Plants of Jurassic Park

The large seeds of some cycads, including the sago palm (Cycas revoluta) are eaten fresh or roasted. In Japan, the dried seeds are ground into powder and are mixed with brown rice and fermented into date miso or sotetsu miso. In Guam, the seeds are soaked in water for ten days and then made into flour. According to J.H. Langenhein and K. V. Thimann (Botany: Plant Biology and Its Relation To Human Affairs, 1982), the ground seeds are known to cause tumors in rats if not thoroughly washed. In the genus Cycas (including C. revoluta and C. circinalis), the carcinogenic compound is called cycasin (methylazoxymethanol), which occurs as a glucoside in the seeds. Seeds of the African genus Encephalartos are used for flour in Kenya and also contain the carcinogen cycasin combined with glucose and xylose. The pithy hearts of cycad trunks are also baked and eaten, and are the source of sago, a starchy material also obtained from the central pith of palm trunks. Sago starch is used in cooking and baking, like the starchy rhizomes of arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea, Marantiaceae) and achira (Canna edulis, Cannaceae).

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