Borassus Flabellifer

In Indonesia the leaves were used in the ancient culture as paper, known as "lontar". Leaves of suitable size, shape, texture, and maturity were chosen and then seasoned by boiling in salt water with turmeric powder, as a preservative. The leaves were then dried. When they were dry enough, the face of the leaf was polished with pumice, cut into the proper size, and a hole made in one corner. Each leaf made four pages. The writing was done with a stylus and had a very cursive and interconnected style. The leaves were then tied up as sheaves.

Borassus flabellifer

Trunk 
The stalks are used to make fences and also produce a strong, wiry fiber suitable for cordage and brushes. The black timber is hard, heavy, and durable and is highly valued for construction. In Cambodia, the trunks are also used to make canoes.

Sugar palm as seen in Mumbai,India

Cultivation 
 Borassus flabellifer has a growth pattern, very large size, and clean habits that make it an attractive ornamental tree, cultivated for planting in gardens and parks as landscape palm species.

Cultural symbolism
1) The palmyra tree is the official tree of Tamil Nadu. Highly respected in Tamil culture, it is called "karpaha Veruksham" ("celestial tree") because all its parts have a use. Panaiveriyamman, named after panai, the Tamil name for the Palmyra palm, is an ancient tree deity related to fertility linked to this palm. This deity is also known as Taalavaasini, a name that further relates her to all types of palms.

Borassus flabellifer in Cambodia, 1965.

2) The palm is also common in Thailand, especially in the northeast or Isaan area, where it is a prevailing part of the landscape.
- Wikipedia

Palm Sugar

Borassus flabellifer, the Asian palmyra palm, toddy palm, or sugar palm, is native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, including Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Description 
Borassus flabellifer is a robust tree and can reach a height of 30 metres (98 ft). The trunk is grey, robust and ringed with leaf scars; old leaves remain attached to the trunk for several years before falling cleanly. The leaves are fan-shaped and 3 m (9.8 ft) long, with robust black teeth on the petiole margins. Like all Borassus species, B. flabellifer is dioecious with male and female flowers on separate plants. The male flowers are less than 1 cm long and form semi-circular clusters, which are hidden beneath scale-like bracts within the catkin-like inflorescences. 

Fruits of Borassus flabellifer, Vietnam.

The fruits are black to brown with sweet, fibrous pulp and each seed is enclosed within a woody endocarp. Young palmyra seedlings grow slowly, producing only a few leaves each year (establishment phase), but at an as yet undetermined time, they grow rapidly, producing a substantial stem. 

Nungu drink, Tamil Nadu

The ripened fibrous outer layer of the palm fruits can also be eaten raw, boiled, or roasted. Bengali People have perfected the art of making various sweet dishes with the yellowish viscous fluidic substance obtained from a ripe palm fruit. 


Leaves
The Borassus flabellifer leaves are used for thatching, mats, baskets, fans, hats, umbrellas, and as writing material. All the literature of the old Tamil was written in preserved Palm leaves also known as Palm-leaf manuscript - Wikipedia

  Male tree with flower

Corn Starch

Corn kernels are the source of corn starch. Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images

Corn starch, a thickening agent, is used in place of flour in foods as diverse as pancakes, soups and cookies. Corn starch benefits weight-loss diets because the amount required is half that of flour -- simply because cornstarch contains no gluten, and it is gluten, states Perfect Pantry, that hinders flour's thickening action. For anyone with gluten allergies or celiac disease, cornstarch is ideal for recipes.

Corn Starch Science
Corn starch is created by grinding the endosperm of the yellow corn kernel. Structurally, corn starch is a polymer, made up of long chains of atoms that exhibit interesting physical properties related to its use as a thickener. Little Shop describes the chains of atoms as allowing a creeping, oozing action of a cornstarch liquid being slowly poured, but the fast your pour, the firmer the mixture becomes. If you push onto the liquid, it actually hardens. Corn starch's sensitive nature sometimes makes cooking with it an unusual experience, says Perfect Pantry, since its relationship with water is so perplexing 
- www.lifestrong.com

Corn Starch Benefits for Illness

If you have celiac disease or gluten allergies you may benefit from corn starch diets. The National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease describes celiac disease, a permanent, auto-immune digestive disorder, as gluten's creating a toxic environment in the small intestine, leading to intestinal tissue damage and malnutrition. Wheat allergies are considered more temporary, and gluten intolerance is not immune-related. In any of these conditions, corn starch helps to alleviate symptoms.

Corn starch diets can alleviate some digestive problems.Photo Credit jeans, belly and hand image by Vasiliy Koval from Fotolia.com

Corn starch pancakes have no flour whatsoever. Checkers' recipe calls for two eggs; 25 ml, or 5 tsps., of olive oil; 220 ml, or 1 cup, of corn starch; and approximately 1/2 cup water. The mixture will resemble regular pancake batter but the corn starch will exert its thickening action in the cooking pan, so these pancakes are robust - www.lifestrong.com
Corn starch pancakes have slightly thicker texture. Photo Credit pancakes 5 image by samantha grandy from Fotolia.comCorn Starch Breakfast