm (also called palm heart or palmito) is a white vegetable harvested from the inner core, or apical bud, of certain palm trees, prized as a delicacy and most often sold jarred or canned.[1](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/heart-of-palm) Anatomically, the palm heart is the apical bud and surrounding undeveloped leaves of the tree; harvesting it requires felling the tree and cutting away the outer woody stem to remove the heart.[2](https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/2021-05/37683.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| What it is | The apical bud and surrounding undeveloped leaves of a palm, a white, cylindrical, sweet-tasting vegetable[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9695847/) • [2](https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/2021-05/37683.pdf) |
| Main cultivated source | Peach palm (*Bactris gasipaes* Kunth), a clustering palm domesticated in the Americas around 4000 years ago[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9695847/) |
| Why peach palm dominates | It is cespitose (clumping), so cutting one stem for its heart does not kill the plant, unlike single-stemmed palms[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9695847/) |
| First harvest | Usually 18 to 24 months after planting; harvestable shoots are 4 to 5 ft (1.2 to 1.5 m) tall and 1.2 to 2 inches (3 to 5 cm) in diameter[4](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS312) |
| Leading exporter | Costa Rica, with Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil also growing peach palm commercially[4](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS312) |
| Processing waste | Waste after extraction of the palm heart can reach 80 to 90% of gross weight[5](https://www.alice.cnptia.embrapa.br/alice/bitstream/doc/1177848/1/Plants-2022-Full-Exploitation-of-Peach-Palm-Bactris-gasipaes-Kunth-State-of-the-Art-and-Perspectives-Helm-et-al..pdf) |
| Typical retail form | Jarred or canned, with fresh hearts available only occasionally[1](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/heart-of-palm) |
## What the vegetable is
When harvested, young palms are felled and debarked to expose the edible white inner core, which is then cut into lengths for further processing.[1](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/heart-of-palm) In peach palm the heart is cylindrical and sweet-tasting, consisting of the apical meristem divided into basal, central, and apical sections with marked differences in texture due to the arrangement of structural fibers.[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9695847/) The harvest is laborious because the tree must be cut down and the outer woody stem removed by hand.[2](https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/2021-05/37683.pdf)
## The peach palm as the commercial source
**Peach palm** (*[Bactris gasipaes](https://www.edgepedia.org/bactris-gasipaes)* Kunth), known as pejibaye in [Central America](https://www.edgepedia.org/central-america), pupunha in Brazil, and chontaduro in Colombia and Ecuador, is the only palm species with domesticated populations in the Neotropics.[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9695847/) • [6](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9867503/) It is a clustering palm that suckers freely, so as one stem is cut off, others replace it; this clumping habit is what allows repeated heart-of-palm harvests from the same plant.[4](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS312) • [3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9695847/) Harvesting the heart kills single-stemmed palm species, but not *[Bactris](https://www.edgepedia.org/bactris)* and other cespitose palms.[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9695847/)
For heart-of-palm cultivation, spineless forms are preferred because the species otherwise carries stiff black spines in circular rows on the trunk and leaves.[7](https://palmoilis.mpob.gov.my/publications/TOT/TT-223.pdf) • [4](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS312) Two spineless genepools are recognized, Benjamin Constan from Brazil and Yurimaguas from Amazonian Peru.[7](https://palmoilis.mpob.gov.my/publications/TOT/TT-223.pdf) In cultivation, young shoots are cut at 4 to 5 ft tall, the leaves and outer leaf stems are stripped back, and the white inner core is cut loose and sectioned for cleaning and storage.[4](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS312) A clump usually yields no more than 1 to 3 harvestable stems per year, and shoots destined for palm heart are not allowed to grow past 2 to 3 inches in diameter at the base.[4](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS312)
[Costa Rica](https://www.edgepedia.org/costa-rica), Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil grow peach palm commercially, and Costa Rica is the leading exporter of heart of palm.[4](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS312) The species was introduced into the United States in 1920, the Philippines in 1924, and India during the 1970s.[4](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS312)
## Harvesting from wild palms and conservation
Palm heart has historically also been extracted from wild native palms, and this practice carries a conservation cost. In Colombia, current harvesting regimes of *[Euterpe oleracea](https://www.edgepedia.org/acai-palm)*, the açaí palm, reduce the supply of palm by more than 90%, beyond recovery, and projected supply drops sharply in the first years after harvest unless a number of stems are spared.[8](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112714000437) In Brazil, promoting peach palm as a source of palm hearts has been advanced as a strategy to reduce extraction pressure on the native single-stemmed palms *Euterpe edulis* (juçara) and *Euterpe oleracea* (açaí).[5](https://www.alice.cnptia.embrapa.br/alice/bitstream/doc/1177848/1/Plants-2022-Full-Exploitation-of-Peach-Palm-Bactris-gasipaes-Kunth-State-of-the-Art-and-Perspectives-Helm-et-al..pdf)
## Processing and nutrition
Although palm heart cultivation is profitable for agribusiness, the waste generated after extraction can reach 80 to 90% of the gross weight, a substantial processing burden.[5](https://www.alice.cnptia.embrapa.br/alice/bitstream/doc/1177848/1/Plants-2022-Full-Exploitation-of-Peach-Palm-Bactris-gasipaes-Kunth-State-of-the-Art-and-Perspectives-Helm-et-al..pdf) Nutrient input requirements for heart-of-palm production are specified in kilograms per hectare per year and depend on factory and market demands.[9](https://www.cifor-icraf.org/publications/downloads/Publications/PDFS/B10186.pdf)
The vegetable is a source of dietary fiber, and one analysis of palm heart reported a crude protein content of 10.93 g per 100 g.[10](https://ifrj.upm.edu.my/21%20%2805%29%202014/59%20IFRJ%2021%20%2805%29%202014%20Salvi%20126.pdf) • [11](https://jfds.journals.ekb.eg/article_386007_426a2609042b2459a7c26cc7b91b9d29.pdf) It may be eaten raw or cooked; chunks can be added to green salads or cooked with spices and peppers and served hot.[4](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS312)
## Culinary use
Heart of palm is prized for its culinary versatility and packs several beneficial minerals and antioxidants.[1](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/heart-of-palm) Because it is usually sold canned or jarred, home cooks most often encounter it as a ready-to-eat ingredient for salads, and its mild flavor and firm texture have made it a common stand-in in dishes where a similar consistency is wanted.[1](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/heart-of-palm)
## References
1. [Heart of Palm: Nutrition, Benefits, and Uses, Healthline](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/heart-of-palm)
2. [Palms in tropical forests, IRD (IRD/FAO documentation)](https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/2021-05/37683.pdf)
3. [Peach Palm (Bactris gasipaes Kunth.): Ancestral Tropical Staple with Future Potential, Plants (2022), PMC](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9695847/)
4. [Pejibaye (Peach Palm) Growing in the Florida Home Landscape, UF/IFAS Extension HS312](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS312)
5. [Full Exploitation of Peach Palm (Bactris gasipaes Kunth): State of the Art and Perspectives, Embrapa](https://www.alice.cnptia.embrapa.br/alice/bitstream/doc/1177848/1/Plants-2022-Full-Exploitation-of-Peach-Palm-Bactris-gasipaes-Kunth-State-of-the-Art-and-Perspectives-Helm-et-al..pdf)
6. [Understanding the Technical-Scientific Gaps of Underutilized Tropical Species: The Case of Bactris gasipaes Kunth, PMC](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9867503/)
7. [TT 223, MPOB Palm Oil Information Series](https://palmoilis.mpob.gov.my/publications/TOT/TT-223.pdf)
8. [The fate of populations of Euterpe oleracea harvested for palm heart in Colombia, Forest Ecology and Management](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112714000437)
9. [Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected crops 20, Bioversity/ICRAF](https://www.cifor-icraf.org/publications/downloads/Publications/PDFS/B10186.pdf)
10. [International Food Research Journal 21(5): 2051-2054 (2014)](https://ifrj.upm.edu.my/21%20%2805%29%202014/59%20IFRJ%2021%20%2805%29%202014%20Salvi%20126.pdf)
11. [J. of Food and Dairy Sci., Mansoura Univ., Vol. 15 (9), 2024](https://jfds.journals.ekb.eg/article_386007_426a2609042b2459a7c26cc7b91b9d29.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Plants and algae › Seed plants › Monocots › Palms (Arecaceae) › Palm products and uses › Heart of palm and edible palm vegetables*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license