Chennai, Dec 23, 2014The Central Food Technology Research Institute (CFTRI) is willing to transfer its innovative and cost-effective technology to make “clarified banana juice concentrate” from unsold and ripened fruit at the farm-gate, free of cost.
The institute will also help farmers in setting up the facility.
“The entire facility, including the shed, would cost not more than ₹ 5 lakh,” said Ram Rajasekharan, Director, CFTRI.
One of the most cost-effective solutions the institute has come out with for bananas that have reached the point of advanced ripening just before the onset of spoilage, is to make clarified banana juice.
This product is a juice concentrate made of banana puree and clarified prior to concentration.
Byproducts
Like in any fruit juice, specifications on pH (a measure of acidity of an aqueous solution), degree Brix (the sugar content) and microbial stability are addressed to make a safe and delicious product, said Rajasekharan.
He said that in the process, byproducts such as pulp and the peel can be used to make candy and animal feed respectively through solar drying.
According to him, the shelf-life of the concentrate will be about a year and this can be used to make fruit juice, carbonated drink or as a sweetening agent for other juices.
CFTRI has identified a few companies in Coimbatore that can manufacture necessary equipment for this.
Production
Being the largest producer of banana in the world, India produced 29,000 tonnes of banana in 2012-13. Of this, Tamil Nadu produced about 20 per cent, followed by Gujarat (17 per cent) and Maharashtra (14 per cent).
Reports indicate that the production of banana has doubled in Tamil Nadu over the past four years – driven predominantly by Tiruchi, Erode, Karur and Thanjavur districts.
CFTRI has technologies to answer the need for extended freshness of produce upon harvest and technologies to address pre-harvest requirements to stagger harvests.
The idea is to keep the produce as fresh as possible from the point of harvest at the right stage till consumption, Rajasekharan said. Business Line
