**2. Need for post harvest management in palmyrah palm**

Palmyrah nungu, neera, tuber flour are highly prone to post harvest losses due to spoilage because they are composed of living tissues. These tissues must be kept alive and healthy throughout the process of marketing. Several factors influence the post harvest losses in commodity. These includes primary factors like mechanical injuries, physiological changes, pathological infections or environmental factors such as temperature, humidity *etc.* Secondary factors which are responsible for deterioration of produces are inadequate facilities of proper harvesting, proper handling, post harvest treatments, packaging and storage. Palmyrah is one such crop where post harvest handling protocols and value addition was not standardized so far.

Post harvest life is also governed by moisture content, rate of respiration, ethylene production and external factors like temperature, relative humidity and atmospheric compositions. Post harvest losses can be considerably minimized and the shelf life can be greatly increased by careful manipulation of the above factors. Deterioration of palmyrah products like nungu, neera and tuber flour during storage depends largely on temperature. One way to slow down these changes can be achieved by lowering the temperature to an desirable level.

### **3. Scope of palmyrah natural and value added products**

Value addition involves change in the physical form of the agricultural produce which leads to its greater acceptability, extended availability, enhanced market viability and increased cost to benefit ratio for the grower of the agricultural produce. The spatial and temporal availability of the produce is enhanced and it becomes less sensitive to price fluctuations in the market. Value addition involves commoditization of the agricultural produce. Therefore, value addition is desirable from both the producer's as well as the consumer's point of view and has aptly been termed as secondary agriculture as stated by United States Department of Agriculture.

However, with the increasing population, industrialization and urbanization, India is facing serious challenges in food security. In order to sustain the agricultural production and address the challenges of food and livelihood security, agricultural diversification has to be adopted through the concept of value addition by minimizing the dependency on main staple crops.

Introduction of new species in the agricultural production system in India is the need of the hour to increase the resiliency of agriculture. In this context, palmyrah palm is one such under exploited crop which have received less attention from agricultural research workers, probably on account of the fact that it is very slow growing palm found mostly in the wild state inspite of having a good number of

*Scope, Nutritional Importance and Value Addition in Palmyrah… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.97501*

food and minimization of postharvest losses are absolutely essential in the current

Food material are subjected to spoilage. The aim of food processing or value addition is to protect food against deterioration or spoilage. The rate of spoilage of raw or fresh food commodities may be very high. The spoilage of food is due to three main causes: (1) microbial, (2) enzymatic and (3) chemical. Foods during storage are more or less infected with microbes that lead to decomposition of the food constituents, sometimes produce evil-smelling and toxic substances. Hence, prevention of microbiological spoilage is essential in any preservation method.

Palmyrah nungu, neera, tuber flour are highly prone to post harvest losses due to spoilage because they are composed of living tissues. These tissues must be kept alive and healthy throughout the process of marketing. Several factors influence the post harvest losses in commodity. These includes primary factors like mechanical injuries, physiological changes, pathological infections or environmental factors such as temperature, humidity *etc.* Secondary factors which are responsible for deterioration of produces are inadequate facilities of proper harvesting, proper handling, post harvest treatments, packaging and storage. Palmyrah is one such crop where post harvest handling protocols and value addition was not standardized

Post harvest life is also governed by moisture content, rate of respiration, ethylene production and external factors like temperature, relative humidity and atmospheric compositions. Post harvest losses can be considerably minimized and the shelf life can be greatly increased by careful manipulation of the above factors. Deterioration of palmyrah products like nungu, neera and tuber flour during storage depends largely on temperature. One way to slow down these changes can be

Value addition involves change in the physical form of the agricultural produce which leads to its greater acceptability, extended availability, enhanced market viability and increased cost to benefit ratio for the grower of the agricultural produce. The spatial and temporal availability of the produce is enhanced and it becomes less sensitive to price fluctuations in the market. Value addition involves commoditization of the agricultural produce. Therefore, value addition is desirable from both the producer's as well as the consumer's point of view and has aptly been

**2. Need for post harvest management in palmyrah palm**

*Bioactive Compounds - Biosynthesis, Characterization and Applications*

achieved by lowering the temperature to an desirable level.

**3. Scope of palmyrah natural and value added products**

termed as secondary agriculture as stated by United States Department of

diversification has to be adopted through the concept of value addition by

minimizing the dependency on main staple crops.

However, with the increasing population, industrialization and urbanization, India is facing serious challenges in food security. In order to sustain the agricultural production and address the challenges of food and livelihood security, agricultural

Introduction of new species in the agricultural production system in India is the need of the hour to increase the resiliency of agriculture. In this context, palmyrah palm is one such under exploited crop which have received less attention from agricultural research workers, probably on account of the fact that it is very slow growing palm found mostly in the wild state inspite of having a good number of

scenario.

so far.

Agriculture.

**210**

produce in fresh form (palm neera, nungu) as well as in value added form with a capacity to provide high nutritional value which is having the potential to overcome the problem of malnutrition in developing countries like India. Palmyrah palms are suitable for popularization through value addition (tuber flour, jaggery) which helps in income generation and thus it will improve food security to the poor and livelihood security of the marginal farmers. They can potentially reduce the dependency on few major species (wheat, sugar cane) while diversifying the agricultural production system and making it sustainable.

## **4. Importance of value addition in palmyrah**

Fresh palmyrah tender fruit endosperm (*Nungu*), sap (*Neera*) and tuber flour are perishable and highly prone to post harvest losses due to spoilage. After removing from husk, outer skin of palmyrah tender fruit endosperm starts browning and looses appearance and will be fermented which cause sour odour. It is main factor for consumer to judge its freshness. In normal conditions, *nungu* will have very short shelf life of 2–3 days. Palmyrah sap is naturally prone to fermentation within few hours of extraction and becomes alcoholic beverage (Toddy). Under these circumstances, the processing of tender fruit endosperm and sap into value added products with sufficient shelf life is most important to utilize the products further. Thus the shelf life, quality and availability of the products can be improved by concept of value addition and the value added products have to be commercialized.

Hence, there is a need to study the scope of postharvest techniques for value added products and their shelf life in palmyrah.

Postharvest treatments, packing material and storage conditions significantly increase shelf life, reduce postharvest losses and maintain nutritional quality of palmyrah tender fruit endosperm as well as sap. Hence, it becomes necessary to find out suitable postharvest treatments such as packing material and storage conditions to extend the shelf life and reduce losses of PTFE, neera and other value added products *viz.,* palm jaggery and palm tuber flour.

## **5. Uses and nutritional importance of palmyrah natural and value added products**

Palmyrah is referred as tree of life with nearly 800 uses including food, beverage, fiber, fodder, medicinal and timber. Among the various uses of the palm, the sweet sap from the inflorescence for making *neera* obtained by tapping the tip of the inflorescence either male or female is traditionally collected in hanging earthen pots and used to quench thirst. The sweet sap collected early in the morning is refreshing and light drink called *neera* in telugu and marathi and "*pathaneer*" in tamil. *Neera* has sugary sweet in taste, oyster white in colour, translucent with high nutritive value but susceptible to natural fermentation at ambient temperature within a few hours of extraction [3]. The sap collected in the evening or after fermentation becomes sour which is called *kallu* in telugu and *tadi* in marathi. *Tadi* is mostly consumed by villagers as raw alcoholic beverage.

When the fruit is very young, the kernel is hollow, soft as jelly and translucent like ice and is accompanied by a watery liquid, sweetish and potable. The jelly part of the fruit is covered with a thin, yellowish-brown skin. These are known to contain watery fluid inside the fleshy white body. Palmyrah tender fruit endosperm (PTFE) contains 43 kcal of energy, 87.6 g of water, 0.8 g of protein, 0.1 g of fat and 10.9 g of carbohydrates per 100 g fresh weight of palmyrah tender fruit endosperm [4].

Palmyrah tuber is an important edible shoot grown in loose soil from the seed of ripe fruit. Tuber is eaten by many people directly by cooking in open fire after peeling off outer layer. Roasted, dried tubers are ground to make flour which is blended with wheat flour for baking. The flour can be made into a number of food items which are used traditionally. It is used in preparation of odiyal consumed as porridge called khool and a steamed product called pittu. *Odiyal* made from palmyrah tuber flour contains 1423 kcal of energy, 10.8 g of moisture, 3.1 g of protein, 77.1 g of carbohydrates and 5.6 g of crude fiber per 100 g [5].

Telugu. Toddy and *neera* can be called as fermented sap and non-fermented sap respectively. *Neera* is susceptible to natural fermentation at ambient temperature within few hours of extraction due to enzymatic and microbial fermentation since it is rich in sugars, vitamins, proteins and minerals [8]. Once fermented, *neera* becomes toddy which is unsuitable as health drink or as value added product. *Neera* is rich source of sugars, minerals and vitamins. It contains substantial amounts of iron, phosphorus and ascorbic acid. It is more nutritious than any of the commercially marketed fruit juices available in the country. The nutritional composition of *neera* is given in **Table 3**. Palmyrah palm *neera* contain very low Glycemic Index (GI) of 35 (normal table sugar has GI 70), *neera* can be used by diabetic

*Scope, Nutritional Importance and Value Addition in Palmyrah…*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.97501*

The high nutritive value of *neera* makes it an emerging health drink. It is cool and good for improving the general health. It can be served to supplement the iron and vitamin deficiency. Clinical studies proved neera has potential medical applications for treating asthma, tuberculosis, bronchial suffocation and piles. It is believed to facilitate clear urination and prevent jaundice. High amount of glutamic acid is present in neera. It is the amino acid which is used by the body to build proteins. Neera can be used to treat eye abnormalities and eczema as it contain high amount of inositol. Neera can be used as stimulant and antiphalegmatic which is considered to be useful in treating inflammatory infections. Women suffering from anemia due repeated pregnensis are advised to take neera to ameliorate health.

The extraction of sap from the inflorescence is called tapping and tapping vary according to the sex of the palm and age of the inflorescence. Long tapping duration is noticed in female palms (April to December) when compared to male palms (December to February). Dry season tapping is done mostly in the low lying lands where palms do not suffer due to moisture stress during drought period. The spathe is considered ready for tapping when the inflorescence opens or is just about to

**Physico chemical parameter Neera Endosperm/Nungu Jaggery Tuber flour Moisture (%) — —** 09.02 09.32

**Brix)** 10.00 08.50 07.50 05.10 **Ph** 04.28 06.44 05.51 05.54 **Titrable acidity (%)** 00.57 00.06 **—** 00.40 **Total sugars (%)** 14.85 08.83 09.30 14.39 **Reducing sugars (%)** 05.16 05.11 05.10 08.50 **Non reducing sugars (%)** 09.69 03.72 04.20 05.89 **Starch (%) —— —** 32.96 **Fiber (%) —— —** 10.20 **Protein (%) —— —** 02.96 **Phenols (mg)** 00.28 **—** 00.16 10.43 **Browning (%) —** 00.01 **— — Alcohol content (%)** 02.00 **— ——**

*Proximate physico chemical composition of palmyrah natural and value added products on initial day of*

patients also.

**TSS (<sup>o</sup>**

**Table 3.**

**213**

*storage [9].*

**8. Season and stage for tapping**

Ripened fruit is used in preparation of various foods at home level. The soft orange-yellow pulp (mesocarp) of the ripe fruit is sugary, dense and edible, rich in vitamin A and C. Palmyrah also contains bitter compounds called flabelliferrins, which are steroidal saponins. Ripe fruit pulp can be processed into soft beverages, jam, spread, toffee, delicious food items and sweets [6].

The palm jaggery is processed from the unfermented palmyrah tree sap called *neera*. Palm jaggery contains of 65–68% sucrose and 5–15% reducing sugars which is directly used in ayurvedic preparations and believes to reduce the lung cancer. Hundred grams of palmyrah jaggery contains 0.35% of protein, 0.17% of fat, 90.6% of carbohydrates, 24 mg of vitamin B-1, 11.0 mg of vitamin-C and 0.74% of minerals [7].
