1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Sago

SAGO, a food-starch prepared from a deposit in the trunk of several palms, the principal source being the sago palm (Metroxylon Sagu) (see fig.), a native of the East Indian Archipelago, the sago forests being especially extensive in the island of Ceram. The trees flourish only in low marshy situations, seldom attaining a height of 30 ft., with a thick-set trunk. They attain maturity as starch-yielding plants at the age of about fifteen years, when the stem is gorged with an enormous mass of spongy medullary matter, around which is an outer rind consisting of a hard dense woody wall about 2 in. thick. When the fruit is allowed to form and ripen, the whole of this starchy core disappears, leaving the stem a mere hollow shell; and the tree immediately after ripening its fruit dies. When ripe the palms are cut down, the stems divided into sections and split up, and the starchy pith extracted and grated to a powder. The powder is then kneaded with water over a strainer, through which the starch passes, leaving the woody fibre behind. The starch settles in the bottom of a trough, in which it is floated, and after one or two washings is it for use by the natives for their cakes and soups. That intended for exportation is mixed into a paste with water and rubbed through sieves into small grains, from the size of a coriander seed and larger, whence it is known according to size as pearl sago, bullet sago, &c. A large proportion of the sago imported into Europe comes from Borneo, and the increasing demand has led to a large extension of sago-palm planting along the marshy river-banks of Sarawak.

Sago Palm (Metroxylan Sagu), much reduced.

1, Portion of leaf.
2, Portion of female inflorescence
in fruiting stage.
3, Branch of male inflorescence.
4, Spike of male flowers.
5, Same cut lengthwise.
6, Fruit.
7, Section of fruit and seed, s;
e, embryo.

Sago is also obtained from Metraxylon Rumphii as well as from various other East Indian palms such as the Gomuti palm (Arenga saccharifera), the Kittul palm (Caryota urens), the cabbage palm (Corypha umbraculifera), besides Corypha Gebagan, Raphia flabelliformis and Phoenix farinifera, also from Mauritia flexuosa and Guilielma speciosa, two South American species. It is also obtained from the pith of species of Cycas.