CPCRI launches portable coconut sap chiller

The Kasaragod-based mostly Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI) has introduced a portable coconut sap chiller for the collection of hygienic and unfermented sap (‘Kalparasa’) from the coconut spadix.

KB Hebbar, Head of Plant Physiology, Biochemistry and Post-Harvest Technologies of CPCRI, informed BusinessLine that although the institute had previously designed a coconut sap chiller, production of it was a time-consuming procedure as it had to be assembled manually. With the boost in desire from the coconut-rising States for the chiller, the timely offer of the device was a little bit hard.

He said now the institute, with the financial aid from the Kochi-based mostly Coconut Enhancement Board (CDB), has developed and fabricated moulds necessary for the huge-scale production of coconut sap chiller. The moulds have previously been commissioned for the commercial production of the coconut sap chiller.

The new portable coconut sap chiller is a double jacketed box produced of HDPE (Large Density Polyethylene), insulated by polyurethane foam in amongst the jackets. The device has provision for positioning ice, a ‘Kalparasa’ collection container, a spadix holder, leading lid, a funnel and provision to connect the box on the tree leading. It has a collection potential of a few litres of ‘Kalparasa’.

The coconut sap chiller is lighter in body weight, water evidence, easy to connect to the spadix, needs considerably less ice, and retains reduced temperature for a more time time period as when compared to commercially offered ice bins, he said.

Electrical power effectiveness

On the functionality evaluation carried out on coconut sap chiller at CPCRI and other destinations, he said the new HDPE chiller is hugely power effective and the ice cubes last nearly 24 several hours as in opposition to ten-12 several hours of the present bins. It is hugely price tag efficient, as the production is completed in factories working with the moulds. The production price tag has now come down to all over ₹850 for each piece. This excludes packing, transportation and GST. The past product was costing more than ₹2000 for each piece, he said.

Though there was a setback on coconut sap tapping owing to Covid, even now nearly three,000 parts of the chillers were being procured by Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and West Bengal in the last number of months, he said.

Lots of farmers and coconut producer providers have expressed their interest to procure the chiller not only for tapping coconut but also for palmyra and date palm.

Created and designed by Hebbar and AC Mathew, Principal Scientist at CPCRI, the institute has presented licence to the Mangaluru-based mostly Kalyaniram Polyplast Pvt Ltd to manufacture, pack and offer the requisite numbers of chillers to conclusion users on behalf of CPCRI for these who indication technology transfer with the institute.

He said the sap collected by coco-sap chilller at reduced temperature is solely various from the ‘neera’ collected by common method with or without the need of preservatives, and as a result it was named as ‘Kalparasa’. He said that ‘Kalparasa’ has been granted trade mark by Mental Assets India. Sap collected working with the coco-sap chiller is golden brown in colour, delicious and absolutely free from contaminants these kinds of as bugs, ants, and pollen and dust particles. It contained a lot of well being promoting substances like polyphenols, anti-oxidants, nutritional vitamins, amino acids and minerals, he additional.