Editing Sago (section)

===Cycad sago===
The sago cycad, ''[[Cycas revoluta]]'', is a slow-growing wild or [[ornamental plant]]. Its common names "sago palm" and "king sago palm" are misnomers as [[cycad]]s are not [[palm (plant)|palms]]. Processed starch known as sago is made from this and other cycads. It is a less-common food source for some peoples of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Unlike palms, cycads are highly poisonous: most parts of the plant contain the [[neurotoxin]]s [[cycasin]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/p/plant_toxin_induced_liver_damage_cycasin/intro.htm
|title=Plant toxin-induced liver damage - Cycasin |publisher=Health Grades Inc. |access-date=28 December 2009}}</ref> and [[BMAA]]. Consumption of cycad seeds has been implicated in the outbreak of [[Parkinson's disease]]-like neurological disorder in [[Guam]] and other locations in the Pacific.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sacks|first1=Oliver|title=The Island of the Colour-blind and Cycad Island|date=1996|publisher=Picador|isbn=978-0330350822|pages=109–226}}</ref> Thus, before any part of the plant may safely be eaten the toxins must be removed through extended processing.

Sago is extracted from the sago cycad by cutting the pith from the stem, root and seeds of the cycads, grinding the pith to a coarse [[flour]], before being dried, pounded, and soaked. The starch is then washed carefully and repeatedly to leach out the natural toxins.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Whiting|first1=Marjorie Grant|title=Toxicity of cycads|journal=Economic Botany|date=October 1963|volume=17|issue=4|pages=270–302|doi=10.1007/BF02860136|bibcode=1963EcBot..17..270W |s2cid=31799259}}</ref> The starchy residue is then dried and cooked, producing a [[starch]] similar to palm sago/sabudana.