The trunk contains a high quantity of
starch and a juice can be extracted from the shoots of the flowers. The latter can be boiled into a sugary syrup. The cabbage can be eaten raw or cooked. The sap of the tree is boiled for many hours until it turns into the thick, dark treacle, unique to Sri Lanka. Kithul treacle is used as a sweetener in both Sri Lankan and Western cooking.
Toddy is extracted from the inflorescence, and is considered somewhat powerful compared to toddy extracted from other palm trees. In many parts of western
India this toddy is fermented and distilled to make a traditional alcohol called as 'Maadi' The pulp of the mature plant is cut, sun dried, and powdered, and is edible. It is sweet in taste. This powder is considered cool and nutritious in Coastal districts of Karnataka. In Sri Lanka, the powder is mixed with coconut milk and cooked to make Kithul Thalapa (කිතුල් තලප). Elephants are fed both the leaf and the pulp of this plant. The leaves possess strong fibres and are used for basketry in
Cambodia, where the plant is named
tunsaè. The heart of the trunk contains a starch similar to
sago, as well the trunk can be used for building. The fruit, when its stiff hairs are removed, is pleasant and sweet to eat, and, as elsewhere, the Cambodians cut the stalks to make sugar, which in turn can be made into wine. ==Cultivation==