from
Flora de Filipinas (1880-1883) Kaong sugar palms (
Arenga pinnata) are solitary
monoecious palm trees usually found in riverbanks and ravines throughout Southeast Asia. They are used widely in
maritime Southeast Asia for various products. In the Philippines, they are most commonly harvested for their fibers, leaves, fruits and their sap, which is used in the production of
tubâ (
palm toddy) in addition to vinegar. The palms become sexually mature and start producing large fruit and flower clusters at ten to twelve years, but sometimes they can flower as early as five to six years. They are difficult to farm and their propagation usually relies heavily on local wild populations of
Asian palm civets (
musang or
alamid), which spread the seeds after eating the fruit. Sap can only be harvested from mature palms, as they are collected from the stalks of the male
inflorescences. The flowers take a few months to develop. Before they are ready, the harvesters (
mangangarit) climb the trees and shake the stalks daily to induce the flow of sap. Once the flowers bloom, the stalk is cut and a collecting container (usually bamboo) is placed over it. Harvesters climb the trees daily to collect the sap. They transfer it to special bamboo containers slung along one shoulder known as
tukil. The sap are then poured into large earthen
fermenting jars called
tapayan. The sap relies on
wild yeast to turn the sugars into
ethanol. This turns the sap into a traditional
palm toddy called
tubâ. Leaving it to ferment further, however, allows
Acetobacter from the air to oxidise the ethanol to
acetic acid. It is harvested once the level of acidity reaches four or five percent. The length of time it takes to produce nipa palm vinegar ranges from three to four weeks, though it is faster if a starter culture of yeast is used. ==Modern production==