Sabado, Nobyembre 5, 2011
.....ThE lEgEnD oF piLi....
THE LEGEND OF PILI
So, Pili climbed up the house posts and cast covetous looks at his sister. From this he had the name of Pill-of-the-covetous-desires.
The boy then jumped into the water. As a result he got the name of Pili-who-sleeps-in-the-water. He was still afraid of his father because the water did not conceal him. So, he jumped into the sea and swam about. Then he got the name of Pili-the-swimmer.
As he swam in the sea, he carried his fish net with him. His swim ended in Saleaumua, Upolu. There he lived in the family of Leifi and Tautolo. He went out fishing, but caught nothing. Then he folded his net and hung it up on the malae. The village girls grumbled because there were no fish to eat. Pill said, "The net is hung up but it will be used again." (This saying has become a proverb. It means: More fishing will be done in the future.)
Another day came and Pili cast his net again. He caught many fish. (From this we have the saying: Pili is fishing all by himself. It is used to signify that a village or a person has done a job without outside assistance.)
Pili then traveled to Aana. He spread his net between the islands. It is said that the net reached from Upolu to Savai'i. So many fish were caught that the boats almost sank under the weight. Many fish had to be cast back into the sea. (On this is based the saying, ‘Phi’s net was emptied into the sea’. It signifies that fortune has turned into misfortune.)
Piliwent to live in the family of Tuia’ama Tamalelagi, whose servant he became. He was a very good servant. One day Pill took a rest. He did not do his chores, but another young man did them, This youngster went to do the cooking. He came running back and asked, "Pili, where is the axe?" Pili showed him where the axe was. The boy came back again and asked, "Pili, where is the taro scraper?" Again Pili showed him. Before long the boy was back again. "Pili" he asked, "where is the stick to spread out the stones?" Pili showed him the stick. Again the young man returned, "Pili, where are the fire tongs and where are the leaves to cover the food?" Then Pili lost his temper and said, "Why don’t you stick to your cookhouse?" (A servant is not allowed to enter the chief’s house except for the purpose of serving the meal when the oven has been uncovered.)
Tamalelagi was well satisfied with Pili’s service. So, the chief said to Pili, " I have nothing to reward your fidelity; there is only my daughter whom you may take to wife. The girl’s name was Sina-le-tavae. Phi married Sina-le-tavae. Their first-born was Tua, a boy. Then Sina gave birth to Ana, another boy, and Saga, a third boy. Then she had a girl who was named Tolufale. After that Sina-le-tava’e -had no further issue.
Pili then made the following appointments: "You, Tua," he said, "are the first born. You shall be called Tuiatua. Your badge of office shall be the planting stick and the taro shoot • You shall provide for your sister. Ana, you shall be called Tuia’ana. Your badge shall be the orator’s fly switch and staff. You shall speak for your sister. Saga, you shall be called Tuamasaga. Tolufale shall bind the family together. You are the Va’a-O-Fonoti and the Aiga-I-le-tai."
Biyernes, Nobyembre 4, 2011
PILI HISTORY
Pili nut
| Pili | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Sapindales |
| Family: | Burseraceae |
| Genus: | Canarium |
| Species: | C. ovatum |
| Binomial name | |
| Canarium ovatum Engl. | |
The Pili nut (Canarium ovatum), one of 600 species in the family Burseraceae, is native to Malesia. The genus name Canarium comes from the vernacular name ‘kenari’ in the Molucca Isles of Indonesia
Trees of Canarium ovatum are attractive symmetrically shaped evergreens, averaging 20 m tall with resinous wood and resistance to strong wind. C. ovatum is dioecious, with flowers borne on cymose inflorescence at the leaf axils of young shoots. As in papaya and rambutan, functional hermaphrodites exist in pili. Pollination is by insects. Flowering of pili is frequent and fruits ripen through a prolonged period of time. The ovary contains three locules, each with two ovules, most of the time only one ovule develops (Chandler 1958).
Pili (pronounced pee-lee) fruit is a drupe, 4 to 7 cm long, 2.3 to 3.8 cm in diameter, and weighs 15.7 to 45.7 g. The skin (exocarp) is smooth, thin, shiny, and turns purplish black when the fruit ripens; the pulp (mesocarp) is fibrous, fleshy, and greenish yellow in color, and the hard shell (endocarp) within protects a normally dicotyledonous embryo. The basal end of the shell (endocarp) is pointed and the apical end is more or less blunt; between the seed and the hard shell (endocarp) is a thin, brownish, fibrous seed coat developed from the inner layer of the endocarp. This thin coat usually adheres tightly to the shell and/or the seed. Much of the kernel weight is made up of the cotyledons, which are about 4.1 to 16.6% of the whole fruit; it is composed of approximately 8% carbohydrate, 11.5 to 13.9% protein, and 70% fat. Kernels from some trees may be bitter, fibrous or have a turpentine odor.
Cultivation and uses
Although they are grown as ornamental trees in many areas of the Old World tropics of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, only the Philippines produces and processes pili nuts commercially. Production centers are located in the Bicol region, provinces of Sorsogon, Albay, and Camarines Sur, southern Tagalog, and eastern Visaya. There is no commercial planting of this crop, fruits are collected from natural stands in the mountains near these provinces. In 1977, the Philippines exported approximately 3.8 t of pili preparation to Guam and Australia.
Pili is a tropical tree preferring deep, fertile, well drained soil, warm temperatures, and well distributed rainfall. It can not tolerate the slightest frost or low temperature. Refrigeration of seeds at 4 °C to 13 °C resulted in loss of viability after 5 days. Seed germination is highly recalcitrant, reduced from 98 to 19% after 12 weeks of storage at room temperature; seeds stored for more than 137 days did not germinate. Asexual propagations using marcotting, budding, and grafting were too inconsistent to be used in commercial production. Young shoots of pili were believed to have functional internal phloems, which rendered bark ringing ineffective as a way of building up carbohydrate levels in the wood. Success in marcottage may be cultivar dependent. Production standards for a mature pili tree is between 100 to 150 kg of in-shell nut with the harvest season from May to October and peaking between June and August. There are high variations in kernel qualities and production between seedling trees.
Most pili kernels tend to stick to the shell when fresh, but come off easily after being dried to 3 to 5% moisture (30 °C for 27 to 28 h). Shelled nuts, with a moisture content of 2.5 to 4.6%, can be stored in the shade for one year without deterioration of quality (Coronel et al. 1983).
The most important product from pili is the kernel. When raw, it resembles the flavor of roasted pumpkin seed, and when roasted, its mild, nutty flavor and tender-crispy texture is superior to that of the almond. In Indonesia, epecially in Minahasa and Moluccas islands, the kernels are used for making cake, bobengka in Minahasan or bubengka in Maluku. Pili kernel is also used in chocolate, ice cream, and baked goods. The largest buyers of pili nuts are in Hong Kong and Taiwan, the kernel is one of the major ingredients in one type of the famous Chinese festive desserts known as the "moon cake".
Nutritionally, the kernel is high in calcium, phosphorus, and potassium, and rich in fats and protein. It yields a light yellowish oil, mainly of glycerides of oleic (44.4 to 59.6%) and palmitic acids (32.6 to 38.2%).
The young shoots and the fruit pulp are edible. The shoots are used in salads, and the pulp is eaten after it is boiled and seasoned. Boiled pili pulp resembles the sweet potato in texture, it is oily (about 12%) and is considered to have food value similar to the avocado. Pulp oil can be extracted and used for cooking or as a substitute for cotton seed oil in the manufacture of soap and edible products. The stony shells are excellent as fuel or as porous, inert growth medium for orchids and anthurium.
Future Prospects
According to Richard A. Hamilton, University of Hawaii at Manoa (macadamia breeder), the current status of the pili is equivalent to that of the macadamia some 30 years ago. It has great potential to develop into a major industry. The immediate concern in pili production is the difficulty of propagation. The lack of an effective clonal propagation method not only hampers the collection of superior germplasm but also makes it almost impossible to conduct feasibility trials of this crop. Few elite pili trees, such as 'Red', 'Albay', and 'Katutubo' were selected in the Philippines. The National Clonal Germplasm Repository at Hilo, USDA/ARS, has initiated studies in in vitro and vegetative propagation for the multiplication and long-term preservation of pili. A recently released pili cultivar in Hawaii may further stimulate the interest in this crop. This new selection, known as Poamoho, was released by R.A. Hamilton. Besides the desirable production and quality attributes, its kernels separate easily from the hard shell without the need of prior drying (30°C for 27 to 28 h). This is an important cost saving feature for processing.
Commercial Pili Farming A three hundred hectare pili farm with 60,000 sixty thousand pili trees was established in Negros occidental by the ECJ and sons agricultural enterprises. they started planting seedlings in 1992 and by 1996 realized that almost half of the population were male. On the same year they started grafting the male trees with scions from trees selected from the 20 or so thousand trees that were already producing fruits. It has been processing pili into several products and also selling raw nuts to processors.
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