The Hindu Business Line : New tech to preserve tender coconut water

A sip of health
Taste, flavour, nutrition intact up to 6 months at room temperature
Initially developed for the armed forces, the technology has been transferred commercially to bottlers.

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Chennai Feb. 9 The Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Ministry of Defence, has developed a technology to preserve tender coconut water for up to six months at room temperature and up to nine months under refrigeration. "This process is rather simple and uses a combination preservation technique with thermal treatment and a bio preservative. This processed tender coconut water can be packaged in convenient cans, bottles and poly pack pouches," explains Mr William Selvamurthy, Chief Controller, DRDO.

Initially developed to cater to the needs of the armed forces, the technology has been transferred commercially to bottlers including SPA Coconuts Pvt Ltd, Sakti Coco Products, Jain Agro Food Products and Awadhoot Agro.

Consistent flavour

On whether the coconut water thus preserved will taste good, Mr Selvamurthy says the taste, flavour and nutritional values will be intact up to nine months. "The taste of coconut water, even when freshly consumed, varies with the cultivator. The technology developed by DFRL maintains a consistent flavour."

Says Mr C.M. Kamaraj, Managing Director of Sakti Coco Products, Coimbatore, "The technology is safe and very good, which is evident from the great demand from countries around the world for our products."

Sakti Coco packages coconut water in tin cans imported from Malaysia and exports to over 12 countries including West Asia, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. According to Mr Kamaraj, the company is in talks with buyers from Taiwan and Korea too. The company also sells its products in markets such as Mumbai and Delhi, where a 250-ml can is priced in the Rs 20-23 range. Sakti Coco produces close to 10,000 cans (250 ml each) of coconut water a day. "We are planning to increase it to 50,000 cans a day," he says. According to him, on an average the production cost is Rs 16.50 a can.

Jain Agro Food Products of Bangalore, another bottler that bought the technology, uses food-grade plastic bottles to package coconut water under the brand name Cocojal. According to Mr Manish Kumar Jain, Managing Director, the company exports its products to countries including the UK, the UAE and South Africa. "Within the next one month, we will be dispatching our first consignment of Cocojal to the US," he says. Jain Agro manufactures 10,000 units of 200-ml pet bottle at Rs 8 each and sells at Rs 8.50 a bottle. "We are planning to increase our capacity to produce 20,000 units soon," says Mr Jain.

Asked whether the project would demand heavy investment, Mr Selvamurthy says, "We live under a large misconception that farmers need watered-down version of a technology to keep their costs low. However, to utilise best our resources, we need to adopt a good technology."

FAO process

Recently, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a UN arm, came out with a new process for bottling coconut water. It says the process would help coconut water stay fresh for up to three weeks under refrigeration. The process, cold preservation technology, is appropriate for small and medium-sized agro industries, it says.

However, a Business Line e-mail to FAO seeking its viewpoint on the DFRL technology over a week ago has not elicited any response so far.

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