Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Apr 06, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Apr 06, 2004 |
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Agri-Biz & Commodities
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Horticulture/Fruits & Vegetables BARC develops new tech for banana juice K. Sreedevi
Chennai , April 5 The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre has developed a new technology to manufacture juice from bananas. It has also applied for a domestic patent for this new process. The banana juice-making technique is actually a spin-off technology developed during the Centre's programme to evolve a hybrid banana variety as a part of its `Atom for Agriculture' programme. The juice making know-how, though at present is only at a lab-scale level, is being upgraded for commercial purposes. Primarily, the process involves three simple stages. In the initial stage, banana is ground to a pulp. Later on, the pulp is mixed with a few enzymes and is left undisturbed for a couple of days at a specific temperature and environment. The final stage comprises extraction of the liquid portion from the enzyme-mixed pulp using centrifugal technique. The extracted juice, which is as thicker as the pulp may be diluted a bit further and bottled as banana juice. Owing to the high sugar content in bananas, the process requires no addition of sugar to improve the taste of the extracted juice. This apart, the separated solid part of the enzyme-mixed pulp can also be utilised as a substitute for maida in making biscuits and confectionery items. The storage life of the extracted banana juice is one month and efforts are at the research centre to extend it further. With banana being a highly perishable commodity, this technology is perceived to be useful in reducing wastage and storage of the fruit. BARC has already standardised tissue culture technique protocols for 12 cultivars of banana and pineapple.
More Stories on : Horticulture/Fruits & Vegetables | Foods & Food Processing | Science & Technology
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