In West Africa the palm tree is
revered and has socioeconomic importance. The tree is highly integrated
into the culture and traditions.
It features prominently in many festivals and
special occasions. It is common in child naming, marriage or traditional
institutions. The wine is highly favored in such gatherings.
The palm tree has many economic
benefits such as the production of timber, raffia, mats, chairs and fashion
accessories. The tree also produces palm wine which is a sweet/sour flavored
alcoholic drink.
Some of the top palm trees tapped
for their sap include coconut palms, oil palm. Others are elaties gulneenis,
date palms, raffia tree. We have the Palmyra, lala palm, and the African oil
palm,.
Palm wine is obtained from the sap
of the palm tree and seasonal. The type of sap depends on the specie. There are
different kinds of wine such as the wine gotten from grape.The grape wine is
extracted from fruits to make fruit wine while the wine sap is extracted from
palm trees.
Unlike other wine which goes through
the plucking and crushing stages. The sap of the palm tree is already liquefied
and is easily ferment by adding alcohol to the brew.
The palm sap is a rich store of
sucrose a major component that triggers yeast used to ferment the wine.
Quality of Palm Wine Sap
The palm wine sap is harvested or
tapped by palm wine tappers. They start the process of fermentation as soon as
the sap is collected.
The purity or quality of the sap depends on
the type of palm tree, soil composition age of the tree and method of harvesting.
Harvesting or sap collection could
be done by climbing the very tall palm tree by a palm wine tapper. A destructive method is by felling the tree to
collect the sap.
The destructive method of felling
the tree to extract the sap is the main reason some palm tree species have
become extinct. Two palm trees that readily come to mind are jubaea chilensis
the Chilean palm tree.
Collecting the Sap
The palm wine tapper makes a cut and
fastened a keg to the palm tree to collect the palm sap. The palm
wine sap is milky or white in color and has a tendency to ferment quickly.
This is largely due to airborne
bacteria or yeast in spent containers. Yeast accelerates the process and within
three hours and the sap acquires a nice aroma, and is sweet to taste.
Collecting the sap is a highly
specialized skill passed on from father to son. That involves a delicate
incision and collection mechanism attached close to the cut that stores the
sipping liquid.
The sap drips slowly and the tapper
usually allows twenty for hours before extracting the container full of juice.
The fermentation process makes use of natural forming yeast.
During the fermentation process the
palm wine foams vigorously which is a natural reaction during the fermentation
process. The palm wine tapper in order to increase the liquids content or
volume introduces water and some added agents to the mixture.
The sweet liquid does not contain alcohol
until fermentation occurs. The fermentation process lasts twenty four hours
which accounts for the sour tasting beverage drink. So basically palm wine is
the fermented sap of a palm tree.
The most common palm tree used in
West African to collect palm sap is the data palms, Jaggery palm and raffia
palm. There are two methods used in collecting the sap.
The tappers might decide to cut down
the tree or burn to collect the sap or might climb the tall tree using
improvised vines. The raffia palm is easier to reach because they are not that
tall and tappers do not have to bring them down.
Cutting down the palm tree does not
have any economic value because by killing the tree, the tapper has to find
another wild palm to tap. Therefore killing the tree is not common and they prefer
climbing the tree and tap the sap directly..
Methods
Deployed by Tappers
- felling the tree
- crushing the tree
- tapping the tree
- burning the tree
The Palm Wine Drink
The palm sap might be preserved in
its non alcoholic state or fermented to make the palm wine drink. The drink is
alcoholic, and the hours apportioned to the fermentation process yields various
degrees of alcohol in the drink.
The longer it is fermented the
strong the drink. If left to ferment further the wine becomes vinegar. Palm
wine may contain up to forty percent (40%) alcoholic content by the time it
reaches maturity and it quickly deteriorates without proper storage or
refrigeration.
The palm wine drink is usually white,
dull white, milk or red colored. The wine is usually collected, fermented and
stored in wine drums or large calabashes.
However in modern times is stored in
large fifty litter kegs. Other locally made alcoholic brews are derived from
palm wine during the fermentation process.
During the fermentation process the
palm wine is further distilled into local whiskey a cheap highly alcoholic
drink. In many West African counties this brew is responsible for the high
prevalent of kidney disease.
The sour taste of palm wine is due
largely to the presence of lactic and acetic acid present in the alcohol.
Palm
Wine Names
Palm wine is known by many names
like. Matanga, Matanga ya mbila, Segero, Lapo tuak and Emu.
Species of Palm Trees
There are many types of palm tress
that produce sap that can be used as palm wine
1 Raffia palm
2 Silver date palm
3 Jaggery
4 Date palm
5 African oil palm
6 Nipa palm
7 Coconut palm
8 Palmyra palm
9 Lala palm
10 Chile palm
11 Malafu palm and many more.
Distilled
Palm sap
The distilled sap of the palm wine
tree produces very strong alcoholic drinks that are comparable to the Russian
vodka. They come out water clear and may contain up to seventy percent alcohol
(70%).
The drink can be found in many
countries and is readily consumed by the poor, low and some middle class
members of society. You can find such brews in local drinking joints or make
shift wooden sheds.
Other business locations are shanty
towns, the ghetto, cities and shacks. The alarming practice of selling the
dangerous brew at motor packs account for high rate of vehicular accidents.
In some cities you can find
beautiful young girls hawking the brew in different bottles full of homemade
remedies and concoctions. Some vendors add garlic, herbs and roots.
Many believed to have curative
effects against diarrhea, pile, stomach upset and general body pain. Most of
these concoctions have not been scientifically tested or certified.
Producers of Palm Wine
African
palm wine producers
|
Non
African Producers
|
|
Ghana
|
Maldives
|
|
Nigeria
|
Algeria
|
|
Congo
|
Mexico
|
|
South Africa
|
Philippines
|
|
Sierra Leone
|
Vietnam
|
|
Gambia
|
||
Togo
|
Countries
that Produce Palm Wine
Many countries produce palm wine
from palm trees indigenous to specific areas. Countries that produce the wine are
republic of Congo, Ghana, Indonesia, Gambia, and Kenya.
More include Southern Africa, Philippines,
Mexico Chile, Algeria and Vietnam. You find other producers in Tunisia,
Thailand, Sierra Leone, south Africa, Nigeria and Maldives. There are many more
countries that cultivate and tap palm sap.
Palm Wine Names
Many countries have their own
species of palm trees that produces sap. The palm wine is called by many names
some of which are; mimbo, matanga by Cameroonians.
Others are masanga ya mbila and
kikongo in the central republic of Congo and Gambia. Ghanaians call the palm
wine nsafufuo, doka and yabra depending on the region.
The Indonesians call the palm wine
ballo, lapo tuak and arak, tuba in Mexico, segero by Papua New Guineans and emu
in Nigeria.The different names show the fondness and diversity of the palm wine
beverage.
The drink is cherished and has
significant roles in certain tradition practices, cultures and herbal remedies.
A
palm wine tappers tool
The palm wine tappers tools are
basic but functional. Some of the equipment frequently used include some of the
listed items.
1 A sharp cutlass
2 large straw hats or baseball hats
3 They need strong banded rope to
climb the tree
4 The carry along plastic kegs for
the palm wine extract
5 They have small sharp knives to
make delicate cuts
6 Some use bamboo tubes to guide the
sap into small containers
The Tapping Culture
Cultural Significance of Palm Wine
Palm wine is a significant part of
African culture and traditions and is widely consumed by both male and female.
The beverage can be drunk during traditional weddings especially in eastern
Nigeria.
Commonly used in naming ceremonies, birthdays,
towns meetings and certain traditional festivities like new yam festivals. Some
traditional rites and religious ceremonies use palm wine for libation in honor
of past ancestors and gods.
Focus on the palm wine tapper
The palm wine tapping is almost an
extinct profession, and the tapper is hardly seen. Most palm wine tappers learn
the profession from their father or grandfather.
And palm tappers can be seen mostly in rural
areas and communities where the palm trees grow. Tappers are not known to have
their own trees but they go into the forest to specific locations past down to
them by their fathers.
Tapping palm wine is very dangerous business
because the palm wine tapper contends many dangers. The dangerous animals
include poisonous snakes, harmful insects and predators.
They are also prone to accidental
death or injury from tree fall especially when they climb very tall palm trees.
Tools of the Trade
The palm wine tappers use basic
tools to extract sap from palm trees. Some of the tools are a cutlass, straw
hat to shade his eyes, strong banded rope, vines or synthetic strings.
Other tools include a twenty five or
fifty litter keg and smaller container to collect the sap. More implements are
small knife to make small cuts and incisions, small hose or thin bamboo stick.
Most tappers have no formal
education especially those that grew up in remote villages. For convenience of
movement within forest terrain they use of bicycles not only as a means for
transporting the goods but to get around more quickly.
Many forage with their bare feet but
some wear sandals to protect their feet from harm. The trees that produce palm
wine have different characteristics.
Some have narrow rugged trunks and
are tall and slender. While others have thick jagged stems and are relatively
short. They can grow and live for many years if not felled, burnt, cut or
infected.
The Red Palm Weevil
One parasite that causes extensive
damage to the palm trees is the larvae of
the red weevil beetle. The creature feeds ravenously on the palm tree.
The palm tree has great economical
value and it seems that every known part of the tree can be harnessed and
turned into cash. The trees trunk for wood and furniture making, and leafs made
into mat, bag accessories or hats.
The sap turned into palm wine or
other stronger derivatives like gin. The brew can even be made into herbal
concoctions.
No wander in some folklore the palm
tree plays a prominent role and is referred to as the nectar of the gods.
0 comments:
Post a Comment