Upa pantu

Name

Upa pantu

Other names

Upah pantu; heart of palm

Scientific name

The heart of the pantu palm, Eugeissona insignis Becc., native to Borneo

What it is

The heart of the pantu palm, peeled to its core and boiled as a soup.

How it is used

The heart is peeled to its core and boiled as a soup.

In the French Borneo kitchen

Heart of palm in Course III, Mountain, at Osaka.

Season and place

Native to Borneo, where it is recorded from Sarawak, on steep slopes and cliffs of coastal forest from near sea level to about 700 m. No harvest season is recorded.

Conservation status

Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (2023 assessment); not listed under the Sarawak Wild Life Protection Ordinance 1998.

Codex Alimentarius

No Codex standard

Medicinal knowledge

Held privately by the community

Consent

Given, recorded by CHASS, 30 October 2026

Still to be confirmed: whose knowledge it is and who shared it with Serumpun.

• Plants of the World Online
• Aufa et al., 2014
• Groen, Siemonsma and Jansen, Eugeissona (PROSEA Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 9), 1996
• Julia, S., Eugeissona insignis, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2023 (category read via GBIF)
• GBIF, IUCN Red List record for Eugeissona insignis
• Forest Department Sarawak, Protected Plants of Sarawak (Wild Life Protection Ordinance 1998, Part II)
• Sarawak Government, Wild Life Protection Ordinance 1998 (Cap. 26), Second Schedule, LawNet 2024

Added to the Codex on 1 November 2026. Sources last checked on 1 November 2026.

Anyone may cook with this knowledge, commercially too, provided the community it comes from is credited by name. To correct or withdraw this entry, write to the Custodian at connect@chefjameswon.com.

Serumpun Sarawak (2026) ‘Upa pantu’, The Serumpun Codex, ed. James Won. Available at: https://www.chefjameswon.com/serumpun/codex/upa-pantu/ (sources checked 1 November 2026).

Quote any entry with this citation, and name the community whose knowledge it is.