Tuba is the fresh or mildly fermented sap drawn from the inflorescence
of the cocoanut.
There are no figures or data of any kind available as a basis for an
estimate as to the importance of this product, but its extent may be
inferred from the fact that the outlying groves about Cebu, Iloilo,
and the larger Visayan towns are practically devoted to the production
of tuba, and not to the manufacture of copra.
Tuba is collected from the unexpanded blossoms as soon as they have
fairly pushed through the subtending bracts. To prevent any lateral
expansion, the flowers are tied with strips of the green leaf blade
and then, with a sharp knife, an inch or two of the extreme tip is
removed. The whole flower cluster is now gently pulled forward until
it arches downward. In a day or two the sap begins to drip and is then
caught in a short joint of bamboo, properly secured for the purpose.
As a healthy tree develops at least one or more flowering racemes
every month, and the flow of sap extends frequently over a period of
two or more months, it is not uncommon to see a number of tubes in
use upon one tree.
The workmen usually visits the tree twice daily to collect the
liquor drawn during the preceding twelve hours in the larger tube,
which he carries upon his back. He slices daily a thin shaving from
the tip of the flower, in order that the wound may be kept open and
bleeding. This process is kept up until nearly all of the flower
cluster has been cut away, or until the sap ceases to flow.
More than a liter a day is sometimes drawn from one tree, and 5
hectoliters is considered a fair annual average from a good bearing
tree.
In its fresh state tuba has a sweetish, slightly astringent taste;
but, as the vessels in which it is collected are rarely cleansed,
they become traps for many varieties of insects, etc., and it is,
therefore, not a very acceptable beverage to a delicate stomach. When
purified by a mild fermentation it is far more palatable.
A secondary fermentation of tuba results in vinegar, and on this
account, chiefly, so much space has been devoted to this feature of
the industry. The vinegar so produced is of good strength and color, of
the highest keeping qualities, and of unrivaled flavor. Its excellence
is so pronounced that upon its inherent merits it would readily find
sale in the world's markets; and, although the local demand for the
tuba now exceeds the production, its conversion into vinegar will
probably prove the more profitable industry in the future.
Spirits are distilled and in some places sugar is still made from the
flower sap; and, while the importance of these great staples may not
be overlooked, their commercial value as products of this tree are
relatively insignificant.