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Sago (/ˈseɪɡoʊ/) is astarch extracted from thepith, or spongy core tissue, of various tropical palm stems, especially those ofMetroxylon sagu.[1] It is a majorstaple food for the lowland peoples ofNew Guinea and theMaluku Islands, where it is calledsaksak,rabia andsagu. The largest supply of sago comes fromMelanesia region, particularlyEastern Indonesia. Large quantities of sago are sent toEurope andNorth America for cooking purposes.[2] It is traditionally cooked and eaten in various forms, such as rolled into balls, mixed with boiling water to form a glue-like paste (papeda), or as apancake.
Sago is often produced commercially in the form of "pearls" (small rounded starch aggregates, partlygelatinized by heating). Sago pearls can be boiled with water or milk and sugar to make a sweetsago pudding.[3] Sago pearls are similar in appearance to the pearled starches of other origin, e.g.cassava starch (tapioca) and potato starch. They may be used interchangeably in some dishes,[4] and tapioca pearls are often marketed as "sago", since they are much cheaper to produce.[5] Compared to tapioca pearls, real sago pearls are off-white, uneven in size, brittle and cook very quickly.[5]
The namesago is also sometimes used for starch extracted from other sources, especially the sago cycad,Cycas revoluta. The sago cycad is also commonly known as the sago palm, although this is a misnomer ascycads are notpalms. Extracting edible starch from the sago cycad requires special care due to the poisonous nature of cycads.[6] Cycad sago is used for many of the same purposes as palm sago.
Thefruit of palm trees from which the sago is produced is not allowed to ripen fully, as full ripening completes the life cycle of the tree and exhausts the starch reserves in the trunk to produce the seeds to the point of death, leaving a hollow shell. The palms are cut down when they are about 15 years old, just before or shortly after theinflorescence appears. The stems, which grow 10 to 15 meters (35 to 50 feet) high, are split out. The starch-containingpith is taken from the stems and ground to powder. The powder is kneaded in water over a cloth orsieve to release the starch. The water with the starch passes into a trough where the starch settles. After a few washings, the starch is ready to be used in cooking. A single palm yields about 360 kilograms (800 pounds) of dry starch.
Sago was noted by the Chinese historianZhao Rukuo (1170–1231) during theSong dynasty. In hisZhu Fan Zhi (1225), a collection of descriptions of foreign countries, he writes that thekingdom of Boni "produces no wheat, but hemp and rice, and they usesha-hu (sago) for grain".[7]
The sago palm,Metroxylon sagu, is found in tropical lowland forest and freshwater swamps acrossSoutheast Asia andNew Guinea and is the primary source of sago. It tolerates a wide variety of soils and may reach 30 meters in height (including the leaves). Several other species of the genusMetroxylon, particularlyMetroxylon salomonense andMetroxylon amicarum, are also used as sources of sago throughoutMelanesia andMicronesia.
Sago palms grow very quickly, in clumps of different ages similar to bananas, one sucker matures, then flowers and dies. It is replaced by another sucker, with up to 1.5 m of vertical stem growth per year. The stems are thick and are either self-supporting or have a moderate climbinghabit; the leaves arepinnate. Each palm trunk produces a singleinflorescence at its tip at the end of its life. Sago palms are harvested at the age of 7–15 years, just before or shortly after the inflorescence appears and when the stems are full of starch stored for use in reproduction. One palm can yield 150–300 kg of starch.
Sago is extracted fromMetroxylon palms by splitting the stem lengthwise and removing the pith which is then crushed and kneaded to release the starch before being washed and strained to extract the starch from the fibrous residue. The raw starch suspension in water is then collected in a settling container.
The sago cycad,Cycas revoluta, is a slow-growing wild orornamental plant. Its common names "sago palm" and "king sago palm" are misnomers ascycads are notpalms. Processed starch known as sago is made from this and other cycads. It is a less-common food source for some peoples of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Unlike palms, cycads are highly poisonous: most parts of the plant contain theneurotoxinscycasin[8] andBMAA. Consumption of cycad seeds has been implicated in the outbreak ofParkinson's disease-like neurological disorder inGuam and other locations in the Pacific.[9] Thus, before any part of the plant may safely be eaten the toxins must be removed through extended processing.
Sago is extracted from the sago cycad by cutting the pith from the stem, root and seeds of the cycads, grinding the pith to a coarseflour, before being dried, pounded, and soaked. The starch is then washed carefully and repeatedly to leach out the natural toxins.[10] The starchy residue is then dried and cooked, producing astarch similar to palm sago/sabudana.
In many countries including Australia,[11] Brazil,[12] and India,tapioca pearls made fromcassava root[13] are also referred to assago,sagu,sabudana, etc.
Sago fromMetroxylon palms is nearly pure carbohydrate and has very little protein, vitamins, or minerals. 100 grams (3+1⁄2 ounces) of dry sago typically comprises 94 grams of carbohydrate, 0.2 grams of protein, 0.5 grams of dietary fiber, 10 mg of calcium, 1.2 mg of iron and negligible amounts of fat, carotene, thiamine and ascorbic acid and yields approximately 1,490 kilojoules (355 kilocalories) offood energy.[citation needed] Sago palms are typically found in areas unsuited for other forms of agriculture, so sago cultivation is often the most ecologically appropriate form of land use and the nutritional deficiencies of the food can often be compensated for with other readily available foods.
Sago starch can be baked (resulting in a product analogous to bread, pancake, or biscuit) or mixed with boiling water to form a paste. It is a main staple of many traditional communities inNew Guinea,Maluku,Borneo,South Sulawesi (most known inLuwu Regency) andSumatra in the form ofpapeda. InPalembang, sago is one of the ingredients to makepempek. InBrunei, it is used for making the popular local dish called theambuyat. It is also used commercially in making noodles and whitebread. Sago starch can also be used as athickener for other dishes. It can be made intosteamedpuddings such as sago plum pudding.
In Malaysia, the traditional food "keropok lekor" (fish cracker) uses sago as one of its main ingredients. To make keropok lekor in Losong inKuala Terengganu, each kilogram of fish meat is mixed with half a kilogram of fine sago, with a little salt added for flavour. Tons of raw sago are imported each year into Malaysia to support the keropok lekor industry.
In 1805, two captured crew members of the shipwrecked schoonerBetsey were kept alive until their escape from an undetermined island on a diet of sago.[14]
Any starch can be pearled by heating and stirring small aggregates of moist starch, producing partlygelatinized dry kernels that swell but remain intact on boiling. Pearl sago closely resembles pearltapioca. Both are typically small (about 2 mm diameter) dry, opaque balls. Both may be white (if very pure) or colored naturally gray, brown or black, or artificially pink, yellow, green, etc. When soaked and cooked, both become much larger, translucent, soft and spongy. Both are widely used inIndian,Bangladeshi andSri Lankan cuisine in a variety of dishes and around the world, usually inpuddings. InIndia, it is used in a variety of dishes such as desserts boiled with sweetened milk on occasion of religious fasts.
ThePenan people ofBorneo consume sago fromEugeissona palms as their staple carbohydrate.
Sago starch is also used to treat fiber in a process is calledsizing, which makes fibers easier to machine. The process helps to bind the fiber, give it a predictable slip for running on metal, standardize the level of hydration of the fiber and give the textile more body. Most of the natural based cloth and clothing has been sized; this leaves a residue which is removed in the first wash.
Because many traditional people rely on sago palm as their main food staple and because supplies are finite, in some areas commercial or industrial harvesting of wild stands of sago palm can conflict with the food needs of local communities.
Research is conducted to potentially make use of the waste from the sago palm industry as an adsorbent for cleaning up oil spills.[15][16]
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