Agriculture Business Week

Did you know that one of the reasons behind the distinctive durability of the old houses is the sablot tree? Called Indian Laurel in English or Litsea glutinosa scientifically, sablot tree’s leaves have a substance that if mixed with other matters, can make an excellent plaster for buildings.

According to Dr. Alfredo R. Rabena, Director of Research and Development of the University of Northern Philippines (UNP) in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur, he found out that the leaves of sablot has a sticky pigment which our forefathers,process into plaster. Here’s how they did it, according to Rabena.

First, dip the sablot leaves into a basin of water. Let it soaked in a week and let the sticky pigment be extracted. Mix it with lime, molasses, and sand. Then use the mixture to coat the building. This procedure was fully explained in His research paper, which was included in the book Multipurpose Trees in Asia. It was published In 2006 by the International Union of Forestry- Research Organization (IUFRO) based in Yokohama, Japan.

However, the present status of the sablot tree is alarming because many people do not know the importance of the tree. Standing 3 to 15 meters, sablot trees are cut usually for firewood, yet these are hard to propagate.

Rabena has undertaken a move to save the trees. With P115,000 from the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP), he started growing sablot. And to make the germination easier, he soaked the seeds in lukewarm water for 1-2 hours. Presently, Rabena is nurturing over 100 seedlings in UNP Nursery and in his own nursery in his home. Several trees were also planted beside the road of Brgy. Purok a Bassit, Vigan City. These are four years old now and the leaves are ready to harvest.

Upon knowing the usefulness of the tree, the Local Government of Vigan also made a move to protect it. Mayor Eva Marie Singson-Medina created a team to find all the living sablot trees, and prohibited the cutting of these in the city. Mayor Medina is positive that if the number of sablot trees will continue to increase, this will be a big help in the conservation and restoration of the old structures in Vigan.

The tree also has a medicinal property. In his continuous research on the uses of sablot tree, Rabena found that the bark of the tree is used in South Australia as an anti-bacterial. The bark is pound and the sticky juice is applied to the wound or skin diseases.

In the Philippines, sablot or puso-puso in Tagalog, is included in the list of medicinal plants. Here, the pounded bark is also applied to wounds and bruises. In Bangladesh, the boiled leaves is used to cure diarrhea, while in India, the bark is pounded also and then applied to wounds.

As of now, Rabena is studying the possibility of making rubber out of the sap of sablot and producing cheap bricks and hollow blocks as added livelihood for farmers. He and other researchers are also appealing to all to protect the sablot tree – the tree that help preserved the old houses and churches in the country.

By Mancielito S. Tacadena