Abstract
The sugar palm is usually used to collect sap to produce brown sugar. However, this species can be used as a starch-accumulating palm. In this research, we investigated the growth characteristics and starch productivity of sugar palms on Muna Island, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia, where they are popularly planted and utilized. The trunk elongation growth was completed around the emergence stage of the first female inflorescence (estimated age 10–12 years), and the trunk length and weight reached 10–16 m and 1000–1400 kg, respectively, although the trunk diameter hardly changed with age ranging from 25–35 cm. At this stage, the pith starch percentage was the highest at 40–50%, and the starch content was 100–200 kg per plant. Therefore, the optimum harvest time for starch production was considered to be around the emergence stage of the first female inflorescence. The pith starch percentage decreased due to sap collection but remained high in plants without collection. The starch content decreased after the end of this process, but some plants had a high starch content of 200 kg due to superior trunk and pith weight. As compared with cultivated sago palm folk varieties, the starch content was similar to or slightly inferior to those of the sago palm folk varieties at early-flowering, and significantly inferior to those at late-flowering ones due to lower pith starch percentage and/or trunk (pith) weight.
