Bahia’s Dendê and the Forgotten Knowledge: Cultural Heritage, Sustainability, and the Marginalization of Afro-Brazilian Traditions

Palm oil (Elaeis guineensis), one of the most widely used vegetable oils globally, originates from West Africa and has played a significant role in food, health care, and historical trade networks. It holds cultural, historical, ecological and symbolic significance in Bahia, Brazil. Unlike industrial monocultures, Bahia’s dendê economy is rooted in biodiverse landscapes, maintained through artisanal methods and generational knowledge. Yet, this traditional system faces mounting pressures from deforestation, declining artisanal production, and the industrialization of palm oil supply chains. Parallel to these ecological and economic threats is the abandonment of Bahia’s historical processing infrastructure: many traditional mills and industrial heritage sites have been lost, eroding both tangible and intangible cultural landscapes. These shifts have profound implications for the Baianas do Acarajé, the iconic street vendors who embody the matriarchal cultural lineage and rely on high-quality, traditionally produced dendê for their Afro-Brazilian cuisine. The increasing cost and reduced availability of artisanal oil compromise not only their livelihoods but also the authenticity of comidas de azeite, diminishing a sensory and symbolic culinary tradition. This study adopts a rigorous interdisciplinary methodology, synthesizing ethnography, heritage science, and engineering principles to explore how these artisanal practices can help us solve modern industrial sustainability problems. This article argues that Bahia’s palm oil heritage embodies a multifaceted heritage, spanning religious, economic, ecological, and cultural dimensions, that remains under-recognized and vulnerable. Drawing from UNESCO’s framework of intangible cultural heritage, the study not only details how these practices are transmitted across generations through the matriarchal culinary lineage, but ultimately advances three core contributions, analyzing artisanal performance, proposing a transferable sustainability framework, and outlining actionable pathways, to demonstrate that local communities are co-designers of solutions whose heritage offers a proven blueprint to address contemporary industrial sustainability challenges, calling for informed recognition and support to safeguard this essential component of Brazil’s Afro-descendant cultural identity.