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Pandanus (Pandanus amaryllifolius Roxb.)

Synonyms

botanicalPandanus odorus, P. latifolius
Chinese
(Cantonese)
斑蘭 [bàan làahn], 稱香蘭 [chàn hēung làahn], 七葉蘭 [chāt yihp làahn], 香林投 [hēung làhm tàuh]
Baan laahn, Chan heung laahn, Chat yihp laahn, Heung lahm tauh
Chinese
(Mandarin)
斑蘭 [bān lán], 稱香蘭 [chèn xiāng lán], 七葉蘭 [qī yè lán], 香林投 [xiāng lín tóu]
Ban lan, Chen xiang lan, Qi ye lan, Xiang lin tou
DanishSkruepalme
DutchSchroefpalm, Pandan
EnglishUmbrella tree, Screw pine, Screw tree
EstonianLõhnav pandan, Kruvipuu
FinnishKairapalmu
FrenchPandanus
GermanSchraubenbaum, Schraubenpalme
Hebrewהפאנדאנוס
הפַּאנדָאנוּס
Ha-pandanus (refers to entire genus)
Hindiरंपे
Rampe
HungarianPandanusz levél, Panpung levél, Csavarpálma levél
IndonesianDaun pandan, Pandan wangi
ItalianPandano
Japanisch ニオイタコノキ, ニオイアダン
Nioi-takonoki, Nioi-adan
KhmerTaey
Korean판다누스
Pandanusu
Laoໃບເຕີຍ, ເຕີຍ, ເຕີຍຫອມ, ເຕີຍບ້ານ
Bai teuy, Teuy, Tey Ban, Tey hom
LithuanianAmarilinis pandanas
MalayPandan wangi
Malayalalamബിരിയാണിക്കൈത
Biriyanikkaita
Marathiआंबेमोहोर पत्ता
Ambemohor patta
NorwegianSkrupalme
PortuguesePandano
Sinhalaරම්පා, රම්පේ, රම්පෙ
Rampa, Rampeh, Rampe
SpanishPandan, Pandano
SwedishSkruvpalm
TagalogPandan, Pandan mabango
Tamilரம்பா
Ramba
Thaiใบเตย, เตยหอม, เตย
Panae-wo-nging, Bai Toey, Toey-hom, Toei
VietnameseCây cơm nếp, Dứa thơm, Lá dứa
Cay com nep, Dua thom, La dua
Yiddishשרױפֿנבױם
Shroyfnboym (refers to the entire genus)
Pandanus amaryllifolius: Pandanus leaves
Fresh young pandanus leaves
Pandanus amaryllifolius: Pandanus leaf with serrated leaf edge
Pandanus leaf from Sri Lanka
Pandanus amaryllifolius: Older Pandanus leaf
Older Pandanus leaf
Note 

In Euro­pean lan­guages, there is no dis­tinction between the South East Asian species yielding pan­danus leaves and the South Asian one yielding pan­danus flowers.

Used plant part

Leaves, always used fresh (slightly wilted). The aroma develops best after about two days of drying; however, if fades within a week after that. Even in their South East Asian native area, pandanus leaves are often replaced by an extract that also contains green food colouring.

Plant family

Pandanaceae (screw pine family).

Sensory quality

The leaves’s aroma is distinct and hard to describe, somewhat nutty, reminiscent to fresh hay and definitely pleasant. A similar scent is found in some aromatic rice varieties grown in South East Asia (e. g., Thai jasmine rice).

The scent of pandanus leaves de­vel­ops only on wilting; the fresh, intact plants hardly have any odour. On the other hand, dried pandanus leaves lose their fragrance quite quickly.

Main constituents

The flavour component of pandanus leaves is not well known. It is speculated that the flavour is due to a volatile product of oxidative degradation of a yellow carotenoid pigment that forms only when the plant withers. In that respect, there are similarities to saffron and rose, which also contain carotenoid-derived aroma compounds.

The best candidate is 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which was found in pandanus leaves at levels of about 1 ppm (Cereal Chemistry, 70, 381, 1993) and which also occurs in aromatic rice cultivars; another possibility is ethyl formiate, which is also common to both rice and pandanus leaves (Naturwissenschaften, 71, 215, 1984).

Yet another study found 3-methyl-2-(5H)-furanone as main volatile compound in pandanus leaves, besides 3-hexanol, 4-methylpentanol, 3-hexanone and 2-hexanone (Flavor and Chemistry of Ethnic Foods, [Proceedings of a Meeting held during the 5th Chemical Congress of North America], Cancun, Nov. 11-15, 1997 (1999)).

The leaves also contain piperidine-type alkaloids (pandamarine, pandameri­lactones) with pyrroline-derived structures (Phytochemistry, 34, 1159, 1993)

On distillation, the leaves do yield traces of an essential oil, but it is unclear to which extent the volatile oil contributes to pandanus’ flavour. In Sri Lankan pandanus leaves (Pandanus latifolius, allegedly synonym to P. amaryllifolius), the following aroma components have been identified in concentrations less than one microgramm per kilogramm (ppb) fresh material: styrene 0.62, ?formylthiphene 0.76, linalool 0.29, β-caryophyllene 0.55, β-farnesene 0.18, 1,2-dimethoxybenzene 0.15 and β-selinene 1.24 ppb. (Phytochemistry, 21, 1653-1657, 1982)

Pandanus amaryllifolius: Rampeh plant growing in Sri Lanka
Stilt-root of a Sri Lankan Pandanus plant
Pandanus amaryllifolius: Rampe plant growing in Sri Lanka
Pandanus plant growing in a Sri Lankan backyard
Pandanus amaryllifolius: Pandan palm
Pandanus plant in Vietnam
Origin

Other than its flower yielding relatives (see pandanus flowers), P. amarylli­folius is not known in the wild state. Today, it is distributed over Southern India, Sri Lanka, pen­insular South East Asia, Indo­nesia and Western New Guinea.

Male flowers are extremely rare, and there is no scientific description of a female flower for this species. The only known instances of flowering plants occurred on the Moluccas archipelago, and it is plausible that the species evolved there. The species is, however, unlikely to have evolved from hybridisation, as is shares its chromosome number (2n=60) with most other representatives of the genus.

It is also interesting to note that P. amarylli­folius is the only Pandanus species with fragrant leaves. Taken together, these signs, together with the lack of a wild population and the large distribution, imply a long tradition of cultivation.

Another strange oddity in P. amarylli­folius should be mentioned: The plant has two distinct growth forms. Undisturbed, it developes into a small tree with usually unbranched, palm-like stem and large leaves (up to 2 m); if leaves are continuously harvested, it will instead acquire a low, more shrubby form with smaller leaves (up to 75 cm) and without a visible trunk. This small growth form is favoured by ever-wet tropical climate, but can slowly revert into the lage growth form if left undisturbed. The two growth forms are distinct enough that they have been misinterpreted as two different species in the past.

Etymology

The genus name derives from the Indonesian name of the tree, pandan.

The Marathi name ambemohor patta [आंबेमोहोर पत्ता] ambemohor leaf alludes to the olfactoric similarity between pandanus leaves and the aromatic long grain rice type ambemohor (mango flower), which is grown in Nashik district near Mumbai (Bombay).

Selected Links

Sorting Pandanus names (www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au) Pandan Leaf (jaycjayc.com) Recipe: Gai Hoh Bai Toey [ไก่ห่อใบเตย] (importfood.com) Recipe: Gai Hor Bai Toey [ไก่ห่อใบเตย] (northernthailand.com) Recipe: Gai hor bai toey [ไก่ห่อใบเตย] (phuketjettour.com via archive.org) Recipe: Khai hoh bai toey [ไก่ห่อใบเตย] (bigpond.com via archive.org) Recipe: Vietnamese Pandan and Coconut Sweet Rice [Xôi Vị Lá Dứa Đậu Xanh] (pwmf.blogspot.com) Rezept von goccus.com: Nasi kuning (indonesischer Gewürzreis) Recipe: Nasi kuning (Indonesian Yellow Rice) (baliguide.com)


Pandanus amaryllifolius: Fragrant pandan screwpine plants
Pandanus plants with prop roots

Photo: Ben-Erik van Wyk
(Food Plants of the World, Briza Publications)

Pandanus amaryllifolius: Fragrant pandan screwpalm tree
Pandanus tree in a Sri Lankan park
Pandanus lea­ves are a popular flavouring in tropical Asia, from South India to New Guinea. They are used for rather different purposes, but mostly in connection with rice, since rice can profit most from the hay-like odour of pandanus leaves.

From the Indian sub­continent, I know only of few applications for pandanus leaves. They are commonly employed in Sri Lanka for Singhalese vegetarian or non­vegetarian curries and also cooked pulses, in any case often together with curry leaves. Since they are not wilted before usage, they provide hardly any flavour. Although there are scattered reports of their usage in South India, I have never seen them actually used in India, nor have I seen the plant growing anywhere. Most Indian cookbooks, understandably, do not mention this unique spice.

Pandanus leaves have their center of usage in South East Asia: In Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, pandanus leaves are valued because their fragrance enhances the flavour of rice. Plain rice cooked in coconut milk and flavoured with pandanus leaves is a delicacy even when eaten alone; with only a few more ingredients, the Indonesian specialty nasi kuning (see turmeric) is arrived at. Most delicious is rice steamed in small baskets made from pandanus leaves, as often prepared in Indonesia. Pandanus leaves are very popular on Bali (see Indonesian bay-leaf).

The nutty, inten­sive taste of pan­danus reminds of the best aromatic rice culti­vars (for example, Thai jasmine rice known as khao hom mali [ข้าวหอมมะลิ]) in South East Asia. Lesser rice varie­ties are often cooked with pandanus leaves to simulate the flavour of the expensive types. Some books state that, used in this way, pandanus leaves impart not only flavour, but also green colour to the rice; yet I have never observed this happen (see also annatto about vegetable food colourings).

In Thai cuisine, pandanus leaves are occasionally used as very fragrant wrappers. Pandanus chicken, gai hor bai toey [ไก่ห่อใบเตย], is a classical recipe and an eternal favourite in restaurants: Marinated chicken bits are wrapped in pandanus leaves and deep-fried in a wok. Although the leaves are too hard to eat, they impart a most exotic aroma to the meat.

Pandanus amaryllifolius: Screwpine plant in low growth form
Shrubby Pandanus plant (small growth form)

All over South East Asia, pandanus leaves find their most im­portant culinary ap­pli­cation in desserts: In Thailand, iced drinks from young coconuts with pandanus flavour are popular, and in Indo­nesia, pandan leaves are made into ice cream like con­coctions (es pandan, see also vanilla on the topic of ice creams). Furthermore, pandan leaves appear more frequently in sweet puddings or custards based on sticky (glutinous) rice. For these concoctions, glutinous rice is boiled with water, palm sugar and pandanus leaves to yield a heavy mass that becomes semi-solid on cooling. Before serving, thick coconut milk is sprinkled over it. It is often possible to substitute pandanus by vanilla or nutty flavours (e. g., hazelnut extract) in these recipes, although the flavours are not too similar.

Since the leaves can­not be dried without total loss of fra­grance, many cooks prefer an essence (Indo­nesian: pandan, Thai: toey [เตย]). Typically, the essence is bright green because of food dye added; this colour fits well to the South East Asian habit of having intense, un­realistic colourings for all types of sweet snacks, but it’s a nuisance if one wants to flavour spicy foods with pandanus extract.



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