Focus: GS-III Agriculture, Economic Development
Why in news?
- The government is set to launch a mahua-based alcoholic beverage in the market for the first time. Called Mahua Nutribeverage.
- The beverage has a high nutritional value and relatively low alcohol content, at 5 per cent.
- It has been developed by IIT-Delhi after two years of research in collaboration with TRIFED (Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India).
Mahuwa / Mahua
Mahua longifolia is an Indian tropical tree found largely in the central and north Indian plains and forests.
It is adaptable to arid environments, being a prominent tree in tropical mixed deciduous forests in India in the states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
Uses of Mahua
- It is cultivated in warm and humid regions for its oleaginous seeds (producing between 20 and 200 kg of seeds annually per tree, depending on maturity), flowers and wood.
- The fat (solid at ambient temperature) is used for the care of the skin, to manufacture soap or detergents, and as a vegetable butter.
- It can also be used as a fuel oil.
- The seed cakes obtained after extraction of oil constitute very good fertilizer.
- The flowers are used to produce an alcoholic drink in tropical India. This drink is also known to affect the animals.
- Several parts of the tree, including the bark, are used for their medicinal properties.
- It is considered holy by many tribal communities because of its usefulness.
