THE PALMS TO PROVIDE GUR

S.ESWARA REDDY
Sugar yielding Palms are known to mankind for their economic potentialities. Palm Belt in the world roughly extends from 44 degrees South latitude to 45 degrees North latitude and widely encompasses the tropical countries like Congo, Indiachina, Sri Lanka, India Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia. The Palm, botanically known as Palmate, has been termed the princess of the vegetable kingdom. The family of palms contains some 1,100 species, widely diffused over the globe, but they are common in the tropical countries. In India, there are four varieties of sugaryielding palms Date, Coconut, Palmyrah and Sago. Their names are as follows : 1. 2. 3. 4. The Palmyrah Palm (Borassus flabellifermis) The Date Palm (Phoenix sylvestris) The Coconut Palm (Cocos nucifera) Indian Sago Palm (Caryota urens)

It is impossible to over estimate the utility of palms. They give food, shelter, timber, fuel, building materials, sticks, fiber, paper starch, sugar, oil wax, wine, tannin, dyeing materials, resin and a host of minor products. Palms thrive on non-agricultural lands, on the banks of streams, rivers and canals, on undulating hill slopes and sandy lands which are normally unfit for cultivation. They do not require much attention. NEERA Neera, the sweet sap of the Palm, is fast becoming a popular drink on account of its highly nutritive value, delicious taste and agreeable flavor. It requires neither mechanical crushing, as in the case of cane, nor leaching like that of beet-root; it is obtained by slicing the spathes of the Palmyra, Coconut and Sago Palms, and scraping the tender most part, just below the crown, of the Date Palm.

The chemical percentage composition of Neera varies, depending on various factors, namely, place, type of palm, mode and season of its collection OPERATIONS ON THE TREE The Palmyra, Coconut and Sago Palms throw out spathes during the flowering season. When these spathes are tapped, exudation of the juice begins. Unlike these palms the trunk of the Date Palm tree is tapped for extraction of the juice. NEERA COLLECTION In almost all cases, Neera is collected every morning just at sunrise. Neera is brought down from the top of the tree in either earthen post or vessels, and then poured into stainless steel containers and bigger vessels, after being filtered through a fine mesh cloth or wire-mesh. Only neat, clean and sweet neera is so found. Any portion that is fermented is destroyed immediately. All Neera collected as above is brought to a central place where it is processed. It contains all the constituents of a cool and healthy drink with food and mineral value. It builds the body; keeps the human system cool and improves digestion. It can be consumed in fairly large quantity without any harm to the system FERMENTATION Fresh Neera, as it trickles from the tree, is easily susceptible to fermentation at ordinary temperature, unless it is quickly treated with some preservative. PRODUCTS OF NEERA Gur, syrup, rab, sugar, candy confectionery, ice creams and various sweets are produced from Neera GUR When Neera is converted into a solid or semi-solid crystal line mass it is called gur. It has got a wide use as sweetening agent in Indian village food products. Palm gur has a characteristic smell of its own.

CLARIFICATION OF JUICE Clarification of palm juices, commonly known as de liming process, is done using the phosphoric acid or super phosphate solution. Half of the quantity of the raw juice is taken with the pan and heated at 40C. This juice is then de limed to neutrality ie., pH by adding either phosphoric acid direct or triple super phosphate solution slowly and stirring all the while. BOILING Boiling of the filtered juice is done over openfired improved furnaces using metal pans of 20 to 24 gauge thickness. As boiling proceeds, the froth and foam coming up to the surface is removed by means of a perforated ladle. The juice is stirred at intervals to facilitate mixing and rapid evaporation. When the juice thickens, the fire is judiciously controlled in order to prevent it from caramelizing. Correct strike temperature is judged by patting a small quantity of the thickened mass in water and rolling in into ball shape. If ball forms into a hard one, the strike is over and the mass is moulded into shapes. The strike temperature can also be controlled through the use of thermometers. MOULDS Now that the viscous mass has reached the right consistency, it is poured in suitable moulds. In South India, Coconut shells are generally used as moulds. Wooden and iron moulds are used in other parts of India. In order to facilitate easy removal of the blocks from the moulds, the moulds are either moistened with water or be smeared with fresh sweet oil before putting the thick mass into them. After allowing the gur to set for some time, the gur is removed from the moulds and packed. The quality gur is always hard, crystalline and golden-coloured.
can reach the author at dr_esreddy@yahoo.co.in 25th june 2011