Arecanut, an important ingredient of paan, has been put to use in a different way by a young entrepreneur from Shivamogga district, where the crop is grown extensively.
Nivedan Nempe has come up with a non-carbonated cool drink from arecanut. The trial of the product has been completed, and ‘Icy Areca’ was launched in the market on Tuesday. The Food Standards and Safety Authority of India has also approved it.
After completing B. Pharm course from Shivamogga, Mr. Nempe, who hails from a family of arecanut growers in Mandagadde village near here, pursued post-graduation in Manufacturing and Management Technology at Melbourne University. After returning to India, he undertook research on value addition to arecanut.
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He had earlier released areca tea, which is currently being sold locally and exported abroad.
The annual production of arecanut in India is around 7.3 lakh tonnes, of which more than 63% is contributed by Karnataka. At present, arecanut is largely used for chewing. “As the area of cultivation of arecanut is increasing at a rapid pace, it is necessary to take up value-addition activities for the produce to maintain demand and ensure remunerative price,” said Mr. Nempe.
As a student of pharmacy, he started to work on phytochemistry of arecanut. The tannins were extracted from arecanut and converted into granules. Arecanut tea was made by adding some herbs available in the forests in Malnad region to these granules. It was released in the market in 2016 by Mystic Aromatics, an agriculture-based startup managed by Mr. Nempe. The product is sold in dip bags.
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On the process of making a cool drink from arecanut, Mr. Nempe told The Hindu that arecanut tea granules were further brewed and processed in desirable temperatures. The liquid was filtered through eight stages and natural sugar was added to it. It is a ready-to-drink product available in lemon and chocolate flavours, he said.
Arecanut tea is being exported to The Netherlands, Latvia, and Russia. The product was honoured with the ‘Best Agriculture Food Startup’ award of 2018 by the Indian Council of Food and Agriculture.