Potential of Underutilized Sago for Bioenergy Uses

Abstract

Sago is a plant that grows naturally in some areas in Southeast and South Asia. Despite having multiple advantages, the usage of the sago palm is primarily from its starch content and is commonly used as an alternative replacement for white rice and wheat flour, the two most prominent staple foods, in several regions. Additionally, people are now more aware of how the total area of sago forests has decreased as monoculture, cash crops, or other food crop development have replaced it. This condition may endanger the ecology and the sustainability of food diversity. To support the bioeconomy principles, various utilizations of sago by turning it into higher value-added biomass need to be explored. The paper aims to review the potential utilization of sago as biomass and bioenergy as a value-added product after processing it for food. A literature review method in Scopus and PubMed databases was used to answer the research objective. Sago palm can be converted into bio-energy resources like biomass-biogas, bioelectricity, bioethanol, and biohydrogen. Together with the advancement in the processing of sago starch, sago waste from bark, pulp, fiber, or hampas is transformed into different products, e.g., plywood and particle board, sago craft from sago bark and fiber; thus, sago waste or sago hampas is a prospective bioenergy commodity. In conclusion, sago provides advantages beyond food diversity, such as lowering household food insecurity and promoting sago's use for biomass and bioenergy.