Kitul Tree
Kitul is a
palm tree that grows in ranges of 4000 feet and above in places in the country. This
tree is native to Sri Lanka, India Malaysia and Myanmar. It is a giant tree in
the plant world. The kitul tree is known as Toddy tree, Sago palm, Wine palm and
Jaggery palm. Its Botanical name is
Caryota urens. The tree can see a lot of countries in Asia. But as an industry, this tree is used in Sri Lanka. This tree is mostly found in the wet zone of the
island. Kitul is a small industry in the village.
This plant has a grey colour of single-trunk. It culminates 6 meters wide. It seems like a coconut tree. But trunk size and leaves shape are not similar to a coconut tree. A kitul tree grows quickly. It is more than one foot per year. The tree is normally 15 meters tall.
Sri Lankan
farmers produce a large number of commercial products from the kittul trees. The kitul tree is cultivated in 18 districts in Sri Lanka. Gampaha, Kandy and Kaluthara are
the best grown district of Kitul tree. Three million kittul palms can be found in
these three districts. As a government record, 50000 families are depending on
the Kitul industry in Sri Lanka.
Products
Kitul is a wonderful palm tree because it gives us a sweet type of honey. Villagers manufacture alcoholic beverages known as ‘Raa” from flowers of this plant. The main products of the trees are treacle, toddy and jaggery.
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| Kitul Tree Products |
History
According to
the ancient literature of Sri Lanka, the kittul industry dates back to about
2000 years. Kitul treacle and jaggery were the popular sweeteners of ancient
Ceylon. King Dutugemnu and king Kawanthissa was very interested that food made
from kittul. King Sri Wickrama Ranasinghe also like kittul toddy. In
ancient Sri Lanka, kittul toddy had been used as a medicine of Ayurveda.
Kitul treacle
Kittul
treacle is a dark brown sweet syrup. It is natural and chemical-free food. It is used for making a lot of sweet items such as oil cake (kaum0, Aluva, jaggery and
more sweet items. You can use it with your fruit plate, yoghurt, pudding, curd
and dessert. With kittul honey, it will have more taste. Kitul treacle is taken from the kittul flower. There is a technic for it among villagers.
Kitul flour
To take kittul flour the tree must be cut down because the flour takes from the kittul trunk. There are two main food items from kittul flour. They are the kittul porridge and kittul Thapa. When kittul flour is mixed with coconut milk and cooked. It gives therapy. It is a nutritious food. Kittul flour porridge is also a delicious food item among Sri Lankans.
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| Kithul _RA_Sri Lankan;s Product |
Kitul is one
of the favourite food of elephants. Elephants are like to eat kittul leaves and the pulp
of the tree.
The tree is
planted in gardens and parks to take a beauty for the land.
Health
benefits of kittul
01. Preventing Arthritis
02. Aiding weight loss
03. Combating blood sugar
04. Cool your body
05. Medicine for the cracked feet
06. Prevent gastrically
07. Reduce high blood pressure