Udupi Kalparasa Coconut and All Spices Producer Company Ltd., a Farmer Producer Company (FPC) which makes and sells value added products of ‘neera’ has added four more franchises in undivided Dakshina Kannada.
With this, its franchises rose to 12 in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.
The new franchises, which came up within a span of a month, are at Byndoor and Karavali Junction in Udupi district and at Surathkal (two) in Dakshina Kannada, according to K. Sathyanarayana Udupa, president-cum-managing director of the FPC.
‘Neera’ is a sweet nutrient-rich sap derived from coconut spathe. The FPC is into ‘neera’ tapping in Udupi district by purchasing the Coco-sap Chiller technology from the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI), Kasaragod, Kerala since the past over two-and-half years.
In addition to ‘kalparasa’ (which is neera) the FPC sells sugar, jaggery, liquid jaggery or jaggery syrup made from ‘kaplarasa’ in the franchises, Mr. Udupa told The Hindu.
“Our two more franchises one at Car Street in Mangaluru and another at Ullal will come up within a month,” he said adding that then people can purchase ‘kalparasa’ and its value added products from 14 franchises.
Its other franchises are at Kundapur, Japti, Hebri, Karkala, Moodbidri, B.C. Road, Kadri Temple Road in Mangaluru and in Udupi, he said.
Mr. Udupa said presently the FPC has government’s permission to tap ‘kalparasa’ from 512 trees. It taps it from about 200 trees in Japti, Avarse and Shiriyara villages in Udupi district.
According to K. Balachandra Hebbar, Director, ICAR-CPCRI, who developed the Coco-sap Chiller, the device only prevents fermentation of ‘neera’, but also maintains its hygiene during the long process of tapping. Otherwise, ‘neera’ has a short shelf-life as it is highly susceptible to fermentation, transforming into toddy within an hour of extraction.
Coconut sap collected by Coco-sap Chiller has neutral to slightly alkaline pH (pH 7 to 8) which is rare to get under natural condition, he said. “It is considered as one of the most pH balanced juices. It is rich in vitamins, phenols, flavonoids and antioxidants. It has a high content of potassium, besides high amount of anti-bacterial and anti-oxidant properties. It is relatively low in glycemic index (GI) also,” Mr. Hebbar added.
source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)