Ubod: versatile uniquely Filipino vegetable from diverse plant species

Ubod, the meristematic tissues of several palm species, bamboo and banana, are widely used mostly by rural communities in the Philippines. Usually excised from specific parts of the plant (i.e. young shoots in the inner core of the stem and growing bud of palms and bamboo, and innermost leaf sheath and pith of the banana pseudostem), harvesting of ubod entails the felling of the entire plant. Traditionally, ubod is harvested from felled trees and plants in the aftermath of a typhoon or some other natural calamity but, when used for commercial production, they are felled deliberately. Data on availability, traditional harvesting and processing, culinary preparations and marketing were obtained from household interviews, market visits and focus group discussions in ten provinces from January 2018 to January 2019. This study identified seven palm species, namely niyog (Cocos nucifera), pugahan (Caryota rumphiana), buri (Corypha utn), anahaw (Livistonia rotundifolia), kaong (Arenga pinnata), sagisi (Heterospathe elata), and palasan (Calamus spp.); four bamboo species, namely bolo (Gigantochloa levis), botong (Dendrocalamus latiflorus), bayog (Bambusa merrilliana), and kiling (Bambusa vulgaris); and saging (Musa spp.) as sources of ubod with household utilization reflecting culture-specific differences. Ubod is sold in local markets and presented in different cuts, depending on the plant species and the consumer's preferences. Among the preparations of ubod are ginataan, lumpiang ubod, ginisa and salad. These ubod are also ingredients of various meat dishes like kare-kare, nilaga, tinola, bulalo and dinuguan and the traditional Visayan vegetable dish called laswa. For Filipino diets to be sustainability enriched with ubod vegetables, the destructive harvesting must be tampered by consideration offer the carrying - and regenerative - capacity of the resource base.