THE CHARACTERISTICS OF SAGO FROND SAP FROM TWO SELECTED GROWTH STAGES; ANGKAT PUNGGUNG AND UPONG MUDA PALMS

• Main Authors: Nurazureen, Matnin, Dayang Salwani, Awang Adeni, Muhammad Norhelmi, Ahmad, Nurashikin, Suhaili
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Q Science (General); QK Botany; SB Plant culture
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/36567/1/Dayang%20Salwani%20Awang%20Adeni.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/36567/
• Institution: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

Sago frond is produced in abundance upon harvesting of the sago palms for starch extraction, hence need to be utilized and developed into beneficial products. In this study, the sap which contains sugars and starch is obtained by roller crushing the skinned frond for use as fermentation medium. Fronds from two selected growth stages (namely Angkat punggung and Upong muda) and two different positions within the rosette (inner and outer circle) of the sago palm were studied. Based on the results, the outer circle frond of Upong muda palm gave the highest volume of sap at 290mL/kg which equivalent to 1600 mL/frond. On top of that, sago frond sap has an acidic pH, with glucose as major sugar component and contained various kinds of minerals like calcium, potassium and manganese. All fronds from two selected growth stages contain glucose between 28-68 g/L and xylose 21-29 g/L, respectively. After 21 days of storage, it can be concluded that the amount of reducing sugars and starch in most samples obtained from two selected growth stages decreased slightly from the original. Subsequently after this study, both fresh and stored sago frond sap can be used as a fermentation substrate without any pre-treatment or modification.