Cycas revoluta Beta-methylamino L-alanine, a neurotoxic amino acid, and an unidentified toxin which has been observed to cause hindlimb paralysis in cattle. Cycas revoluta Cycas revoluta (Sotetsu [Japanese ソテツ], sago palm, king sago, sago cycad, Japanese sago palm), is a species of gymnosperm in the family Cycadaceae, native to southern Japan including the Ryukyu Islands. It is one of several species used for the production of sago, as well as an ornamental plant. Cycads' only relation to the true palms (Arecaceae) is that both are seed plants. The Latin specific epithet "revoluta" means "curled back", in reference to the leaves. This is
Sago of raw sago are imported each year into Malaysia to support the keropok lekor industry. In 1805, two captured crew members of the shipwrecked schooner "Betsey" were kept alive until their escape from an undetermined island on a diet of sago. Any starch can be pearled by heating and stirring small aggregates of moist starch, producing partly gelatinized dry kernels which swell but remain intact on boiling. Pearl sago closely resembles pearl tapioca. Both are typically small (about 2 mm diameter) dry, opaque balls. Both may be white (if very pure) or colored naturally grey, brown or black, or artificially