Blockchain Technology for Palm Oil Supply Chain Traceability: A Systematic Review of Transparency, Authentication, and Sustainability Verification Systems

Abstract

T
he increasing digitalization of agri-food supply chains has intensified scholarly attention to technologies that enhance the reliability of traceability, transparency, and sustainability verification mechanisms. Within globally integrated palm oil supply chains, blockchain has emerged as a complementary digital infrastructure designed 
to strengthen documentation integrity and coordinated governance. This study systematically analyzes contemporary scholarly evidence on the role of blockchain technology in reinforcing transparency, authentication, and sustainability verification systems in palm oil supply chains. This research employs a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) design structured according to PRISMA-based screening procedures. Data were collected exclusively from the Scopus database through a multi-stage keyword refinement process, yielding 46 peer-reviewed articles published between 2021 and 2025 that met predefined inclusion criteria. Data analysis was conducted through structured extraction, thematic coding, and comparative synthesis of architectural configurations, integration models, performance indicators, and reported empirical outcomes. The findings reveal seven dominant thematic clusters, including permissioned and consortium-based blockchain architectures, IoT-integrated traceability infrastructures, immutable ledger-based transparency enhancement, cryptographic authentication systems, digital anchoring of sustainability certificates, 
smart contract–enabled compliance monitoring, and measurable performance improvements in audit efficiency and data reconciliation. Evidence indicates that blockchain primarily functions as acomplementary governance-supporting layer integrated with existing enterprise systems. In conclusion, blockchain technology enhances the coherence of documentation, the reliability of authentication, and the efficiency of sustainability verification within palm oil traceability systems. Future research may expand toward longitudinal performance evaluation, cross-commodity comparison, and interoperability standardization analysis.