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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]
It is a medium-sized palm, growing to 20 metres (66 feet) tall, with the trunk remaining covered by the rough old leaf bases. The leaves are 6–12 m (20–39 ft) long and 1.5 m (5 ft) broad, pinnate, with the pinnae in 1–6 rows, 40–70 centimetres (16–28 inches) long and 5 cm (2 in) broad.
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.
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 ...
'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.
Moriche palm fruit ("morete" in the Oriente of Ecuador) is edible and used to make juice, jam, ice cream, a fermented "wine", desserts and snacks, requiring harvesting of more than 50 tonnes per day in Peru. [4] The inflorescence buds are eaten as a vegetable and the sap can be drunk fresh or fermented (see palm wine). Threads and cords are ...
The starch contained inside the trunk is edible raw or cooked, as is the tip-top. 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]
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 ...