While going through the messy job of manually peeling a jackfruit, have you ever wished for a machine that would do it? Such an option is now available.
An innovative machine has been developed by University of Agricultural Sciences-Bangalore through a private entrepreneur for peeling tender jackfruits.
The instrument resembles a simple lathe machine, which is used in automobile industries. It is possible to peel a tender jackfruit in less than a minute as against nearly 30 minutes taken in the manual process, according to Vasudevamurthy, who developed the machine.
Shyamalamma S. from UAS-B’s Department of Biotechnology, who has been working on processing and value addition of jackfruits, said the peeling machine had been developed mainly to support the efforts to promote nutritious tender jackfruit as a vegetable.
Explaining the process, she said a four to six-week-old tender jackfruit whose seeds have not matured would be peeled. Following this, the fruit is cut into small cubes and processed to prevent browning before being packaged. The processed fruit will have a shelf life of five days if stored in room temperature, she said.
The idea is to promote the sales of such processed tender fruits through self-help groups by using mechanised peeling as each machine may cost Rs. 65,000.
The focus is particularly on tender jackfruit as this can be eaten even by diabetics, she said. The tender jackfruit is rich in potassium, phosphorous, calcium, iron, zinc, fibre, and vitamin-C. Describing tender jackfruit, which is a delicacy in the coastal region, as “vegetable meat”, she said this could be used to prepare sambar, curry, pallya and vegetable kebab , among others.
