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List of Palms that are Tapped for Sap
and Production of Sugar
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Hereunder is a list of palms that have been traditionally tapped for sap which is processed into palm sugar in addition to other uses. As already mentioned in a separate page, the palms are considered one of the major sources of sugar in the world. Special mention of Phoenix sylvestris, Borassus flabellifer, Cocos nucifera, and Arenga pinnata was made by Hill (1972) and these were also reviewed by Dalibard (1997; 1999) along with other palm species. The entries on geographical distribution were obtained from globalspecies.org (2011).
This list of palms is arranged alphabetically by common names which appear more frequently used. These palm trees are among the more than 30 species that Dalibard (1997; 1999) reviewed as having been traditionally tapped for sap with promising prospects for use as animal feed. The list is not exclusive. Although most tapped palms yield sap with high sugar content, many are used to make wine, vinegar, and other products instead of sugar.
The author of this page himself has lived in close proximity to coconut palm trees that are tapped daily for sap. He also had personal experience in the tapping of sweet palm or kaong (Arenga pinnata).
Table 1. List of palms that have been used as sources of palm sugar in different tropical regions of the world.
|
COMMON
NAMES and SCI. NAME
|
DISTRIBUTION |
|
Areca nut, Arecanut, Areca palm, Betel nut, Betel palm, Bunga(Areca catechu)
Arenga Palms
Aren Gelora (Arenga undulatifolia)
Philippine Dwarf Sugar Palm (Arenga tremula)
Sugar
palm, Sweet palm, |
- Cultigen from Malesia -
---------------------------------------- Borneo,
Philippines (Palawan), Sulawesi
- Philippines -
- Assam to Malesia; S. China to C. Malesia |
|
Asian Palmyra palm, Sugar palm tree, Toddy palm, Desert palm (Borassus flabellifer)
Buri palm, Gebang palm, |
- India to SC. China and Indo-China, Jawa to Lesser Sunda Is. - Andaman Is. to N. Australia; NE. India to N. Australia |
|
Caryota spp. Fishtail palm, Philippine fishtail palm, Pugahan (Caryota cumingii) Jaggery palm, Toddy palm, Solitary fishtail, Kitul palm, Wine palm (Caryota urens) Coconut, Coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) |
--------------------------------------
- Philippines - - Sri Lanka, Myanmar and India
-------------------------------------- - C. Malesia to SW. Pacific, widely introduced elsewere |
|
Date palm and Other Phoenix Species
Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera)
Dwarf date palm, Senegal date palm (Phoenix reclinata)
Wild
date palm, Silver date palm, Sugar date palm (Phoenix sylvestris) ------------
Nipa palm, Water coconut, Attap palm, Mangrove palm (Nypa fruticans)
Talipot palm(Corypha umbraculifera) |
-------------------------------------- - Arabian Pen. to S. Pakistan, widely introduced elsewere
- Trop. & S. Africa, Comoros, Madagascar, SW. Arabian Pen.
- Indian Subcontinent to W. Myanmar; Pakistan to Himalaya, E. India to Bangladesh
- Sri Lanka to Nansei-shoto and Caroline Is.
- SW India, Sri Lanka |
REFERENCES
DALIBARD C. 1997. The potential of tapping palm trees for animal production. Retrieved December 17, 2011 from http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/resources/documents/frg/conf96htm/dalibard.htm.
DALIBARD C. 1999. Overall view on the tradition of tapping palm trees and prospects for animal production. Livestock Research for Rural Development. Vol. 11, No. 1. Retrieved December 17, 2011 from http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd11/1/dali111.htm.
GLOBALSPECIES.ORG 2011. Accessed December 17, 2011 thru http://globalspecies.org/ntaxa/2008146.
HILL AF. 1972. Economic Botany. TMH ed. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. p. 210-241.
(Ben G. Bareja December 2011)
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