Benefits of Sago, From Staple Food to Textile Industry

Sago is one of the staple foods for people in eastern Indonesia, especially in Papua and Maluku. These foodstuffs are obtained from processing the trunks of tropical palms or palm trees Metroxylon sago.

Apart from being the main food, sago can also be used as an ingredient to make various delicious snacks. Sago flour, for example, can be processed into balls, pasta, or pancakes. In addition, sago can also be processed with other ingredients to form a pudding cake.

Nutrient Content in Sago

Sago is one of the staple foods of the people in Indonesia, and has good nutrition for the body. This is because the nutritional content in sago is relatively complete. In sago, there are carbohydrates in quite a lot. In addition, this material also has protein, vitamins, and minerals, although the amount is not much.

In 100 grams of dry sago, there are 94 grams of carbohydrates, 0.2 grams of protein, 0.5 grams of fiber, 10 mg of calcium, and 1.2 mg of iron. Calories produced by 100 grams of sago are 355 calories. Although it contains fat, carotene, and ascorbic acid, the amounts are so small that they are often overlooked.

Utilization of Sago other than as Staple Food

Here are some of the benefits of sago, in addition to being a staple food:

• Glucose making material

  One study states that sago flour in Malaysia is used as a basic material for producing glucose. Given that 90 percent of sago is carbohydrates, it is very possible to do this.

• Provides energy for physical activity

  Another use of sago was also used to delay fatigue when doing physical activity. A study even revealed that the combination of sago and protein from soybeans is useful for strengthening the body's stamina when doing physical activity. This study compared the consumption of a mixture of sago and soy protein, with the consumption of carbohydrates in the form of supplements. The results show that the combination of sago and soy protein can delay the appearance of fatigue in people who do high-intensity exercise activities.

• Food and animal feed

  As animal feed, sago is one of the ingredients that is easy to get, cheap, and has good nutritional content for livestock. Not only in the livestock sector, sago is also widely used in the food industry. Sago flour is often used as a thickener, thickener, to add texture to various cakes and snacks.

• Textile making materials

  Furthermore, regarding the benefits of sago, this food also has a significant role in the textile industry. Sago is used as a fiber binder, thus making spinning machines easier. The ability of sago to bind bundles of fibers will facilitate the process of making the fabric as desired. If we are careful, new cloth or clothes usually contain remnants of sago which will disappear after washing. Not only that, currently sago has also been used as an environmentally friendly plastic material (biodegradable).

The current use of sago is not only as a staple food. The large number of uses of sago should be accompanied by good environmental maintenance, so that the plant can still be preserved.