
Ready-to-cook vegetable cubes produced from elephant foot yam developed by NITK- Surathkal.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The National Institute of Technology–Karnataka (NIT-K), Surathkal, has got a patent for a technology to produce irritation- free, ready-to-cook vegetable from tubers such as elephant foot yam, taro (Colocasia), tannia and giant taro, collectively called as ‘aroids’.
The patent received on December 27, 2024, is valid for 20 years with retrospective effect from April 8, 2021.
Prasanna Belur, a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, and his team have developed the technology.
By adopting this technology, more than 90% of the oxalates which cause a biting taste and irritation can be removed without affecting the taste, aroma, and texture. The vegetables cooked can be preserved for a week in the refrigerator (at 4°C) and for three months if vacuum packing is adapted, a release from the NIT-K said on Friday.
Tuber crops such as Elephant foot yam, Taro (Colocasia), Tannia and giant taro contain very large amounts of oxalates (300 to 7,500 mg per kg of corms on a dry weight basis). Ingestion of foods containing oxalates causes caustic effects and irritation to the intestinal tract and affects the bioavailability of minerals like calcium, magnesium, zinc, and copper.
The consumption of even moderate amounts of oxalate has been reported to play a key role in calcium oxalate-induced kidney stone disease. As per the World Health Organization, the maximum permissible limit of oxalate consumption by humans is 71 mg per day. More than 90% of these harmful oxalates are removed by this technology.
Spinoff of basic research
This invention was a spinoff of basic research carried out by Prof. Prasanna and his team on unique starch obtained from the Dasheen type of Taro (Mudli) conserved by Kunabi tribes of Joida, Karnataka, in 2019. He had received a grant from DST, Union government, for the collaborative work on starch production and characterisation with scientists from Mahidol University, Thailand, and De La Salle University, Philippines. More than six research papers have been published in reputed international journals by the team out of this research work, the release said.
In 2021, this technology was transferred to ‘’nGV Naturals Industry Pvt. Ltd., Bengaluru’’ under non-exclusive, limited licensing agreement. This Bengaluru-based start-up has successfully produced and marketed the ready-to-cook Elephant foot yam in Bengaluru using this technology. Hotel industry is the major consumer of this ready-to-cook vegetable in Bengaluru.
Prof. Prasanna and team had exhibited this technology in IInvenTiv-2024, India’s largest R&D innovation fair for higher education institutes, held on January 19-20, 2024, at the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad.
Safe, nutritious
The ready-to-cook vegetable produced from acrid tubers is safe, convenient, nutritious, and proves to be affordable for urban consumers. Most importantly, oxalates, which are proven to be unsafe, are removed, making the vegetable safe for prolonged human consumption.
The Elephant foot yam/Tannia/Taro, having high oxalate content, are less in demand and cheap and can be converted to a safe, ready-to-cook vegetable without affecting their taste, colour, and texture. The availability of this ready-to-cook vegetable eliminates the tedious method of vegetable preparation from those traditional tubers and saves the time and energy for the urban consumer. Adaption of this technology reduces post-harvest loss, boosts up demand from urban consumers, and thus can increase the income for elephant foot yam/taro farmers.
Now, NIT-K is planning to license this technology to the entrepreneurs/organizations who are interested in the production of ready-to-cook vegetables for domestic and export markets, the release added.
Published – January 03, 2025 07:18 pm IST