Petai (Parkia speciosa)

Stink bean or bitter bean or pete or petai (Parkia speciosa) is a tropical tree species in Fabaceae, 5-25 m high and branched, reddish brown bark, always green, compound and pinnate leaves, young seeds are harvested as fresh or boiled food .

P. speciosa has a hump-shaped flower that hangs with a long stalk, usually appearing near the tips of the branches. Flowers that are young and not yet blooming are green, mature flowers have stamens and pistils, old flowers turn yellow and are large in size.

Dozens of long, flat pod-shaped fruits emerge from a flower hump hanging from a tree. Each pod has up to 10-20 seeds that are neatly arranged, green when young and wrapped in a rather thick membrane of light brown. The fruit dries and becomes harder as it ripens and releases the seeds.

Petai grows well in wet and slightly wet climates, low land to mountains with an altitude of 1,500 m, open spaces and lots of sun throughout the day with fine-tinted soil and Ph 5.5-6.5. Trees start bearing fruit after 4 years, fruit ripening 3-4 months and produce 4,000-5,000 pods per year.

Stink bean has at least two varieties. Petai Gajah has 25-30 cm long pods and 15-18 seeds, while Petai Kacang has 20 cm long pods and 10-12 seeds. Usually sold with pods included, but modern packaging is also done in airtight plastic or styrofoam.

Seeds for a 100 gram serving have 91 calories including 3% fat, 69% carbohydrate and 27% protein. The 100 gram portion has an energy of 379 kj (91 kcal), 0.095g saturated fat, 0.159g polyunsaturated fat, 0.03g monounsaturated fat, 6.58g protein, 3.2g fiber, 1.86g sugar, 7mg sodium, and 413mg of potassium.

Seeds have a distinctive and pungent odor, are consumed fresh or as a mixture of a number of dishes. Petai is eaten raw with sambal as part of fresh vegetables, fried or roasted. Can also be fried and mixed with oncom.

Seeds are also added to a variety of vegetable soup or fried chilli mixed into cuts of beef or chicken. Nasi goreng petai kambing is a popular variant of fried rice with goat meat and petai.

Traditional medicine uses seeds to treat anemia, stress, premenstrual syndrome, depression, abdominal pain, intestinal worms and several other health problems. The cause of smelly petai seeds is amino acids that contain sulfur and produce H2S.

Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Parkia
Species: P. speciosa

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