Pith

<h2 id="uses">Uses</h2>
<h3>Food</h3>
<p>The pith of the <a href="/facts/Sago/Ef6ExmRq">sago</a> palm, although highly toxic to animals in its raw form, is an important human food source in <a href="/facts/Melanesia/6NCwA1Sl">Melanesia</a> and <a href="/facts/Micronesia/xUf6LkMv">Micronesia</a> by virtue of its starch content and its availability. There is a simple process of starch extraction from sago pith that leaches away a sufficient amount of the toxins and thus only the starch component is consumed. Current processes for starch extraction are generally only about 50% efficient, however, with the other half remaining in residual pith waste.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> The form of the starch after processing is similar to <a href="/facts/Tapioca/kKWBug24">tapioca</a>.
</p><p>Other foods sometimes mistakenly called piths include <a href="/facts/Heart_of_palm/a8USEQbk">heart of palm</a> (actually the core of the bud) and <a href="/facts/Banana_pith/ofgyQpeT">banana piths</a> (actually the rolled up young leaves).
</p>

<h3>Pith helmets</h3>
<p>The spongy wood of the <a href="/facts/Aeschynomene_aspera/zWUMfCgz">pith wood plant</a> or other similar species, often mistakenly called pith, was once used to make <a href="/facts/Pith_helmet/Qv4rHTJW">pith helmets</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a>
</p>
<h3>Watch cleaning</h3>
<p>Pith wood is a <a href="/facts/Cleaning_tool/L7hJHmoH">cleaning tool</a> used in <a href="/facts/Watchmaking/VvCQx4zk">watchmaking</a> to clean watch parts<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a>: 144  and tools. It is used to remove oil from the tips of tools to prevent the contamination of watch movements. A pith wood consists of a piece of pith (such as <a href="/facts/Sambucus/ABVfL9zn">elder</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a>: 281  or <a href="/facts/Verbascum_thapsus/qLdmsamg"> mullein</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a>).
</p>
<h3>Light</h3>
<p>Dried pith (which is actually the center of the leaf) of certain <a href="/facts/Juncaceae/Bvazt2mt">rush plants</a> soaked in fat or grease, held using a <a href="/facts/Rushlight/wzuA88F7">rushlight</a>, was used as home lighting. Beginning in the 17th century, it would continue to be used in this method until the mid-20th century. It saw a brief revival during World War 2.
</p><p>The pith is a little circle in the center of a trunk of wood.
</p>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Papyrus/RMbJNcXu">Papyrus</a></li></ul>

Look up <i>pith</i> in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Urry, Lisa A.; Cain, Michael Lee; Wasserman, Steven Alexander; Minorsky, Peter V.; Orr, Rebecca B. (November 11, 2023). Campbell Biology. Pearson. p. 770. ISBN 978-0-135-18874-3. <a href="978-0-135-18874-3" target="_blank">978-0-135-18874-3</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>"Pith". Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. Retrieved January 20, 2011. <a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pith" target="_blank">http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pith</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Mishima, Takashi (2018). "New Sago Palm Starch Resources and Starch Pith Waste Properties". In Ehara, H.; Toyoda, Y.; Johnson, D. (eds.). Sago Palm. Singapore: Springer. pp. 309–315. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-5269-9_23. ISBN 978-981-10-5268-2. <a href="978-981-10-5268-2" target="_blank">978-981-10-5268-2</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>AskOxford.com - Pith helmet <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170729222808/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/pith_helmet" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20170729222808/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/pith_helmet</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>Batello, Caterina; Marzot, Marzio; Touré, Adamou Harouna (2004). "5. Farming Systems" (PDF). The Future is an Ancient Lake. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization Interdepartmental Working Group on Biological Diversity for Food and Agriculture. p. 154. ISBN 92-5-105064-3. <a href="92-5-105064-3" target="_blank">92-5-105064-3</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>Britten, Frederick James (1896), The Watch & Clock Makers' Handbook, Dictionary and Guide, Spon, p. 144 <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=5SYJAAAAIAAJ" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=5SYJAAAAIAAJ</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:7"><p>Britten, Frederick James (1896), The Watch & Clock Makers' Handbook, Dictionary and Guide, Spon, p. 144 <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=5SYJAAAAIAAJ" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=5SYJAAAAIAAJ</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:8"><p>Stelle, J. Parish (2017), The American Watchmaker and Jeweler: A Full and Comprehensive Exposition of all the Latest and most Approved Secrets of the Trade Embracing Watch and Clock Cleaning and Repairing, Tempering in all its Grades, Making Tools, Compounding Metals, Soldering, Plating, Etc., Read Books, ISBN 9781473339408 <a href="9781473339408" target="_blank">9781473339408</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Pith open-in-new

Pith