Sago is a staple food for people in eastern Indonesia, especially in Papua and Maluku. This food is obtained from the processing of tropical palm tree trunks, most of which are Metroxylon sago. Aside from being the main food, sago can also be used as a variety of other delicious foods. Sago flour, for example, can be processed into various forms of balls, pasta, and bending cakes. Sago can also be processed with a mixture of other ingredients to form a pudding.
Nutrition in Sago
As one of the staple foods of the people in Indonesia, sago has good nutrition for the body. This, of course, happens because the nutrient content in sago is relatively complete. Inside sago, there are quite a lot of pure carbohydrates. In addition, this material also has protein, vitamins, and minerals, although there are not many in number.
As a benchmark, in 100 grams of dried sago, 94 grams of which are carbohydrates. Of the total sago, 0.2 grams is protein, 0.5 grams is in the form of dietary fiber, 10 mg of calcium, and 1.2 mg of iron. The calories produced 100 grams of sago are 355 calories. Although they contain fat, carotene and ascorbic acid, they are very few in number, so they are often ignored.
Utilization of Sago in addition to Basic Foods
Apart from being used as a staple food, it turns out that sago can also be used for other purposes. One study states that sago flour in Malaysia is used as an ingredient to produce glucose. Given that 90 percent more than sago is carbohydrate, then this is very possible.
Other uses of sago were also used to delay fatigue in cycling sports lovers. At least this was revealed by a study of the combination of sago and soy protein to strengthen the endurance of cycling athletes. This study compared the consumption of sago mixture and soy protein with carbohydrate consumption in the form of placebo. The results showed that the combination of sago and soy protein could delay fatigue in people who engage in high-intensity cycling activities.
Because sago is food for rural people, many are concerned that these foods contain poisons produced by fungi that may grow in the process of making these foods. For this reason, a study tried to examine the quality of sago originating from Papua New Guinea. This study is to test whether there is mycotoxin production in sago starch.
The results of the study were sufficient to explain that the assessment of some people was proven wrong. In fact, mycotoxins are not systemic or comprehensive in sago starch. It's just that the possibility of consuming sago can cause health problems to remain open. The possibility exists because sago has the potential to grow citrine and mycotoxins when the sago storage process is carried out.
Furthermore, regarding the benefits of sago, sago also has a significant role in the textile industry. This material is used as a fiber binder so that it makes the machine easier to spin. The ability of sago to bind a collection of fibers further facilitates the industry in forming the fabric as desired. If we examine it, the fabric or clothing that is newly made usually contains the remains of sago which will be lost if the cloth or clothes are washed.
The use of sago today is not only known as a staple food for certain communities. The amount of sago utilization should be accompanied by environmental maintenance so that the plants can still be preserved.
