Sago palm (Metroxylon sagu Rottboell), a palm plant belonging to the family Arecaceae is an important
crop in its center of diversity, New Guinea [1]. Its distribution extends westward into Indonesia and
Malaysia where the majority of palm stands are cultivated. There are approximately 2.4 million hectares
planted to sago palm. Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Malaysia are the largest sago palm-growing areas
(Table 1). Sago palm is also found in other Southeast Asian countries such as the southern regions of
Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines where they exist in limited natural stands, being in the outer
periphery of sago palm distribution [2]. Rauwerdink [1] and Flach [3] have extensively documented the
history and characteristics of the genus Metroxylon, including the species sagu.