OdishaPlus Bureau
Gajapati District is about 300 Kms away from State Capital Bhubaneswar. The Date palm trees are abundantly available in hillsides of the Gajapati district. Gajapati Date Palm Jaggery made by the Soura Tribals as a cottage industry is developed under Odisha Rajya Talgur Samabaya Sangha Ltd (ORTSS), a Govt of Odisha Enterprise and many tribal people are engaged in the production of Date palm Jaggery.
Gajapati Date Palm Jaggery GI Application No: 690 has been facilitated and filed by Dr P. Karthigeyan, IPR Expert, from CTTC, MSME- IPFC, Ministry of MSME, Govt. of India who has been authorized by Er. Chidananda Mishra OIS, MD, Odisha Rajya Talgur Samabaya Sangha Ltd (ORTSS), Govt of Odisha.
Dr. P. Karthigeyan said, “Date Palm Jaggery is a natural sweetener obtained from sweet juice (neera) of the date palm trees which is grown in natural climate. Gajapati date palm Jaggery is prepared in trapezoidal form called Pataligur. This jaggery is produced in traditional method and its purely organic in nature as no natural or synthetic colouring agents and artificial sweetening agents are added in this jaggery. The Date Palm Jaggery is dark brown in colour. It has a unique taste and flavour.
The GI tag may take upto a year as it has to undergo so many stages by projecting their uniqueness from their scientific and technical aspects. The Grant of GI will help the govt to protect the interest of tribals, enhance their livelihood, employment and commercial exploitation.
Samples of Date Palm Jaggery were tested in Central Govt laboratories to ascertain and establish the scientific and technical nature thereby yielding its uniqueness. This jaggery is delicious and supplements iron and vitamin deficiency. It also has a high medicinal value and used in the preparation of Ayurvedic medicines for curing asthma, gastric disorders, cough etc. This jaggery is also used by diabetic patients as it contains less sugar percent than sugar cane jaggery, crystal sugar and other sweetener agents. This Jaggery is rich in vitamins and natural minerals and also more nutritive than other sweeteners”.
The scientific and technical characteristics of the date palm jaggery with respect to other sugarcane jaggery is that it possesses a PH-5.42, Total Sugar 80.3%, Sucrose 65.10% Reducing Sugar 11.81%, Total Ash 4.7%, Iron 14.02 mg/100gm, Calcium 288.7 mg/ 100gm as per test results of different samples of date palm jaggery from central govt laboratories.