Start a Frozen Citafal ( Sugar-Apple) Extraction Plant

    


(186). Start a Frozen Citafal ( Sugar-Apple) Extraction Plant
Citafal is in demand in every winter season.. Every winter Sitafal becomes the first pick by people of all age group, whether a school kid, a working executive or an elderly person.
Though it is popularly known as Sitafal but the actual name is Sugar-Apple and its scientific name is Annona Squamo. Sitafal belongs to the species of Annona native to the tropical America and it is widely grown in the regions of India and Pakistan.

Sitafal is rich in calories and turns to be a good source of iron. It is used by some societies in India to prepare a hair tonic. The seeds of Sitafal are also rich as they are grinded and applied to hair to get rid of lice; however, at the same time it must be kept away from the eyes as it is very irritant and can cause blindness.
This fruit has an interesting history attached to it in respect to its name i.e. Sitafal. Mythologically it is said that Sita, wife of Lord Rama during her vanvaas used to eat this fruit. While some texts says that when Ravana was abducting Sita, at that time the drops of tears from her eyes and nose fell onto the ground and they gave birth to Sitafal trees in the wilderness. Although, many people believe that sitafal has nothing to do with Sita. Its origin is in Sanskrit i.e. “sheet” in hindi means cold and “phal” is fruit and having excess of it can give you cold and also it has a cooling effect on your body so hence the name is Sitafal

Ciphet to introduce machine to separate fruit from pulp

With rising demand for the separation of seeds from the pulp of sitaphal (custard apple) in Maharashtra, the Central Institute of Post Harvest Engineering Technology (Ciphet), has decided to develop a machine to extract finer pulp from custard apple soon. The new machine would help fruit growers to extract and process the pulp easily.

According to a report in TOI, the Maharashtra Sitaphal Growers Sangh has requested Ciphet to device a mechanism for the process.

The Ciphet is Punjab-based nodal institute which undertakes various researches in the area of post-harvest engineering and technology appropriate to agricultural production in the country.

Sitaphal, which is grown under various names across the world, has a huge demand in the country and abroad. In recent years, the use of sitaphal has increased in ice-cream and fruit shakes. “The separation of seeds has to be carried out manually in villages, which is costlier and time-consuming,” Memane Dhnyandev, a farmer of Bhiweshwar village in Maharashtra, told TOI.

Currently, around 15,000 acres of land was under sitaphal cultivation. Dr Nilesh Gaikwad, scientist from Technology Transfer Division, said, “We have developed a model and are testing its mechanism for separating seeds. The mechanism in the model is working well and seeds are getting separated.”


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