抄録
On Sangihe Island, North Sulawesi, Indonesia, the present conditions of cultivation and utilization of ‘sagu baruk’ were investigated, and its growth characteristics and starch productivity were also evaluated. There, ‘sagu baruk’ has been cultivated and used for a long time, and the starch extracted from the pith of the trunk has been used for self-consumption and selling. Its optimal harvest stage was from the first inflorescence (female inflorescence) emergence stage to the fruit color change of the second inflorescence (female inflorescence), and the number of years until the optimal harvest was around 15 years. The trunk length at the harvest was as long as about 20 m, but the diameter was as thin as 15 cm, and the trunk weight was 450–500 kg. The starch percentage in the pith was 50–55％, and the starch content per plant was about 90 kg. Although the starch content of ‘sagu baruk’ was significantly inferior to that of sago palm, and even inferior to that of sugar palm, it was presumed to have a high potential as a starch resource crop because of the easier harvesting, transportation of the trunks, and starch extraction due to the thinner nature of trunk and superior whiteness of the starch.
