TURA, Feb 6: One of Garo Hills’ most versatile fruits —jackfruit — was this week the centre of a training programme to raise its value addition, something that has eluded this much sought-after item scientifically tested to be highly rich in nutritious fibre.
The Meghalaya Government’s Directorate of Food Processing in collaboration with the College of Community Science, Central Agricultural University, located at Tura, concluded a weeklong hands-on training programme on the value addition of the jackfruit from February 1 to 6.
The training was conducted in two batches — with 15 trainees in each batch for three days each with the trainees handpicked by the office of the District Horticulture Officer.
Jackfruit is gaining recognition the world over, with people looking it as an alternative to meat. It is now popularly used as a ‘vegan meat’ and the demand for the tender jackfruit is on the rise. With the level of carbon footprint that livestock farming leaves behind, the growing numbers of environment-conscious people are turning to other alternatives.
Keeping this perspective, the experts at the College of Community Science College have trained the participants on how to increase the shelf life of tender jackfruit by the simple process of brining the fruit.
The technology was standardised by Natasha R Marak, Assistant Professor, Dept of Food Science & Nutrition, and is now being disseminated among farmers. Only a handful of companies in the world market tender jackfruits that are canned in brine solution.
The technology is secretly guarded by the companies that produce them.
The shelf life of canned/brined jackfruit is at least six months, giving ample time for the product to be marketed to any part of the globe. The main season for jackfruit starts from March to July, however off-season varieties, popularly known as ‘Baromasi’ are available in pockets throughout Garo Hills.
The main focus, therefore, was on tender and mature jackfruit products. Chips and papads were prepared from mature jackfruit and the seeds and mature bulbs were dried and powdered for preparing flour. Jackfruit seed and bulb flour are popularly used as a replacement for refined wheat flour in baked products and chapattis and possesses tremendous health benefits.
The Dean of the College, Dr Puspita Das, who addressed the trainees at the conclusion of the programme emphasised on the importance of the trainees to take these technologies forward to build enterprises, starting from home-scale level.
The District Horticulture Officer, MD Arengh, also took part and motivated the trainees to use the knowledge gained from the training to their advantage. He cited the example of pepper farmer, Nanadro B Marak, who was recently awarded the Padma Shri.
It is worthwhile to note that the Meghalaya Government launched the Mission Jackfruit in July, 2018, to tap the potential of the fruit to improve the livelihood of the people of the state.
The Techno Incubation Centre (TIC) is proposed to set up in the College of Community Science, Tura.