The palmyra palm (Borassus flabellifer) is a large fan palm native to South and Southeast Asia, deeply embedded in the cultures of southern India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Cambodia. It’s sometimes called the toddy palm, referring to the fermented drink made from its sap.
The tree is valued primarily for its sap, which flows from cut flower stalks and is collected in pots. Fresh sap is mildly sweet and can be drunk as-is, fermented into toddy (an alcoholic drink), or boiled down into palm sugar and jaggery. Palm sugar from palmyra and related species is a traditional sweetener across much of Asia and is increasingly available in Australian specialty stores.
Beyond sap, nearly every part of the palmyra palm has traditional uses — the fruit, young shoots, leaves (for thatching and weaving), and wood are all utilised, making it one of the most culturally significant trees in its native range.
How it's produced
Palmyra palm sap is harvested by toddy tappers who climb the trees — often 20 metres or more — twice daily to collect sap from incisions made in the flower stalks. It’s skilled, physically demanding work that’s typically a hereditary occupation in communities across South Asia.
The sap ferments rapidly in tropical heat, so it must be collected and processed quickly. For sugar production, fresh sap is boiled down in open pans until it crystallises into jaggery or granulated palm sugar. Palmyra palms are not plantation-grown in the way oil palms are — they’re mostly semi-wild or grown in small groves, and sap collection remains a largely artisanal process. The trees are very long-lived and slow-growing, taking 15–20 years before they can be tapped.
What it costs the planet (per kilo)
≈ Estimated from its category — typical for sugar, not measured for this item yet. Sources & methods →
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