Pandan
Pandanus amaryllifolius
A South-East Asian herb with long leaves; a key aroma in Thai and Malay desserts.
A small clumping pandanus with narrow sword-shaped leaves and a distinctive gently sweet aroma; fresh leaves are folded into rice, coconut milk, and desserts, lending colour and fragrance.
- Family
- Pandanaceae
- Plant type
- Perennial herb
- Safety level (indicative)
- Generally recognised as safe
What the safety levels mean (expand legend)
- Generally recognised as safe. Often a common herb with reasonable harvest and use; still read the specific warnings on the card.
- Information. Primarily informational — details in the text and warnings below matter most.
- Caution. Needs extra care (dose, duration, sensitive groups, interactions).
- Risky. Significant risks — verify sources, contraindications and professional guidance.
- Not for home experimentation. Not suitable to experiment with at home without knowledge and certainty.
- High risk for internal use. Particular risk with internal use (e.g. alkaloids); avoid prolonged or irresponsible dosing.
- Not specified. Level not filled in yet — rely on individual warnings and links below.
Quick overview
A practical summary; details are in the sections below.
- Safety grade
- Generally recognised as safe·details
- Scientific sources on the card
- No published records yet
- When and what to harvest
- Leaf — January–December
- Processing methods
- No processing links yet.All methods and recipes on the card
- Topics and symptoms
Creativity & inspiration, Sacred plants
Topics section · Symptoms overview
Identification and mix-ups
Small shrub in Pandanaceae, 1.2–1.5 m. Leaves linear, sword-shaped, about 80 × 5 cm, dark green, in spiral ranks; unlike most pandans, both the margins and the midrib are SPINELESS. Strongly fragrant when crushed (sweet, vanilla-like). The plant is effectively sterile — it never flowers or fruits in cultivation and is propagated by cuttings (the absence of flowers and fruit is itself a diagnostic character).
Possible mix-ups and risks
Confusion with other Pandanus species (e.g. P. odorus, P. tectorius), which differ in that fragrant pandan is the only species with scented, spineless leaves, whereas the others have spiny leaf margins and produce large pineapple-like fruit. The toxicity of the lookalikes is not documented, but they are not the culinary species.
Similar herbs
No related herbs are linked yet.
Topics and symptoms
More topics are in the symptoms and topics overview.
- Creativity & inspirationTraditional· Traditional / cultural framing
- Sacred plantsTraditional· Traditional / cultural framing
Sources
Geographic occurrence
Indonesia
Common (expected wild occurrence in the region)
Indonesia top 20: Indonesia / Malesia — verify archipelago floras and cultural relevance.
Thailand
Common (expected wild occurrence in the region)
Thailand top 20 — verify mainland and island floras and cultural relevance.
Harvest
- LeafJanuary–December
celoročně
Region: ThailandNotes: Fresh dark-green leaves from mature clumps.
Storage
No storage records yet.
Processing methods on this herb card
No processing method links yet.
Traditional / spiritual use
Kept separate from science — entries are cultural or symbolic, not medical advice.
No specific records yet.
Scientific notes
Each claim lists a study type and a source (URL or DOI) where available. Dose notes from the literature are informational only.
How to read evidence strength and study type labels
Labels summarise how the catalogue entry is tagged — they are not a medical verdict on efficacy. For every row, read the summary, limitations and source link.
Evidence strength
- Evidence level not specified
- The author did not grade the record; judge from the summary, limitations and source link.
- Narrative / orientational literature
- Descriptive or expert literature without controlled group comparison — context rather than proof of effect.
- Weak evidence
- Study or conclusion with major methodological limits; treat only as a pointer for further reading.
- Preliminary findings
- First or smaller studies — interesting direction, not the final word on efficacy or safety.
- Moderate strength of evidence
- Moderate strength by study design; sample and context limits still apply.
- Stronger evidence
- Stronger design or consistency of results within the study's stated limits.
- Review article
- A review summarises multiple sources; quality depends on review method and field.
Study type
- Narrative / expert text
- Expert text or overview without a classical study design.
- In vitro study
- Cell culture or test-tube experiment — does not show an effect in the body.
- Animal study
- Animal model — transfer to humans is not automatic.
- Observational study
- Observing groups without random treatment assignment; confounding is possible.
- Clinical trial
- Human clinical trial; sample size and control group matter.
- Randomised controlled trial
- Randomised controlled trials are among the stronger designs when well conducted.
- Review study
- A review aggregates multiple papers — quality depends on selection rules.
- Systematic review
- Systematic review with explicit search and selection methodology.
- Meta-analysis
- Statistical pooling of studies; outcome depends on input data and heterogeneity.
- Regulatory assessment / monograph (EMA, WHO…)
- Regulatory body summary for a herbal product — different context from a single RCT; often about products, not home tea.
- Expert monograph (herbal preparations)
- Structured literature summary for a plant or drug — quality depends on author and edition year.
No published study records yet.
Images
No uploaded images yet.
Safety
What the warning types mean
The type on each warning helps group themes — it does not replace the separate severity badge.
- Internal use
- Risks from swallowing, extracts, duration of use or concentration for internal use.
- Interactions / medicines
- Possible effect on medicines or concurrent treatment — check sources and a professional.
- Raw plant parts
- Raw, unripe or poorly prepared plant parts can be dangerous.
- Toxins and regulation
- Toxic constituents or regulated compounds (e.g. in distillates).
- Contact with the plant
- Skin or mucosa irritation from contact with fresh plant or sap.
- Allergy
- Allergic reactions, often linked to family sensitisation.
- Harvesting and contamination
- Contamination, species mix-ups or harvesting from unsuitable places.
No structured safety records yet.