Elemi (Pili)

Harvested Marketable Products: Elemi Gum
Uses: Essential Oil for perfumery
Common Name: Elemi (Piling Liitan)
Binomial Name: Canarium luzonicum 
Initial investment: Php 1,000,000.00 with 100 Trees
Lock-in Period: 10years
Annual Interest Rate: 18.00%
Income from Harvest: 40% on annual harvest starting on the 5th year.

The genus Canarium L. probably originated from the North American conti-nent, not Gondwanaland [1]. This clade embraces 75 species of trees which aremainly found in tropical Asia and the Pacific, and a few species in tropicalAfrica [2]. About 9 species were found in the Philippines [2]. The geographi-cal centre of their genetic diversity is the Molucca Islands of eastern Indone-sia, but their centre of cultivated diversity is undoubtedly western Melanesia.Twenty to 25 species are found in the South Pacific, of which 21 are in PapuaNew Guinea [4], eight in the Solomon Islands [5] and 3 or 4 in Vanuatu [6].The members of the genus Canarium L. consist of medium to large buttressedtrees up to 40-50m tall, or rarely a shrub. The barks are greenish grey, fawn orlight yellow brown that are usually smooth, scaly or dippled with many smalllenticels. Outer bark are thin while the inner barks are pinkish brown orreddish brown, laminated, soft and aromatic with a clear sticky or rarely oilyexudate. The stems are usually terete. The leaves are pinnate, spiral and stipulated. The rachis is terete flattened tochanneled swollen at base, and bears 5-21 folioles. The folioles are oblique atbase, entire, dentate or serrate at margin, often thick and acuminiate at apex.The secondary nerves are arching and joined near margin. The tertiary nervesare reticulate. The infloresence is an axillary or terminal panicle.

Elemi Essential Oil in Pharma Manila elemi (the oleoresin obtained from the tree), and the essential oil distilled from the resin, have a long history of medicinal use. They are considered to be antibacterial, antifungal, antirheumatic, antiseptic, antispasmodic and rubefacient. A study on the composition of Manila elemi oil from the distillation of elemi resin yielded 39 compounds, with limonene, the most abundant at 56%. A corn-sized drop of the resin is taken with water in the treatment of fevers and chills. The oleoresin is applied externally to arthritic and rheumatic joints, boils, abscesses, furuncles, burns and sores. It is heated and applied to the chest as a poultice to stop severe coughing. The tree bark is commonly used for postpartum baths. The essential oil is an ingredient of a commercial preparation called ‘Lysout’, a natural anti-lice foaming gel that also contains Echinacea purpurea.

Endemic to the Philippines, Pili (Canarium luzonicum) is a large, evergreen tree that reaches up to 30 m high upon maturity. It is a great source of a fragrant oleoresin called Manila Elemi which has a wide range of uses in food, medicine, and industrial applications. A single tree produces 4 to 5 kilograms of this resin. The seeds can be consumed raw or cooked. The nuts are sweet and have a delicious flavour. Oil from seed is used in cooking. The fruit pulp is cooked while young shoots can be eaten raw. The oleoresin from the tree, as well as the oil obtained from it, has medicinal value. It is antibacterial, antifungal, antiseptic, antispasmodic, and rubefacient. It is also used against fevers and chills, arthritis, burns, etc. The bark is used for postpartum baths. The wood of Manila elemi is used in light constructions as it is not very hard.

Parts used
– Seed kernel.
– Oleoresin (mixture of oil and resin).

Uses
Culinary
– Young shoots are edible, used for cooking and making green salads.
– Pili nut kernel is edible, crispy and delicious.
– Nut in candied in various forms: sugar-glazed, honeyed.
– Pili “turron” is made from a mixture of ground pili kernel, sweet potato and sugar, seasoned with sesame and vanilla, mixed and cooked to desired consistency, cooked, and cut.
– Pili pudding is made from mashed sweet potato, ground pili kernel, condensed milk, butter, sugar and eggs, vanilla seasoning, then baked to a light brown color.
– Kernel seeds are roasted and eaten as nuts. Roasted and sugar-coated, usee as ingredient to cakes, puddings and creams, or preserved in syrup. Roasted kernel sometimes used in chocolate-making.
– Green pulp can be pickled, best after the shell has hardened but before the pulp becomes too fibrous.- Boiled ripe pulp is edible, best with salt, pepper and fish sauce.
– In Sorsogon, the nut concoction is called “nilanta”—boiled in hot water to soften, seasoned with soy sauce, bagoong, and sili.
– Sahing (oleoresin) is used in the Philippines as stimulant, rubefacient, and antirheumatic. Elsewhere, as ointment, the oleoresin is applied to indolent ulcers. Folkloric
– For laxative effect, seed kernel is eaten as tolerated.
– Emulsion from crushed kernels has been used as substitute for infant’s milk.
– Used for making medicinal ointments.Others
– Firewood: Resin-rich wood makes it excellent firewood.
– Wood: Wood used for house framing, musical instruments and box-making.
– Oil: Oil from the pulp has been used for manufacture of soap and other products.
– Soil improver: The hard stony shell makes for excellent fuel and used as growing medium for orchids and anthuriums. (Coronel 1983)
– Gum / Resin: The valuable resin, Manila elemi or ‘breabianca’, is used in the manufacture of plastics, printing inks, and perfumes. Also used by Spaniards for ship repairs.
– Manila elemi: Exported in considerable quantities. Used in the preparation of medicinal ointments; also, in the manufacture of varnish.

Carbon Farming

  • Management: Standard  Plants grow to their standard height. Harvest fruit, seeds, or other products. Non-Destructive management systems.
  • Regional Crop  These crops have been domesticated and cultivated regionally but have not been adopted elsewhere and are typically not traded globally.
  • Staple Crop: Oil  (0-15 percent protein, 16+ percent oil). Some of these are consumed whole while others are exclusively pressed for oil.