Jorhat, May 16: Forget orange squash and mango pickle. Try kuji thekera or bor thekera squash and mirika tenga pickle instead.
The food science and nutrition department of the College of Home Science here has come up with 60 delectable pickle, jam, sherbet and mouth-freshener recipes made from 13 lesser-known fruits of Assam, which are disappearing from the market.
Former associate professor of the department and guest faculty Nilima Neog said the aim was to add value to the fruits like mirika tenga (Parameria polyneura), noga tenga (nutgall) (Rhus semialata), thereju (Prunus jenkinsii), bor thekera (Garcinia padanculata), rupohi thekera (Garcinia lanceaefolia), kuji thekera (Garciniia cowa roxb), pora amlakhi (Phylanthus acidus), leteku (Baccaurea sapida), ou tenga (elephant apple) (Dillenia indicus), bogori (Indian date) (Ziziphus jujube), poniol (coffee plum) (Flacourtia gangomos), kordoi (star fruit) (Avvehorea carambola) and nuni (mulberry) (Morus australispoir) so that people keep on growing them and make products which they can sell.
Neog, who is working on the Rs 65.93 lakh project, is a recipient of the Dr J.S. Pruthi award for the best article published in the Food Packers Journal 2006-07 in which she had made five products from mirika tenga.
"The next generation, especially in urban areas, has probably not seen the pora amlakhi, kuji thekera, leteku and thereju. These trees have all but disappeared, though aamlakhi (Indian gooseberry) can be found in plenty," Neog said.
Earlier, many of these trees were found in gardens as people generally believed that they had therapeutic value for stomach ailments, cough and common cold and kordoi in jaundice, she said.
"Nowadays, however, people rely more on allopathic medicines and the fruits like kordoi, the juice of which was believed to be very good for the liver, is no longer sought," she added. "All the minor fruits we have selected are rich in vitamin C, ascorbic acid and other nutrients. Once we give out the recipes, they can be taken up for small-scale production and add to the income of a family," she said.
Neog said in order to standardise the process, certain tests to find out the amount of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) present in each fruit, its moisture content total soluble solids, PH value, protein, carbohydrates, anti-oxidants, acidity and total sugar were conducted.
Tests to find out the value of nutrients like iron, potassium or calcium, however, had not been undertaken.
Neog said she and senior research fellow of the department, Barnali Baruah, developed nearly 100 odd products of which 60 have been approved for transfer of technology by a panel of experts after taking into cognisance flavour, taste and colour.
"We not only standardised the processes according to the quality set by Indian Standard Specification but also undertook acceptability studies and evaluated shelf life," she said.
Among the products are toffees made of bogori (berry) and tamarind pulp, mouth freshener from pora amlakhi and a powder made from ou tenga (elephant apple) which can be had like chutney or put into other dishes like lentils or curries for flavour. They can also be made into squashes, jams and pickles.
Neog has been working on the project under the ministry of food processing industries in collaboration with co-principal investigator Ruma Bhattacharya and junior research fellow Gitanjali Gautam since 2014.
Of the Rs 65.93 lakh project cost, Rs 59.47 lakh have been released.
