Borassus flabellifer

Borassus flabellifer, commonly known as doub palm, palmyra palm, tala or tal palm, toddy palm, lontar palm, wine palm, or ice apple, is a fan palm native to South Asia (especially in Bangladesh, East India, and South India) and Southeast Asia. It is reportedly naturalized in Socotra.

Description

A small evergreen palm. It grows to 10-20 m tall. It can be 40 m high. It spreads to 5 m across. The stem is stout and it may be 1 m across. It is often swollen at the base. It has a crown of leaves shaped like the fingers on a hand or spreading out like a fan. There can be 30-40 of the fan like leaves at the crown. The leaves are large with short stout leaf stalks. There can be 80 slender leaflets which are pointed, folded and rich green. Younger trees are covered with dead leaves or leaf bases. Leaves can be 1-2 m across. The flowers occur in flower stalks up to 1.5 m long. The male and female flowers occur in different trees. The females spikes are larger and have a boat shaped spathe. The fruit are borne in bunches like coconuts. The fruit are 10-12.5 cm across and slightly flattened at the ends. They have dark purple skin. Green bracts occur at the base. Each fruit has 3 seeds. The flesh resembles the flesh of a coconut.

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Flowers Fruit Leaves Oil Sap Seed Stem Edible Uses: Drink Oil Salt Sweetener Fruit - raw or cooked. The immature fruits are pickled. The tender flesh of young fruits is cooked in curry. The ripe fruit has a yellow edible pulp with a distinctive aroma. The mature fruit is soaked in water, after which the wiry fibers are extracted, the yellow pulp mixed with rice starch, this is then folded inside a banana leaf and later steam-cooked. The fruit is a globose to subglobose drupe, 15-20 cm in diameter, produced in large clusters on the tree. A sugar-rich sap is obtained from the inflorescence. It is obtained by first tying the developing inflorescence together to prevent it opening, then beating it daily for several days with a wooden mallet. After a few days, a slice is cut daily from the end of the inflorescence and, almost a week later, the sap begins to flow. This can continue for several months so long as a fresh slice is removed each day. Up to 20 litres of sap can be obtained each day from larger trees. The juice can be drunk, or concentrated by evaporation to form a sweet syrup or a solid palm sugar known as jaggery. The soft upper 10 metres of the trunk contains some starch, which may be harvested in times of food scarcity. Immature, jelly-like seeds. The young solid or gelatinous endosperm of the seeds is eaten fresh or in syrup. Sprouted seedlings - peeled and eaten raw or cooked. They can be sun-dried for later use. They may be slightly toxic, but are considered a delicacy in some areas. A salt is made from the leaves. Apical bud. Eating this bud effectively kills the plant since it is unable to produce side branches. Inflorescence - cooked. Added to soups and curries.

Traditional Uses

The flesh and the water of the fruit are edible. They can be eaten fresh or made into ice-cream. Edible starch can be extracted from the stem. The palm heart is edible. The palm can be tapped for sugary sap. This can be drunk, boiled and concentrated or fermented. The seeds are germinated and the young shoots eaten. The swollen storage leaf is eaten either as flour or boiled and dried. CAUTION: The palm hearts have been shown to be toxic to rats even when cooked.

Medicinal Uses

Anthelmintic Antiinflammatory Antitussive Diuretic Dysentery Laxative Mouthwash Skin Stimulant Tonic Innumerable traditional medicinal uses are known for all parts of the toddy palm. The young plant is said to relieve biliousness, dysentery and gonorrhea. Young roots are anthelmintic and diuretic. A decoction is given in certain respiratory diseases. Dried roots can also be smoked to heal nasal complaints. The ash of the flower is taken to relieve heartburn and enlarged spleen and liver. The bark decoction, with salt, is used as a mouth wash. A charcoal made of the bark serves as a dentifrice. Sap from the flower stalk is prized as a tonic, diuretic, stimulant, laxative and anti phlegmatic and amoebicide. Sugar made from this sap is said to counteract poisoning and it is prescribed in the treatment of liver disorders. When candied, it is a remedy for coughs and various pulmonary complaints. Fresh toddy, heated to promote fermentation, is bandaged onto all kinds of ulcers. The apical bud, leaf petioles, and dried male flower spikes all have diuretic activity. The pulp of the mature fruit relieves dermatitis. It is also useful as an anti-inflammatory and for dropsy and gastric conditions. Also has potential immuno-suppressive action. Constituents are: gum, fat and albuminoids.

Known Hazards

Plant has spines or sharp edges; use extreme caution when handling

Distribution

A tropical plant. It prefers a well drained soil. It needs a protected sunny position. It is drought and frost tender. Seed need to have a temperature of 24-29°C to grow. Trees need a temperature above 15-18°C. It does better in the drier tropics than in the humid tropics. It grows in seasonally wet and dry areas up to 500 m above sea level. Trees are very sensitive to cold. In Townsville palmetum. It suits hardiness zones 11-12.

Where It Grows

Andamans, Asia, Australia, Bangladesh*, Cambodia, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, East Africa, East Timor, Egypt, Gambia, Himalayas, India*, Indochina, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Laos, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, North Africa, Northeastern India, Pacific, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Philippines, Sahel, SE Asia, Senegal, Socotra, South Africa, Southern Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam, West Africa, West Indies, West Timor,

Cultivation

Plants are grown from seed. Seed take 2-6 months to germinate. Seedlings are difficult to transplant so seed should be sown where they are to grow. To extract the sap, male flower stalks give more sap than female. The unopened flower stalk is tied with a string then banged with a mallet for short times over 3 days before the end being sliced off and the sap collected. A small slither is cut off the end each day to keep the sap flowing.

Propagation

Seed - pre-soak for 24 hours in warm water and sow in containers or in situ. The seed is difficult to germinate, often taking 12 months or more. Scarifying it prior to soaking may reduce germination time. When germination occurs, the massive cotyledon grows several metres down into the ground before the roots and leaves appear. Seeds should thus be planted in deep containers or into a permanent position in the ground as soon as growth begins to appear.

Other Uses

Basketry Brush Charcoal Containers Fencing Fibre Fuel Oil Paper String Thatching Wood Other uses rating: Medium (3/5). Other Uses The leaves have a wide range of uses, such as thatching for house roots and walls, weaving into baskets, mats and many other items. Thatch made from the leaves is said to last at least 2 years. The top young leaves are made into hats, boxes to store rice, baskets, fans, etc A number of different fibres can be obtained from the plant. A fibre obtained from the leaves is used to make string, rope, fencing etc. The fibres of young leaves can be woven into delicate patterns. The fibre obtained from the base of the petioles, or the sheathing leafstalks, is stiff, harsh and wiry. It is used to make brushes etc. Petioles are often can be split into fibre, to be used for weaving and matting. A fibre is obtained from the inner bark. The bark fibre can be used to make strong ropes. A fibre is obtained from the pericarp of the fruit. The petioles are often used as poles for fencing. The dried leaflets were at one time used as a paper to record Indian holy texts. The lowest 10 metres of the trunk has a hard and strong wood that is heavy, very durable and very resistant to termites, insect borers and decay fungi. It is good for constructing buildings, bridges etc. The somewhat softer middle part of the stem can be split into boards. The whole trunk can be made into a small boat capable of carrying at least three people. The wood and leaves are used as fuel. The wood can be made into charcoal.Other uses rating: Medium (3/5). Special Uses Carbon Farming Food Forest

Production

One flower stalk can yield 2 litres per day of sap. One person can tap 30 trees per day. Each flowering stalk will yield for about 3 months. Tapping normally begins when a palm is 20 years old but then may continue for 30 years. A single palm can yield 100,000 litres of palm wine over a 40 year lifespan. The fruit matures in 120 days.

Other Information

The fruit are sold in markets. It is not known if it is used for food in Papua New Guinea. The young seeds are preserved in heavy sugar syrup and sold in jars or cans. It is very important in some countries. It is cultivated.

Notes

There are 7-10 Borassus species.

Nutrition

Synonyms

Also Known As

Acadiru, Bak taan, Doub palm, Ental, Etal, Giginya, Htan, Kaakala, Karatalamu, Karumpana, Kerigi, Lontar palm, Mak tan kok, Pana, Panai, Panankai, Panna-maram, Pannei, Pohon siwalan, Kok tan, Nungu, Palem lontar, Palem siwalan, Taad, Taal, Taan, Tad-mar, Tad, Tadi, Tadichettu, Tal, Tala palm, Tale, Talgaha, Tali, Tanta note, Tar, Tatichettu, Than, Thnot, Toddy palm, Yod taan

References (93)

• Ambasta, S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 77
• Anderson, E. F., 1993, Plants and people of the Golden Triangle. Dioscorides Press. p 204
• Arinathan, V., et al, 2007, Wild edibles used by Palliyars of the western Ghats, Tamil Nadu. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge. 6(1) pp 163-168
• Arora, R. K., 2014, Diversity in Underutilized Plant Species - An Asia-Pacific Perspective. Bioversity International. p 101
• Ashton, M. S., et al 1997, A Field Guide to the Common Trees and Shrubs of Sri Lanka. WHT Publications Ltd. p 78

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