Food Plants International

47
So this pith has to be shredded up into small pieces and the starch is then washed out. Special
tools are made for pounding up the trunk. They need to be light, strong and with a hard stone (or
metal) head. In areas where sago is the main food, sago is women's work. The woman sing
special songs while they work. In areas where sago is not the main food, both men and women
pound sago. The shredded pith of the palm is put into the bowl made by the fronds and the starch
is washed out by banging the pith with a stick and pouring water over it. The filtered starch is
allowed to settle out in a bowl. It is then dried and taken home. It takes about one hour to pound
enough sago, then wash out the starch, seive it and allow the starch to settle to give between 2
and 3 kilograms of starch.
Use: The bud can be eaten cooked.
Sago starch can be processed from the pith. This is cooked and eaten.
The sap can be collected for a drink that is called “tuba” in the Philippines.
Sago grubs are often cultivated and eaten.
Food Value: Per 100 g edible portion
Edible Moisture Energy Protein Calcium Iron proVit A proVit C
part % KJ g mg mg µg mg
Starch
Cabbage
Grubs
27 1197 0.2 0.7 0
Insects:
Agapophyta bipunctata Boisd. Pentatomidae (HEM.) A bug
Oryctes centaurus Sternberg Scarabaeidae (COL) Rhinoceros beetle
Oryctes rhinoceros (L.) Scarabaeidae (COL) Asiatic rhinoceros beetle
Papuana spp. Scarabaeidae (COL) Taro beetles
Promecotheca papuana Csiki Hispidae (COL) Coconut leaf miner
Rhabdoscelus obscurus Boisduval Curculionidae (COL) Cane weevil borer
Rhynchophorus bilineatus (Montr.) Curculionidae (COL) Black palm weevils
Rhynchophorus ferrugineous (Oliv.) Curculionidae (COL) Red palm weevils
Rhynchophorus papuanus Kirsch Curculionidae (COL) Palm weevils
Scapanes australis (Boisd.) Dynastidae (COL)
Trochorhopalus strangulates Gyllenhal Curculionidae (COL.) A weevil
Leptococcus metroxyli Reyne Pseudococcidae (HEM)
Diseases:
Sooty mould Fungus Borinquenia sp.
Black mould on leaves Fungi Melanographium sp
And Tripospermum sp.
and Zygosporium gibbum (Sacc.Rousseau & E Bommer) S. Hughes
Parallel sided leaf spot Fungus Sphaerulina sp.
Leaf spot Fungus
(Also several fungi isolated from processed sago)
Pests:
Importance: A very important staple food in several swampy coastal areas of Papua New
Guinea.
Zinc
mg