Use of the sago palmMetroxylon warburgii in the Polynesian Island, Rotuma

Abstract

The manufacture of edible starch products from sago palms of the genus Metroxylon is common to indigenous people throughout Melanesia but is unknown in Polynesia, even in areas where Metroxylon species occur. We here report the use of Metroxylon as a starch source in the isolated Polynesian island of Rotuma. In Rotuma, Metroxylon warburgii (Heim) Beccari grows wild, but is likely the result of an aboriginal introduction from Melanesia. Samoan ethnohistorical accounts indicate that Metroxylon warburgii was introduced to Samoa from Rotuma. Rotuman manufacture of starch from M. warburgii appears to date from pre-European times as indicated by written accounts of early visitors to Rotuma and Rotuman oral histories. We provide details of the process of starch manufacture in Rotuma and speculate on possible means by which this technology was transferred from Melanesia to Rotuma.