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Sago saga
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Sago finds several uses as a food staple, in traditional medicine, and as industrial raw material
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Sago kheer is popular in south India.
THE SAGO palm is native to the Malaysian archipelago, and is one of the oldest food crops harnessed by man, even before rice. Its popularity was partly because dried sago did not spoil easily, an important consideration when you're ferrying it in rainy weather from one far-flung island to the other.
The sago palm lays down starch in its trunk, and is popular with farmers because they can postpone felling it till the price is right. The palm is great for the environment because it traps large amounts of carbon dioxide.
Food uses: The young shoots of the palm, called palm heart, are edible as are its pests, the Rhynchophorus grubs that grow on its decaying trunks. Pacific islanders cook the fleshy weevil larvae in the sago trunks along with the starch to make a high protein dish.
Processed sago starch, available as sago pearls, are edible, boiled alone or mixed with other foods.
Nutrition content: About 100 gm of dried sago contains nearly 78 gm starch, with each gram giving 4.2 calories. Sago is rich in calcium, magnesium and potassium, and low in sodium.
Medicinal value: Sago root decoction is a traditional cure for fever and headache. Ripe sago fruit is rich in tannin, and is a folk cure for hypertension.
Other uses: Sago is useful in the manufacture of monosodium glutamate, soft drinks, syrups, glue, biodegradable plastics, alcohol, and citric acid.
RAJIV M.
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