Pangium is a genus in the family Achariaceae containing the sole species Pangium edule, a tall tree native to the mangrove swamps of Southeast Asia (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea[5]). It produces a large poisonous fruit (the "football fruit" or pangi)[6] which can be made edible by fermentation. It is dioecious, with male and female flowers produced on separate individuals.[7]
The taxonomy of the tree is uncertain and it may also be classed in the Flacourtiaceae[5] or the Violales.
The tree requires many years to mature and the seeds are therefore most frequently harvested from wild trees, as it is not economically feasible to cultivate.[8] Although poisonous to humans, the seeds of the tree form part of the natural diet of the babirusa (Babyroussa babyrussa).[9]
The fresh fruit and seeds contain hydrogen cyanide, thus are deadly poisonous if consumed without prior preparation.[10][11][12] The seeds are first boiled and then buried in ash, banana leaves and earth for forty days,[13] during which time they turn from a creamy white colour to dark brown or black.[14] The method relies on the fact that the hydrogen cyanide released by the boiling and fermentation is water-soluble and easily washed out.
The kernels may be ground up to form a thick black gravy called rawon. Popular dishes include nasi rawon, beef stew in keluwek paste, popular in East and Central Java,[15] and sambal rawon, rawon stew made with beef or chicken, also made in East Java.[16] In West Java and Jakarta, gabus pucung, snakehead fishinpucung paste soup, is a popular traditional dish in Betawi cuisine.[17] The Toraja dish pammarrasan (black spice with fish or meat, also sometimes with vegetables) uses the black keluak powder.[citation needed]InSingapore and Malaysia, the seeds are best known as an essential ingredient in ayam (chicken) or babi (pork) buah keluak,[18][19] a mainstay of Peranakan cuisine. The Dusun tribe of Borneo use this pounded kernel as main ingredient for making local signature dish called bosou,[20] a sour fermented fish.
People of the Minahasa tribe in North Sulawesi use the young leaves as a vegetable, slicing them small, then cooking them with herbs and pork fat or meat inside bamboo. Many sellers in the Tomohon traditional market sell the leaves.
^IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group & Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) (2021). "Pangium edule". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T143874361A192377449. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
^"Sylloge Plantarum Novarum Itemque Minus Cognitarum a Praestantissimis Botanicis adhuc Viventibus Collecta et a Societate Regia Botanica Ratisbonensi Edita. Ratisbonae (Regensburg)". 2. 1825: 13. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Committee to Review the Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium (2019). Oria, Maria; Harrison, Meghan; Stallings, Virginia A. (eds.). Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. The National Academies Collection: Reports funded by National Institutes of Health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US). ISBN978-0-309-48834-1. PMID30844154.
^ abConn B, Damas K. "Pangium edule Reinw.". National Herbarium of New South Wales, and Papua New Guinea National Herbarium. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
^Andarwulan N, Fardiaz D, Wattimena GA, Shetty K (1999). "Antioxidant activity associated with lipid and phenolic mobilization during seed germination of Pangium edule Reinw". Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 47 (8): 3158–3163. doi:10.1021/jf981287a. PMID10552624.
^Leus K, Morgan CA, Dierenfeld ES (2001). "Nutrition". In Fischer M (ed.). Babirusa (Babyrousa babyrussa) Husbandry Manual. American Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
^Treub M (1896). "Sur la localisation, le transport, et le rôle de l'acide cyanhydrique dans le Pangium edule". Ann Jardin Bot Buitenzorg (in French). xiii: 1.
^Greshoff M (1906). Distribution of prussic acid in the vegetable kingdom. York, England. p. 138. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
