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Sago palms (Metroxylon sagu) in New Guinea Peeling and pounding a segment of Sago Palm stem to produce an edible starch.Sepik River, Papua New Guinea. Sago (/ ˈ s eɪ ɡ oʊ /) is a starch extracted from the pith, or spongy core tissue, of various tropical palm stems, especially those of Metroxylon sagu. [1]
True sago palm is a suckering (multiple-stemmed) palm, each stem only flowering once (hapaxanthic) with a large upright terminal inflorescence. A stem grows 7–25 metres (23–82 feet) tall before it ends in an inflorescence. [3] Before flowering, a stem bears about 20 pinnate leaves up to 10 m (33 ft) long.
Its population has an important genetic diversity, leading to numerous fruits, colors, and qualities. The fruits are edible and nutritious but need to be cooked for 30 minutes to five hours. They also benefit many animals in the wild. Peach-palms are also cultivated for the heart of palm, and the trunk can make valuable timber. [3]
'Queen sago' alludes to the name 'king sago' given to the related Cycas revoluta, as well as to its use as a source of edible starch.The specific epithet rumphii honours the German-born Dutch naturalist Georg Eberhard Rumphius (1628–1702), who served first as a military officer with the Dutch East India Company in Ambon, then with the civil merchant service of the same company.
Traditionally indigenous peoples have collected the fruit and matured it in tepid water in order to prepare drinks and also to extract its oil. [5] Its drupes are 8–10% oil. The rachis have been used to manufacture arrows and the leaves to make baskets and construct provisional housings. [ 5 ]
Elephants are fed both the leaf and the pulp of this plant. The leaves possess strong fibres and are used for basketry in Cambodia, where the plant is named tunsaè. [3] The heart of the trunk contains a starch similar to sago, as well the trunk can be used for building. The fruit, when its stiff hairs are removed, is pleasant and sweet to eat ...
The pith of the sago palm, although highly toxic to animals in its raw form, is an important human food source in Melanesia and Micronesia by virtue of its starch content and its availability. There is a simple process of starch extraction from sago pith that leaches away a sufficient amount of the toxins and thus only the starch component is ...
The flowering stalks can be beaten to produce liquid. The nut kernels are also edible. [6] In Lamakera, its (ketebu) leaves are made into fibres weaved with sea hibiscus bark to make rope for whaling harpoons. [7] Locally known as buri or buli in the Philippines, the leaves of Corypha utan are widely used in weaving fans, baskets, and mats.