Cakes and breads will be made from apple pulp i.e. Apple Pomace, agricultural industries got a new way of earning

Agricultural scientists have given a new gift to the food processing industry associated with apples. The Department of Food Science and Technology, Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar from University of Horticulture and Forestry, located in Nauni in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh, has developed such a technique by which those who survive after extracting apple juice are the remnants of the pulp i.e. apple pomace can also be used in the manufacture of food items.

Technique for making apple pomace as raw material for bread and cake 

Nutrients like flavonoids, fibre, pectin, sugar, antioxidants are left in apple pomace. Till now they had to be thrown away. But now the same apple pomace will play the role of raw material for bakery items like breads and cakes. According to the Vice Chancellor of the University, Dr Parvinder Kaushal, the new technology will result in value addition of apple pomace and will solve the problem of disposal of organic waste or waste generated from the food processing of apples, because it makes many nutritious items in factories itself. Therefore, it is expected that the technology of converting apple pomace into value added products will provide additional income to the cottage, small, medium scale food processing industries extracting apple juice.

Apple pomace is the main source of water and air pollution right now 

Certainly, the new technology will prove to be a gift to apple growing states such as Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand, as apple pomace is either dumped in or near factories after extracting thousands of tonnes of apple juice every year. It is then thrown into running water, from where it becomes the main source of water and air pollution. In this way, the disposal of thousands of tonnes of apple pomace produced every year in the country is a serious environmental challenge in itself.\

The technology to make many products from Apple pomace is present in the country 

Techniques for the development and effective use of a number of value-added products such as apple jams and jellies, pectin, ethanol, citric acid, vinegar and animal feed have not only been developed around the world, but have also been standardized. In order to develop the ability to make the best use of many important nutrients present in apple pomace, which are thrown away as waste. Scientists of ICAR in the country have also done commendable work in this direction. Hence, if the Indian apple processing industry uses indigenous technologies effectively, it can contribute immensely to the conservation of environment and foreign exchange.

There are employment opportunities in Apple pomace 

It is not difficult to understand how widespread the impact of the new technology of using Apple pomace can be? According to Dr. K. D. Sharma, Chairman, Department of Food Science and Technology of the University, more than 20 thousand tonnes of apples are used annually in the food processing industries present in Himachal Pradesh. So far, efforts have been made to make ethanol, vinegar, animal feed, fuel material and manure from apple pomace. But these efforts were limited, as it has not been able to take the form of commercial industry. It is expected that the trend of entrepreneurs towards the new use of Apple pomace will increase rapidly. This will develop new avenues of employment and entrepreneurship.

How to get details of new technology? 

However, entrepreneurs who want to know in detail about this new technology, how apple pomace can be used in bakery products like cakes and breads, should be invited to the Department of Food Science and Technology, Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar from University of Horticulture and Forestry, Himachal Pradesh. (Dept. of Food Science &Technology) should be contacted directly. Here the phone number is 01792-252410 and the email is hodfst@yspuniversity.ac.in and hodfstuhf@gmail.com.

Apple cultivation in Himachal 

Himachal Pradesh is the major apple producing state of the country. There, more than 2 lakh families are involved in apple cultivation. The same number of people are involved in the business of packaging, marketing, transporting and cold storage of apples. This is the reason that horticulture and apple cultivation are very big in the agricultural economy of Himachal Pradesh. The state has plantations of fine apple varieties like Royal Delicious, Red Chief, Super Chief, Oregon Spur and Scarlet Spur. From these orchards, apples keep coming to the market from August to October. 

Also Read: Banana cultivation becomes troubleshooter for farmer Raghu Singh, earning in thousands per bigha

Apple juice business 

Usually 600 to 650 ml of juice comes out from one kg of apple. That is, after extracting the juice, about 350 to 400 grams of apple pomace is obtained per kilogram of apple. According to this, 8 thousand tons of apple pomace are available annually in Himachal alone. If this quantity can be used for making cakes and bread in the bakery, then a revolutionary change can be created in the farming world in the state. Apple juice is marketed as canned bottles of its ‘concentrate’ (apple juice concentrate). 9 to 12 kg of apples are required to produce one kg of apple ‘concentrate’. The difference in this quantity is due to the machines and technology of the juice extracting factory.

To promote the horticulture sector in Himachal Pradesh, a special government enterprise for food processing and marketing is run by the state government. Its name is – Himachal Pradesh Horticultural Produce Marketing and Processing Corporation (HPMC). HPMC has two large food processing plants at Parwanoo and Jarol. In the year 2018, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India had raised serious questions on the productivity of loss-making HPMC and described its condition as worrying. At present, the situation is that HPMC has to face stiff competition from apple juice concentrate imported from China. However, well-known companies involved in the canned beverage business in the country like Parle Agro, Godrej Industries, Nestle and Mohan McKins, etc. regularly procure apple juice concentrate from HPMC.

Record apple production in Jammu and Kashmir 

This time there has been record production of apples in Jammu and Kashmir. Last year, where 10 lakh tonnes of apples were sent from the state to other states of the country, so far this year 1.5 million tonnes of apples have been sent out of the state’s market. According to Digvijay Singh, Joint Director, Horticulture Planning and Marketing Department of the state, this year’s bumper apple production in the state has set a record. In 2021, where 1.5 million tonnes of apples were sent out of the state, in 2020 its quantity was one million tonnes. Whereas in 2019 this quantity was 14 lakh tonnes and in 2018 it was 12 lakh tonnes.

So far, a business of more than Rs.6 thousand crores has been done in the agricultural markets of the state. By March, 1.7 million tonnes of apples are expected to reach the mandis in the state and the turnover will reach Rs 7,000 crore. In fact, this year the business was not affected even during the covid transition and apples could be properly maintained in the cold storage. This year the facility of cold storage could also be provided to the farmers of the entire state. The major varieties of Kashmiri apple are Hazrat Bali, Gala Mast, Kandisan, Rajatbari, Amri Golden, Royal Delicious and Red Delicious. Kashmiri apple is in great demand due to its high sweetness. 

Contact us: If farmers want to share information or experiences related to farming with us, then they can do this by calling us on the phone number 9599273766 or by writing an email to kisanofindia.mail@gmail.com or by sending your recording. Through Kisan of India, we will convey your message to the people, because we believe that if the farmers are advanced then the country is happy.

You can connect with Kisan of India on Facebook, Twitter, and Whatsapp and Subscribe to our YouTube channel.