NIT Karnataka receives patent for technology to produce ready-to-cook, non-acrid vegetables from aroid corms

By deploying this technology more than 90 per cent of the oxalates which cause biting taste and irritation can be removed without affecting the taste, aroma and texture of the tuber crops.

Mangaluru: NITK, Surathkal received a patent for a technology to produce irritation free, ready-to-cook vegetable from tuber crops such as Elephant foot yam, Taro (Colocasia), Tannia and giant taro, collectively called as "aroids".

Prof Prasanna Belur and the team in the chemical Engineering department have developed the technology. By deploying this technology more than 90 per cent of the oxalates which cause biting taste and irritation can be removed without affecting its taste, aroma and texture.

The vegetables produced can be preserved for a week in the refrigerator (at 4 degree C) and for three months if vacuum packing is adapted.

Tuber crops such as Elephant foot yam, Taro (Colocasia), Tannia and giant taro contain very large amounts of oxalates (300-7500 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 WHO (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 the technology.

The invention was a spin-off 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, Government of India, for their 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 the research work.

In 2021, this technology was transferred to "nGV Naturals Industry Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru" under non-exclusive, limited licensing agreement. The Bengaluru based start-up has successfully produced and marketed the ready-to-cook elephant foot yam in Bengaluru city using the technology. Hotel industry is the major consumer of this ready-to-cook vegetable in Bengaluru .

The ready-to-cook vegetable produced from acrid tubers is safe, convenient, nutritious, and proves to be affordable for urban consumers. Adoption 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, NITK Surathkal is planning to license the technology to the entrepreneurs/organisations who are interested in the production of ready-to-cook vegetables for domestic and export markets.