Adding value to cashew apple, an agriculturist near Mulki in Dakshina Kannada has been preparing its halwa, juice and syrup and marketing them for the past one-and-a-half years.
Canute Aranha of Kilpadi near Mulki owns three acres of cashew plantation and also has his own version of a cashew juice extractor, costing about ₹32,000. It was the training on making value addition to cashew apple, at the government’s Krishi Vignana Kendra (KVK) in Mangaluru, that prompted him to manufacture the products. “All halwa boxes I took were sold out at the Krishi Unnati Mela in Delhi in March last year,” he told The Hindu .
Stating that the value-added products were made under the technical guidance of KVK scientists, he said that the halwa and syrup could be stored up to six months. The shelf life of ready-to-serve juice is one month.
The other ingredients of the halwa included ghee, sugar, coconut milk, citric acid, cardamom powder and cashew kernel for enhancing the taste.
Ravindra S. Patil, scientist (horticulture), KVK, said that after extracting the juice the residue of cashew apple could be used for bio-gas production.
In its season, the apple could be thus completely made use of.
Mr. Aranha said that there was good demand for the halwa and syrup and he was not able to meet it.
Currently, he has marketed them in Mangaluru and nearby towns. He can extract 10-12 litres of cashew apple juice at a time from his version of juice extractor which he exhibited at a cashew mela organised by Agriculture and Horticulture Research Station at Ullal on Saturday.
