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The shedding or abscission of plant organs is a highly coordinated process essential for both vegetative and reproductive development, and depends on molecular and cellular events in the abscission zone (AZ). Most research has focused on dicot models, mainly tomato flower and fruit and Arabidopsis floral organ abscission. My research has focused on the molecular mechanisms of fruit ripening and abscission of the tropical palm species Elaeis guineensis (African oil palm) and Elaeis oleifera (American oil palm), as models for monocots. A multi-disciplinary effort was initiated that employed histocytochemistry, immunohistochemistry, confocal, electron, Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) microspectroscopy, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), in addition to RNAseq and bioinformatics analysis coupled with targeted metabolomics to develop a molecular framework of the events that occur in the fruit tissues during oil palm fruit ripening and abscission. My talk will include highlights of the results obtained from these diverse approaches undertaken with partners in Thailand, Benin and Ecuador, which provide insight into the biologically complex processes that occur in the AZ during fruit abscission of these tropical species. The results provide a platform for studying other tropical palm species and to understand how the abscission processes have diversified during evolution in the palm family compared to other angiosperm families.