Ranchi: Mahua is making the big leap from liquor bottles to sweet boxes.

So far recognised as the raw material to produce Jharkhand's indigenous liquor, the fruit of the mahua tree will be popular as an important ingredient to make nutritious laddoo, at least in Gujarat.

Mandar-based Latifolia Enterprises, which launched the laddoo during a seminar on ethno-medicine at Human Resource Development Centre on GEL Church compound in Ranchi on November 10, has received an order from national tribal organisation Adivasi Ekta Parishad (AEP) to supply 50,000 laddoos in Gujarat.

These laddoos will be sold during a Makar Sankranti Mela to be organised in Jakatnagar in the Rajpipla area of Gujarat in January 2018, Mariana Khalkho, an official of Latifolia Enterprises, said.

Khalkho added that this was their first big order after they launched the mahua laddoo on November 10.

"We got an advance of Rs 15,000 from a senior AEP functionary and respected gynaecologist of Gujarat, Dr Shantikar Vasava," she said.

Vasvi Kiro, adviser to the company established this January with its head office at Chatwal village in Mandar block, explained how the deal was finalised.

"This June, I had an informal meeting with AEP functionaries including Dr Vasava, Dr Suresh Choudhary, Bahru Sonmani and others in Gujarat. I told them mahua can be used to make items other than liquor. They invited me and my team to demonstrate the laddoo and impart training to the tribals of Kutch area which has some 15,000 mahua trees at one place. We prepared laddoos in Jharkhand and launched them on November 10 where Dr Vasava loved them and immediately gave us cheque of Rs 15,000 as advance," Kiro, also general secretary of Hodopathy Ethno Medicine Doctors' Association of India (HEDAN), said.

Asked about the details of the mahua laddoo, she said each would weigh 20gm and be packed with the goodness of sesame seeds (til), flax seeds (tisi), coconut, cheronjee nut (chiraunji) and others. "The best part is that no sugar needs to be added as mahua itself is a sweet fruit. Besides being tasty, it will be highly nutritious and cost only Rs 10 apiece."

Anil Goel, a senior scientist at the Lucknow-based National Botanical Research Institute, had already at the November 10 seminar dubbed mahua a paradise tree, calling its fruit rich in vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates, calcium and iron. Mahua helps cure infections, breast cancer, dental diseases, skin diseases, wounds and liver problems, he had said.