The University of Agricultural Sciences-Bangalore is coming out with a host of products from the luscious mulberry. For instance, mulberry fruit wine, for which the protocol has been standardised by the institute, will be available to wine-lovers in six months.
The pulpy fruit’s jam, juice and pickles are being developed as part of a project to use unused resources in the sericulture sector to help farmers enhance their income.
The varsity’s Incubation Centre for Use of Sericulture Waste at Chintamani has developed these technologies under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikasa Yojana. “It is wrong to think that mulberry is confined to just silk. We are trying to demonstrate that it can be used for different purposes by putting every part of this plant to good use. The intention is to ensure that even with one acre of land, a sericulture farmer can get a good income,” says the centre’s principal investigator S. Chandrashekhar.
The centre is also trying to popularise green tea made from mulberry leaves by other companies. Efforts are also on to popularise recipes made out of its leaves, such as curry, pakoda and parantha.
The thick mulberry stem is being promoted as material that can be used to make cricket bats, light-weight furniture and as an alternative to bamboo for baskets.
The roots can be used to fashion decorative pieces. This is in addition to making ornamental flowers from cocoons.
The pupa from the silkworm is being used for extracting oil to use in paints and soaps. Studies have also shown that silkworm droppings yield 30 per cent more biogas than cow dung, Mr. Chandrashekhar said.
The mulberry fruit is rich in vitamin C, while its leaves, roots and shoot have medicinal properties.