ICAR-NRC transfers Banana wine making tech to boost wine Industry of Maharashtra

It aims at providing a larger market for domestic Wine producers in Maharashtra.

The ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu has licensed and transferred the Banana Wine and Vinegar Making Technology to the Surachita Agro Producer Company Ltd., Solapur, Maharashtra.

In her address, Dr. S. Uma, Director, ICAR-NRC for Banana, Tiruchirapalli emphasized that converting the ripe Bananas into alcoholic beverage will not only help to reduce the fruit wastage in the supply chain; but, also enable the doubling of farmers’ income by tertiary processing, create jobs and enhance investment opportunities.  Ratnadeep Mohan More, Chief Executive Officer, Surachita Agro Producer Company Ltd., Solapur accentuated that the technology from the ICAR-NRC of Banana will be used to produce Banana Wine and Vinegar that will provide the consumers with the options to choose only Grape Wine or Apple Cider Vinegar for consumption. He stressed that the over-matured Bananas at the field and produce rejected during the export finds a new way for further utilization.

Dr. P. Suresh Kumar, Principal Scientist, ICAR-NRC for Banana, Tiruchirapalli & Inventor of the Technology briefed that in a recent move that is aimed at providing a larger market for domestic Wine producers, the State Governments like Kerala and Maharashtra are revising their state Policies to utilize the native grown crops. The Banana is a good choice for Wine production because of its high concentration of polyphenols and antioxidants with high sugar content, Banana wine does not require additional sugar.

Dr. K.N. Shiva, Principal Scientist, ICAR-NRC for Banana & Co-inventor of the Technology underlined that the Banana Wine can be produced by the fermentation without addition of alcohol or synthetic flavors. Similarly, in place of synthetic Vinegar, Banana Fruit based Vinegar has good market potential.

It aims at providing a larger market