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Cycas revoluta, C. circinalis: Cycads as a source of food
If you’re a bit older, you may remember those conical metal measuring cups from
your grandmother’s kitchen, the ones with a scale on the side for “semolina, sago, and raisins.“
When I was a child, I always wondered just what sago actually was.
Sago is a granular, pearly food starch extracted from the pith found inside the trunk
of certain palms of the genus Metroxylon. But in addition to this true sago,
there’s also false sago, extracted from the trunks of various cycads like those growing
in this house. Like palms, cycads also store starch in their trunks. However, all cycads
are poisonous, so this starch must be ground, soaked, dried and roasted before it can be
eaten.
That’s also true for the starchy seeds of the cycad family. Some of them are so toxic that
they are used as a rat poison. Although it’s a long and laborious process to make these
edible for humans, they were a traditional food source in some parts of the world. For example,
cycad seeds were an important source of carbohydrates for the Aborigines of Australia.
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Cycas revoluta, C. circinalis: Cycads as a source of food (MP3, 547 KB)
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