Recipe
Pandan leaf extract
- Herb:
- Pandan Pandanus amaryllifolius
- Method:
- Culinary use
- Plant part:
- Leaf
About 15 minBeginnerRecipe science profile
Procedure
- Wash the leaves, cut off the tough bases and snip into 2 cm pieces.
- Blend with 150 ml of cold water into a green slurry.
- Strain through a cloth and squeeze well; let the liquid settle overnight in the fridge.
- In the morning pour off the pale water and use the thick green sediment as flavour and colour; freeze the rest in cubes.
Extraction
- Herb:
- 8–10 fresh leaves (about 60 g) per 150 ml of water
- Solvent:
- blend with cold water, strain, leave to settle overnight
- Shelf life:
- 3 days in the fridge, 3 months frozen
- Target compounds:
- chlorophyll and the aromatic compound 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (jasmine rice aroma) enter the aqueous suspension
Notes
A kitchen base for desserts (kueh, chiffon cake), coconut rice and drinks. A natural colour and flavour; the catalogue claims no health effect.
Why it works
Pandan's signature scent — the same as jasmine rice — comes from 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, a heat-sensitive volatile; that is why the extract is made cold and added at the end of cooking. Chlorophyll gives the green colour and settles out so it can be concentrated. The review by Wang et al. 2024 also summarises the leaf's alkaloids and flavonoids and their antidiabetic or antioxidant activity in the laboratory, but clinical evidence in humans is lacking.
Literature
- Wang X et al. (2024): Botany, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and applications of Pandanus amaryllifolius Roxb.: A review. Fitoterapia 177:106144 — Review of composition, including 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, and predominantly preclinical data.
Related
Pandan — Herb card
Culinary use — Processing method detail