Pandanus utilis (PROTA)

Plant Resources of Tropical Africa Introduction

List of species

General importance
Geographic coverage Africa
Geographic coverage World
Vegetable
Carbohydrate / starch
Medicinal
Ornamental
Auxiliary plant
Fibre
Food security

distribution in Africa (planted)

1, plant habit; 2, leaf; 3, fruiting head; 4, fruit. Redrawn and adapted by W. Wessel-Brand

Pandanus utilis Pandanus utilis (Plants of Hawaii)

Pandanus utilis

Pandanus utilis

Pandanus utilis

Pandanus utilis

Pandanus utilis

Pandanus utilis (Plants of Hawaii)

Pandanus utilis

Pandanus utilis Bory

Protologue: Voy. îles Afrique 2: 3 (1804).

Family: Pandanaceae

Chromosome number: 2n = 60

• Vinsonia utilis (Bory) Gaudich. (1841).

• Common screw pine (En).
• Vacoa, baquois, vaquois (Fr).
• Pandano (Po).
• Mkadi (Sw).

The origin of Pandanus utilis has long been considered to be Madagascar, but more recently it has been suggested that it may have originated in the Mascarene Islands. It has been in cultivation for at least 200 years and is known to be grown in Senegal, Benin, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Madagascar, Réunion and Mauritius. It has been introduced to many tropical and subtropical regions, mainly as an ornamental, e.g. in Central America, the Caribbean, the United States (southern Florida, Puerto Rico), Brazil, India and Indonesia. No wild populations are known.

The leaves of Pandanus utilis are used, mainly in Madagascar, Réunion and Mauritius, for thatching and for the production of ropes, baskets, mats, hats, place mats and nets. They can also be used to make paper. In Mauritius and Réunion, sugar bags were made from the leaves. The aerial roots have been used for tying and in the production of baskets, mats and hats, and their ends to make coarse brushes for whitewashing.

The fruits form a starchy food, palatable after cooking. Cooked male inflorescences are also eaten and are considered to have aphrodisiac properties. The terminal bud or ‘cœur de vacoa’ is consumed as a vegetable in Réunion. Root decoctions are taken against venereal diseases. In Mauritius a root decoction is recorded to be taken in cases of fish poisoning and as an aphrodisiac, and a decoction of the fresh leaves mixed with wood and charcoal of Hilsenbergia petiolaris (Lam.) J.S.Miller (synonym: Ehretia petiolaris Lam.) is applied to the forehead for the treatment of migraine. In Réunion, Pandanus utilis trees are used as support for vanilla (Vanilla planifolia Andrews). The trees serve as windbreaks mainly along the shore. Pandanus utilis is a well-known ornamental in many tropical and subtropical regions. In temperate parts of the United States and Europe young Pandanus utilis are grown as indoor foliage plants.

No data on production or trade are available. In Mauritius the expanding tourist industry provides considerable demand for local handicraft products based on Pandanus utilis and other fibre yielding plants, such as Furcraea foetida (L.) Haw. and Phoenix dactylifera L.

The leaves of young unbranched trees are suitable for the production of bags, mats etc. because they are long and supple, whereas the leaves of older, branched trees are too short and rigid.

Dioecious small- to medium-sized tree up to 20 m tall, with a smooth, branched trunk and many pale brown basal aerial roots 2.5–7.5 cm in diameter; branches with annular leaf scars. Leaves arranged spirally in 3 series, crowded towards the top of stems, simple, without petiole but with broad clasping base, linear, up to 2 m long, but shorter on old trees, 3–11 cm broad, tapering in a long point at apex, margins and ribs beneath reddish-brown with many sharp, ascending, reddish, 1–4 mm long spines, stiff, erect, with many parallel longitudinal veins. Inflorescence unisexual; male inflorescence a branched spadix 30–80 cm long, in the axil of a pale spathe; female inflorescence a subglobose head of densely crowded ovaries. Flowers unisexual, without perianth; male flowers odorous, with 8–12 stamens inserted pseudo-umbellately on slender columnal excrescences 10–15 mm long; female flowers with 3–8-celled ovary crowned by a sessile stigma. Fruit a dome-shaped, compressed, angular drupe arranged in a pendulous, long-peduncled, subglobose syncarp 15–20 cm in diameter, consisting of up to 200 drupes, each up to 3.5 cm × 4 cm × 2 cm, yellow when ripe, upper half free, base with a purple or red band; pyrene 3–8-celled, containing several seeds. Seeds endospermous, retained within the endocarp.

Pandanus includes about 600 species and is found from West Africa eastward to Madagascar, the Indian Ocean islands, India and most of warmer South-East Asia, Australia and the Pacific islands. From Madagascar c. 80 Pandanus species have been reported, and from mainland Africa some 25 species. Pandanus utilis belongs to the section Vinsonia. Another species in this section is Pandanus heterocarpus Balf.f., a shrub or small tree up to 7 m tall endemic to Rodrigues. The leaves of young Pandanus heterocarpus plants are used for weaving, and the trunks of older ones are used in construction. The fruits are recorded to be unpalatable. Recorded medicinal uses are quite similar to those of Pandanus utilis: a root decoction is taken in cases of fish poisoning, a decoction of young leaves is taken as an aphrodisiac, and a decoction of the fresh leaves mixed with wood and charcoal of Hilsenbergia petiolaris is applied to the forehead for the treatment of migraine.

Transverse sections of stems of Pandanaceae can be distinguished from those of other monocotyledons by the frequent presence of compound vascular bundles, consisting of 2 or 3 conducting strands enclosed by a common bundle sheath. The phloem parts of the separate strands are oriented towards each other, which means that only 1 strand has the normal orientation. As in other species of the section Vinsonia, the leaves of Pandanus utilis have a spongy tissue with abundant fibres in bundles; these bundles may contain over 150 fibres.

Seed germination is slow and takes 2–3 months at a soil temperature of at least 27°C.

Pandanus utilis is salt tolerant and grows well near the sea. In Réunion it is especially common near the coast.

Pandanus utilis can be propagated by seeds, but these are recalcitrant. Pre-soaking of the seeds for 24 hours before sowing is recommended for Pandanus in general. The germination rate is usually over 50%. Seedlings emerge about 4 months after sowing. After 12–16 months they are 20–40 cm tall and ready to be planted out. Propagation by stem cuttings and suckers is also possible. In Réunion, planting in April or May at spacings of 1.5–3 m is recommended.

Pruning and shaping should be done with care, as branches do not have dormant buds. When the terminal growing area is cut off, the branch will not grow further.

In Réunion, harvesting of leaves starts when plants are 3–4 years old, and may continue for about 20 years.

No germplasm collections of Pandanus utilis are known. The genetic diversity of the cultivated plants is unknown and deserves more attention in the absence of natural populations.

The importance of Pandanus utilis in Africa will remain limited, but its combined use as a fibre plant and windbreak in coastal regions may offer some prospects. The niche market for handicraft products made from Pandanus utilis may grow with increasing tourism to countries such as Mauritius.

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• M. Brink, PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands

Brink, M., 2011. Pandanus utilis Bory. [Internet] Record from PROTA4U. Brink, M. & Achigan-Dako, E.G. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. <http://www.prota4u.org/search.asp>.

Accessed 22 December 2024.

• See the Prota4U database.