Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, May 25, 2005 |
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Horticulture/Fruits & Vegetables Agri-Biz & Commodities - Research & Development BARC develops tech to make biscuits, baby food from banana Our Bureau
Hyderabad , May 24 NOW, biscuits, cake and baby food can be made from the ubiquitous banana. Scientists at the Mumbai-based Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) have under laboratory conditions made these products from ripe banana powder. The dry banana powder can be used as an additive in confectionaries, milk shakes and baby foods. Banana juice on the other hand can be used for the production of banana wine by fermentation. These value additions to banana has been made possible through a bench scale technology developed by BARC, which facilitates extraction of 60-70 per cent of the total soluble materials of the fruit in the form of juice, while the pulp can be dried to fine powder. The BARC has already patented the process technology. According to a latest BARC publication, 600-700 ml of juice can be extracted from one kg of Basari (a tissue cultured variety of BARC). In the case of Harichal variety, about 400-500 ml can be extracted, without the use of any external agents such as water and enzyme. The left over pulp retains the aroma of the banana variety. While the extracted juice after dilution is ready to be served as nectar and after carbonation as a drink, the pulp can be dried and powdered to give ripe banana powder. Banana is the largest grown fruit crop in India. Using tissue culture techniques, the production has been scaled up. However, due to its high perishable nature, post-harvest shelf-life is important. The country's annual banana production is around 14 million tonnes.
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