Palm male tree (Borassus flabellifer)

Common names: Palmyra palm, African fan palm, Borassus palm, Doub palm, Great fan palm, Lontar palm, Ron palm, Tala palm, Tal-palm, Toddy palm, Wine palm

Local names: Hindi: Taad, Tal, Trinaraaj Marathi: Taad Tamil: Talam Malayalam: Karimpana Telugu: Tatichettu  Kannada: Olegari, Taalegari, Taatinimgu Bengali: Taala Konkani: Eroal Urdu: Taad Gujarati: Taad

Palm is a native of tropical Africa but cultivated and naturalized throughout India. India is one of the most palm tree rich countries in the world. Palm is mostly cultivated for its edible fruits and for its sap, which can be fermented into palm wine (toddy). Male palm tree bears flowers called ‘Spadix’ during two times in a year (September and January). One male palm tree yields 30 kg dry spadix per year. The flowers are produced in big clusters of long, white string-like inflorescence. The palm male flowers as green are fed to cattle. Dry male flowers become hard so can be used after grinding. It contains 10.4% CP and provides 40% TDN (Talpada et al., 2002). The main incriminating factor is its high content of tannin (8.7%). The dry male flowers are not palatable as such so they should be mixed with other palatable ingredients.