Salak (Salacca zalacca)

Salak or snake fruit (Salacca zalacca) is a species of palm plant in Arecaceae, dioesis, shrubs and not trunked, has many thorns, many shoots, grows into dense and strong clumps, spreads below or above the ground, often branching and 10-15 cm diameter.

S. zalacca has compound leaves, pinnate and 3-7 m long. Petiole, midrib and sapling have many long thorns, thin spines and a blackish-gray color. Minor leaves have a lanceolate shape, a pointed tip, 8x85 cm and a white underside by a waxy coating.

The flowers in the cob are compound, appear in the armpit of the leaf, stem, initially covered by a sheath then dry and break down like fibers. Male flowers 50-100 cm long, 4-12 cylindrical items, 7-15 cm long, reddish in the armpits of tightly arranged scales. Female flowers 20-30 cm long, stemmed long and 1-3 items.

The fruit has scaly skin, is eaten and is known as a table fruit, triangular shaped rather rounded or inverted ovoid, pointed at the base and rounded at the tip, 2.5-10 cm long, wrapped in a composition of yellow brown or shiny red brown scales.

Fruit skin has small spines that break easily at the ends of each scale. Sarcotesta is thick and yellow to whitish and has a sweet and sour taste. Each fruit has 1-3 seeds, brown to black, hard and 2-3 cm long.

Salak is planted for fresh fruit, salted, canned, chips, dodol, dates, coffee and puddings. Young fruit for juice ingredients. Young leaves and stem skin as matting material after the thorns are removed.

Thorns are impenetrable and clumps are often planted as fences. Pieces of dried petioles are also used to arm a fence or to protect a fruiting tree from the threat of mammals. Fruit is also to stop diarrhea and traditional medicinal ingredients.



Snake fruit has two varieties, S. zalacca var. zalacca from Yogyakarta and S. zalacca var. amboinensis from Bali and Ambon. At least 30 cultivars include salak pondoh, salak gading, salak kembang arum in Yogyakarta and salak bali in Bali.

Salak pondoh is cultivated on the slopes of Mount Merapi, Sleman Regency, Yogyakarta, which is known for its sweet fruit, dry texture and 2-3 seeds. Salak pondoh has various variants including pondoh super, pondoh hitam, pondoh merah, pondoh kuning, pondoh manggala and others.

Salak bali comes from Sibetan in Bali, a light brown color and tends to be bright, smooth skin scales, thick fruit, sweet, dry texture and single seeds. Salak gading comes from Yogyakarta, yellow-ivory, glossy and medium size. Salak kembang arum comes from Yogyakarta, its color is brown and there are various sizes.

Farmers reproduce snake fruit in a vegetative way where the shoots are grafted onto bamboo media and transferred to the field after they have strong roots. The land used is loose soil, free of weeds and pests. Routine pruning is done to reduce the number of shoots and old leaves. The fruit comes after the plant is 2 years old.

Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Genus: Salacca
Species: S. zalacca