Palm sugar is a sweetener derived from any variety of palm trees. Palm sugar is sometimes qualified by the type of palm, as in coconut palm sugar. While sugars from different palms may have slightly different compositions, all are processed similarly and can be used interchangeably.

Sugar palm is a tall, unbranched, and solitary palm that grows to the height of 12 to 20 meters having a stout trunk of 30 to 60 cm diameter. The trunk has distinct bases of broken leaves and long black fibers top by a dense crown of leaves. Leaves are pinnate, ascending, 6-10 meters long, and the basal part of the petiole is covered with a sheath of stout and black fibers. Leaflets are 160 on each side, linear, and about 1.5 to 1.8 meters long. The tip is lobed and variously toothed and the base is 2-auricled and the lower surface is white or pale. An inflorescence is unisexual, axillary, and pendulous having stout and peduncle bearing female flowering spikes at the top and male flowering spikes lower down the peduncle and appearing later. Flowers are trimerous having a 3-lobed tubular corolla. Fruits are rounded or ellipsoid drupe measuring 5 to 7 cm in diameter and is green when immature that turns yellow and then gradually black containing two to three black seeds.

Types

The predominant sources of palm sugar are the Palmyra, date, nipa, sugar, and coconut palms.^[rx]

The Palmyra palm (Borassus spp.) is grown in Africa, Asia, and New Guinea. The tree has many uses, such as thatching, hatmaking, timber, use as a writing material, and in food products. Palm sugar is produced from sap (‘toddy’) from the flowers.

The date palm has two species, Phoenix dactylifera, and P. sylvestris, and both are sources of palm sugar. P. dactylifera is common in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. P. sylvestris is native to Asia, mainly Pakistan and India. Date palms are cultivated mainly for dates. Palm sugar is made from the tree’s sap.

The nipa palm (Nypa fruticans) is native to the coastlines and tropical regions of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the only palm tree that grows in a watery mangrove biome. Only its leaves and flowers grow above water. Palm sugar is made from sugar-rich sap.

The sugar palm (Arenga pinnata) is native to the coastal and tropical regions of Asia, mainly China, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The sap used to produce palm sugar is known in India as gur and in Indonesia as gula aren.

The coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) yields coconut palm sugar from the sap of its flowers. It grows in coastal areas of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Major suppliers are Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Leaves

Leaves are ascending, pinnate and about 8.5 meters long. Leaflets are dark green above and whitish beneath which offers a dirty greenish appearance to trees. Leaf-sheaths cover the stem and the margins are fibrous with black hairs. Young leaf sheaths are covered on lower surfaces having an abundance of soft and moss-like white hairs.

Fruits

The matured fruits are yellow; about 5 cm in diameter containing 2-3 seeds each.

Health Benefits of Sugar palm

1. Healthy diet

As our diet determines our health as well. This fruit has 93% of water content and also gelatin which provides a sense of fullness after its consumption. It helps to control our appetite.

2. Treatment for arthritis

Arthritis can disturb our activities. An intake of this fruit of 100 grams per day could gradually heal arthritis.

3. Digestive health

Palm fruit has a high content of fiber which makes it effective for treating constipation. Consume 5 to 10 grains of palm fruit per day. This helps to avoid constipation and also other digestive disorders.

4. Relieve Itchiness

The sap obtained from the tree is helpful in providing relief from the itch. Use the sap to provide relief from itchiness.

5. Prevention of Osteoporosis

As the person ages, osteoporosis occurs. This condition affects not only old people but also young these days which occurs due to the amount of activity and lack of intake of milk and foods containing calcium. Palm fruit has 91 milligrams of calcium so the intake of this fruit fulfills the calcium requirement and prevents the chances of osteoporosis.

Traditional uses

• The young roots of Arenga pinnata have been reported to be used in medicine for treating kidney stones and old roots for toothache in Malaysia.
• In Southeast Asia, consumption of arenga sugar is used as a traditional and homeopathic remedy, believed to revitalize the body.
• In the Philippines, the stems and petioles are reported to be diuretic and antithermic.
• The petiole fibers are styptic, used as a hemostatic, and cicatrizing for applying to wounds.
• Stems act as diuretics.
• Root decoction is beneficial to the lungs and supports digestion and promotes appetite.
• Root decoction is helpful for bladder problems.
• It is helpful for colds and sinus problems, cold sores, and sore throat.
• Roots are considered to be stomachic and pectoral in Cambodia.
• Petioles are used in chronic paludism having spleen enlargement.
• Roots are used to make tea decoction to relieve bladder problems.

Culinary uses

• The sugary sap from the cut inflorescence makes a fresh drink called saguir, Nira or Pahang.
• The juice can be boiled down to make arenga syrup or allow setting in molds to form arenga sugar, called gur in India.
• Arenga syrup or sugar is used in all kinds of dishes, sweets, beverages, and preserves.
• It acts as the perfect sweetener and flavor stimulant for cakes, pastries, pancakes, toast, sandwiches, cereals, beverages, fruit juices, dessert toppings, and many other uses.
• The young crown top or terminal bud called ‘palm cabbage’ is also eaten as a salad or cooked.
• The endosperm of immature seeds is also eaten as vegetables or dessert.
• Immature seeds are much eaten by the Filipinos, being usually boiled with sugar to form a kind of sweetmeat.
• The endosperms of immature seeds are widely consumed in the Philippines and are made into canned fruits after boiling them in sugar syrup.
• In Indonesia, the white endosperms of immature seeds are extracted and undergo 10–20 days of water immersion and then boiled with sugar to yield buah tap or ko lang-kaling which is used as a sweetmeat popularly used in es campur (shave ice delicacy) or in kolak, local refreshment.
• Sago starch is also made from the tender pith of the trunk of old palms.
• In Indonesia, arenga sago is used as an ingredient of bakso (noodles), cakes, and other dishes.
• In Java, syrup called cendol is made from it.
• In India, the Manipuris have been reported to eat the very young, tender white leaves as a pickle.

Other Facts

• This crop has the potential to be developed into a major resource of biofuel (bioethanol).
• Boiled starch extracted as sago from the palm is used as hogs feed.
• The flowers are a good source of nectar for honey production.
• A toy beetle has been made from the seed.
• The leaves are used for thatching houses.
• Leaves are used for rough brooms and woven into coarse baskets.
• The youngest leaves are sometimes used as cigarette paper.
• Old woody leaf bases, as well as long leaves, can be used for fuel.
• The petioles when split are used for basketry and a form of marquetry work on tables, stands, screens, boxes, and other light pieces for furniture.
• Leaf petioles and the wood of the stem are also made into walking sticks and the Pagan tribes in Peninsular Malaysia used the wood for the butts of blow-pipes.
• The very hard outer part of the trunk is used for barrels, flooring, and furniture, posts for pepper vines, boards, tool handles, and musical instruments like drums are all made from the wood of the trunk.
• The pith of the leaf rachis is an ideal shape for use as a drinking cup.
• Fibers especially from that surrounding the trunk are used for ship cordage as they are durable in water.
• The black horsehair-like fibers of the leaf bases serve the production of rigging and brushes as well as for covers of underwater telegraph cables and for caulking of boats as the fibers can stand long exposure to either fresh or saltwater and is also fire resistant.
• The same fibers are used for stuffing mattresses, for thatching materials, as sieves, brooms and brushes, and other minor products.
• The hairs found on the base of the leaf sheaths are very good tinder for igniting fire.
• Fibers are also obtained from the trunk pith, leave sheaths, and roots.
• Fibers are also used for making hats in Indo-China.
• Roots are used formatting and the root fibers have been used for making capes in Sulawesi.

References

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