Borassus flabellifer


Borassus flabellifer, commonly known as doub palm, palmyra palm, tala palm, toddy palm, wine palm, or ice apple is native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is reportedly naturalized in Socotra and parts of China.

Description

Borassus flabellifer is a robust tree and can reach a height of. The trunk is grey, robust and ringed with leaf scars; old leaves remain attached to the trunk for several years before falling cleanly. The leaves are fan-shaped and long, with robust black teeth on the petiole margins. Like all Borassus species, B. flabellifer is dioecious with male and female flowers on separate plants. The male flowers are less than 1 cm long and form semi-circular clusters, which are hidden beneath scale-like bracts within the catkin-like inflorescences. In contrast, the female flowers are golfball-sized and solitary, sitting upon the surface of the inflorescence axis. After pollination, these blooms develop into fleshy fruits 15–25 cm wide, each containing 1-3 seeds. The fruits are black to brown with sweet, fibrous pulp and each seed is enclosed within a woody endocarp. Young palmyra seedlings grow slowly, producing only a few leaves each year, but at an as yet undetermined time, they grow rapidly, producing a substantial stem.

Uses

Fruit

The fruit measures to in diameter, has a black husk, and is borne in clusters. The top portion of the fruit must be cut off to reveal the sweet jelly seed sockets, translucent pale-white, similar to that of the lychee but with a milder flavor and no pit. The sweet jelly seed sockets occur in combinations of two, three or four seeds inside the fruit. The jelly part of the fruit is covered with a thin, yellowish-brown skin. These are known to contain watery fluid inside the fleshy white body. These seed sockets have been the inspiration behind certain Sandeshes called Jalbhora found in Bengal. The soft orange-yellow mesocarp pulp of the ripe fruit is sugary, dense and edible, rich in vitamin A and C. They also contain bitter compound called flabelliferrins, which are steroidal saponins.
The conventional way this fruit is eaten is when the outer casing is still unripe while the seeds are eaten as the fruit. But if the entire fruit is left to ripen, the fibrous outer layer of the palm fruits can also be eaten raw, boiled, or roasted. When this happens, the fruit takes a purple-blackish hue and tastes similar to coconut flesh. The skin is also eaten as part of the fruit similar to how mango skins are often consumed along with the fruit. Bengali People have perfected the art of making various sweet dishes with the yellowish viscous fluid substance obtained from a ripe palm fruit. These include mustard oil-fried Taal-er bora "palmyra vadas" or mixed with thickened milk to prepare Taal-kheer.
In Kerala it is called Pananungu whereas in Tamil Nadu, it is called as Nungu. Ice apple in Indonesia is called Buah Lontar or Siwalan.

Sap

Obtaining the sap traditionally involves tapping the top shoots and collecting the dripping juice in hanging earthen pots. The juice collected in evening or after fermentation becomes sour, and is called Tadi in Marathi. This sap was the main source of sugar production in Thailand even before sugarcane, as for the vocabulary Nahm-Taal which used to call any kind of sugar in Thailand literally means the water of tala palm
A sugary sap called toddy, can be obtained from the young inflorescence, either male or female. Toddy is fermented to make a beverage called arrack, or it is concentrated to a crude sugar called jaggery or Taal Patali in Bengali and Pana Vellam or Karuppukatti in Tamil. It is called Gula Jawa in Indonesia, and is widely used in Javanese cuisine. In Thailand it is called Nahm-Taal-Puek means the pack of sugar that dried from the palm sap.
In Thailand there was techniques utilize anti bacterial agents of some woods to keep the sap from becoming sour while tapping. And after sterilized it was available as beverage called Nahm-Taan-Sod or used to make alcoholic beverage called Nahm-Taan-Mao

Sprouts

In the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Bihar, and in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, the seeds are planted and made to germinate and the fleshy stems are boiled or roasted and eaten. It is very fibrous and nutritious. It is known as Thegalu or Gaygulu or Gengulu in Telugu, as Panai Kizhangu or Panangkizhangu in Tamil, and as htabin myiq in Myanmar.
The germinated seed's hard shell is also cut open to take out the crunchy kernel, which tastes like a sweeter water chestnut. It is called Buragunju in Telugu and "thavanai" in Tamil.
The white kernel of the ripe palm fruit after being left for a few months is used as an offering in Lakshmi Puja in various parts of Bengal and is also eaten raw.

Leaves

The Borassus flabellifer leaves are used for thatching, mats, baskets, fans, hats, umbrellas, and as writing material.
All the literature of the old Tamil was written in preserved Palm leaves also known as Palm-leaf manuscript. In Tamil Yaedu or Olai chuvadi. Most of the ancient literature in Telugu are written on palm leaves.
In Indonesia the leaves were used in the ancient culture as paper, known as "lontar". Leaves of suitable size, shape, texture, and maturity were chosen and then seasoned by boiling in salt water with turmeric powder, as a preservative. The leaves were then dried. When they were dry enough, the face of the leaf was polished with pumice, cut into the proper size, and a hole made in one corner. Each leaf made four pages. The writing was done with a stylus and had a very cursive and interconnected style.
The stem of the leaves has thorny edges.
The skin of the stem can be peeled off and be used as rope and also used to weave into cots. In some part of Tamil Nadu, a variety of rice flour cake is prepared using the leaf.
In the eastern part of India, the leaves are used to make hand fans.

Trunk

The stalks are used to make fences and also produce a strong, wiry fiber suitable for cordage and brushes. The black timber is hard, heavy, and durable and is highly valued for construction.

Crown

When the crown of the tree is removed, the segment from which the leaves grow out is an edible cake. This is called 'pananchoru in Tamil or thati adda'' in Telugu.

Roots

In Cambodia, where the palm is known as thnôt'

Cultivation

Borassus flabellifer has a growth pattern, very large size, and clean habits that make it an attractive ornamental tree, cultivated for planting in gardens and parks as landscape palm species.

Cultural symbolism