Cultivation and uses
Pandan is used for handicrafts. Craftswomen collect the pandan leaves from plants in the wild. Only the young leaves are cut so the plant will naturally regenerate. The young leaves are sliced in fine strips and sorted for further processing. Weavers produce basic pandan mats of standard size or roll the leaves into pandan ropes for other designs. This is followed by a coloring process, in which pandan mats are placed in drums with water-based colors. After drying, the colored mats are shaped into final products such as place mats or jewelry boxes. Final color touch-ups are applied to assure a product of high quality. The whole process from harvesting of raw materials to finished product is handled by craftswomen, making this a truly community-based handicraft product.
Pandan (P. amaryllifolius) leaves are used in Southeast Asian cooking to add a distinct aroma to rice and curry dishes such as nasi lemak, kaya ('jam') preserves, and desserts such as pandan cake. Pandan leaf can be used as a complement to chocolate in many dishes, such as ice cream. They are known as daun pandan in Indonesian and Malay; and ?? (ban lán) in Mandarin. Fresh leaves are typically torn into strips, tied in a knot to facilitate removal, placed in the cooking liquid, then removed at the end of cooking. Dried leaves and bottled extract may be bought in some places.
"Kewra" is extract distilled from the Pandanus flower, used to flavor drinks and desserts in Indian cuisine. Also, Kewra or Kewadaa is used in religious worship, and the leaves are used to make hair ornaments worn for their fragrance as well as decorative purpose in western India.
Throughout Oceania almost every part of the plant is used, with various species different from those used in Southeast Asian cooking. Pandanus trees provide
materials for housing,
clothing and textiles including the manufacture of Dilly Bags (carrying bags), fine mats or ‘ie toga,
Pandanus is a genus of monocots with about 600 known species. Plants vary in size from small shrubs less than 1 metre (3.3 ft) tall, up to medium-sized trees 20 metres (66 ft) tall, typically with a broad canopy and moderate growth rate. The trunk is stout, wide-branching, and ringed with many leaf scars. They commonly have many thick prop roots near the base, which provide support as the tree grows top-heavy with leaves, fruit, and branches. The leaves are strap-shaped, varying between species from 30 centimetres (12 in) up to 2 metres (6.6 ft) or more long, and from 1.5 centimetres (0.59 in) up to 10 centimetres (3.9 in) broad.
They are dioecious, with male and female flowers produced on different plants. The flowers of the male tree are 2–3 centimetres (0.79–1.2 in) long and fragrant, surrounded by narrow, white bracts. The female tree produces flowers with round fruits that are also bract-surrounded. The fruits are globose, 10–20 centimetres (3.9–7.9 in) in diameter, and have many prism-like sections, resembling the fruit of the pineapple. Typically, the fruit changes from green to bright orange or red as it matures. The fruit of some species are edible. Pandanus fruit are eaten by animals including bats, rats, crabs, elephants and monitor lizards, but the vast majority of species are dispersed primarily by water.
The plant is native to most of the tropical islands. Three species of screwpine are commonly found in Maldives. Species with large and medium sizes are edible and it is being used in Maldivian delicacy.
Pandanus aldabraensis H.St.John
Pandanus balfourii Martelli
Pandanus carmichaelii Vaughan & Wiehe
Pandanus christmatensis Martelli
Pandanus clandestinus Stone
Pandanus conoideus Lam.
Pandanus decastigma Stone
Pandanus decipiens Martelli
Pandanus decumbens (Brongn.) Solms-Laub.
Pandanus elatus Ridl.
Pandanus halleorum Stone
Pandanus hornei Balf.F.
Pandanus joskei Home
Pandanus kajui H.Beentje
Pandanus lacuum H.St.John
Pandanus microcarpus Balf.f.
Pandanus montanus Bory.
Pandanus odoratissimus L. f.
Pandanus tectorius Parkinson ex Zucc.
Pandanus temehaniensis J.Moore
Pandanus teuszii Warburg
Pandanus thomensis Henriq.
Pandanus veitchii Hort. Veitch ex Mast. & T.Moore
Pandanus verecundus Stone
P. odoratissimus is used for P. fascicularis or P. tectorius.