Skip to main content

Petai (Parkia speciosa)

Dlium 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. Young flowers and not yet blooming are green, mature flowers have stamens and pistils, old flowers turn yellow and large in size.







Dozens of long, flat pod-shaped fruits emerge from a flower hump. Each pod has up to 10-20 seeds, 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.

This tree has at least two varieties. Petai Gajah has 15-18 seeds, while Petai Kacang has 10-12 seeds. Usually sold with pods included. Seeds have a distinctive and pungent odor, are consumed fresh or as a mixture of a number of dishes.

Bean is eaten raw with sambal as part of fresh vegetables, fried or roasted. Traditional medicine uses seeds to treat anemia, stress, premenstrual syndrome, depression, abdominal pain, intestinal worms and other.

This species grows at an elevation of 0-1500 meters, rainfall 1000-2000 mm/year, latosol to clay soil, pH 5.5-7, full sunlight and a wet climate.

The plants contain flavonoids, alkaloids, phenols, terpenoids (β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, lupeol, campesterol, squalene), cyclic polysulfides, thiazolidine-4- carboxylate, saponins, hexathionine, tetrathiane, trithiolane, penthathiopane, pentathiocane, tetrathiepane, djenkolic acid.

Often used to treat liver and kidneys, worms, stress, stomach ulcers, large warts, anemia, constipation, stop smoking, reduce high blood pressure and stroke, prevent morning sickness in pregnant women, has antioxidant and antidiabetic activity.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Mimosoideae
Genus: Parkia R.Br. in Narr. Travels Africa, App. XXII: 234 (1826)
Species: Parkia speciosa Hassk. in Flora 25(2, Beibl. 1): 55 (1842)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Acacia gigantea Noronha in Verh. Batav. Genootsch. Kunsten 5(4): 5 (1790)
Acacia graveolens Jack in Malayan Misc. 2(7): 78 (1822)
Inga pyriformis Jungh. ex Miq. in Fl. Ned. Ind. 1(1): 52 (1855)
Mimosa pedunculata W.Hunter in J. Straits Branch Roy. Asiat. Soc. 53: 121 (1909)
Parkia calcarata Gagnep. in Notul. Syst. (Paris) 2: 56 (1911)
Parkia graveolens Prain in J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, Pt. 2, Nat. Hist. 66: 241 (1897)
Parkia harbesonii Elmer in Leafl. Philipp. Bot. 5: 1804 (1913)
Parkia macrocarpa Miq. in Fl. Ned. Ind., Eerste Bijv.: 284 (1861)

PUBLICATIONS

Aung, Y.L., Aung, M.H., Tan, Y. & Jin, X. (2025). An updated checklist of vascular plants of Myanmar. PhytoKeys 261: 135-364.

Lock, J.M. & Ford, C.S. (2004). Legumes of Malesia a Check-List: 1-295. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Lock, J.M. & Heald, J. (1994). Legumes of Indo-China a check-list: 1-164. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

VERNACULAR NAME

Ambon: Pateh, Pateka
Bima: Pode
Buru: Foopatu
English: Petai, Bitter bean, Stink bean, Twisted cluster bean, Sator bean
Philippines: U'pang
Indonesian: Petai, Pete
Javanese: Pete, Sindutan
Karo: Parira
Lampung: Petar
Malaysia: Petai, nyiring, patag
Minangkabau: Patai
Polish: Parkia wspaniała
Russian: Паркия красивая
Sawu: Pote
Seram: Paloh
Slovak: Parkia nádherná
Sumba: Puti
Sunda: Peuteuy (Sunda)
Thai: สะตอ
Toba: Palia, Pelia

Aryo Bandoro
Dlium TheDlium
Web: https://www.dlium.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dlium
Labels:

Popular Posts

Lolot (Piper sarmentosum)

Lolot pepper ( Piper sarmentosum ) is a species of plant in Piperaceae, perennial herb, erect or lodging, creeping rhizome, up to 120 cm long, branched, enlarged branches, cylindrical stems, brown or green, often grooved, growing on the forest floor and shade. P. sarmentosum has leaf stalks up to 15 cm long, up to 13 cm wide, green, alternately arranged, heart-shaped, pointed tips and flat margins. The leaves have 5 main veins from the base of the blade, linear and slightly curved to the tip, glands on the upper surface and many fine pinnate veins. The upper side is shiny green, the lower side is pale green. The flowers are white. The fruit grows in the upper armpit of the leaf, is slightly oval and green. The leaves are used as a medicine for asthma, malaria, stomach ache, tinea versicolor, toothache, difficulty urinating, aches and pains, maintaining stamina, antibacterial, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and so on. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiosperma...
Read more

East Indian globe thistle (Sphaeranthus indicus)

Gorakhmundi or gorakh mundi or mundi buti ka phool or mundi booti ka phool or sembung delan or East Indian globe thistle ( Sphaeranthus indicus ) is a species of plant in Asteroideae, a perennial, multi-branched, strong fragrance with erect stems, winged and toothed wings, growing wild in rice fields forming colonies, dense open rugs in the tropics. S. indicus has alternating sitting leaves, oval, narrow at the base, toothed and serrated, 1-3 cm long and green. Leaves 2-7 cm long, 1-3 wide, broad and deep wings, continuing into a large bone in the center of the leaf to a sharp tip and several lateral veins. The flower is round, grows at the tip, has a large and long stalk, is purple in color, 8-15 mm in size, consists of many tiny flowers, green or red or purple and has pale purple stamens. Head ovate-ellipsoid and 12-15 mm long. Phyllaries are white and have purple crest. Female flowers have a corolla tube 2-2.5 mm long. The bisexual flowers are 2.3-3 mm long and the hardened pa...
Read more

Liberian coffee (Coffea liberica)

Liberian coffee ( Coffea liberica ) is a species of plant in the Rubiaceae family, a tree up to 20 meters tall, with numerous, radial and irregular branches, brown bark, and linear fissures. The leaves are oval, thick, up to 35 cm long, up to 20 cm long, shiny green, and have petioles up to 1 cm long. The fruit is round to oval, irregular, and up to 2 cm wide. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Gentianales Family: Rubiaceae Subfamily: Ixoroideae Tribe: Coffeeae Genus: Coffea L. in Sp. Pl.: 172 (1753) Species: Coffea liberica W.Bull in Nursery Cat. (William Bull) 97: 4 (1874) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Coffea abeokutae Cramer in Meded. Dept. Landb. Ned.-Indië 11: 286, 396 (1913) Coffea abeokutae var. camerunensis A.Chev. in Encycl. Biol. 22: t. 44 (1942) Coffea abeokutae var. indeniensis (Siebert) A.Chev. (1942) Coffea abeokutae var. longicarpa Portères in Ann. Agric. Afrique Occ. 1(2): 224 (1937) Coffea abeokutae var. macrocarpa...
Read more