CENTRAL TRAVANCORE JAGGERY

(Registered with the GI Registry,Chennai Under class 30)

Description of Goods :

Jaggery has gathered a special interest as a natural sweetener due to its higher nutritional status with respect to the vital minerals, calcium, phosphorus and iron. Reducing sugars are also present in jaggery, which give more sweetness to jaggery. Preference for purified food items with various chemical processes is diminishing recently, and people go for natural and crude form of food prepared hygienically.

Sarkara is the local name of crude form of sugar. In Sanskrit also crude sugar is referred as €œSarkara and is produced from sugarcane plant (Saccharum officinarum). It is available in market in two forms. The semi solid form known as Pathiyan Sarkara , is embedded with sugar crystals having good taste, flavour and golden brown to brown in colour and is stored in 25-30 kg tins. The hand made ball form of jaggery known as Unda Sarkara is hard, easy for storage, has a prolonged shelf life and is golden brown to brown in colour. The liquid form known as pani is being made and used for home purposes only due to its low shelf life. The uniqueness of this jaggery is that it is very sweet, have good taste, appealing colour and do not have the salty taste (which is present in jaggery from the alkaline soils). Central Travancore Jaggery comprises of jaggery prepared from the sugarcane grown in the riverbanks and nearby places of, Manimala, Pampa, Achenkovil and Meenachil rivers of the old Central Travancore of Thiruvithamcore Kingdom (presently Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts and Chengannur taluk in Alappuzha district) of Kerala. This jaggery is produced by crushing the cane in electric crusher, then evaporating the juice by boiling in open pans made of copper, aluminium or tin on country kilns using the sugarcane trash as the fuel, removing them at different temperatures (striking temperatures) to get different forms, cooling in pans and making them into balls (Unda) while hot with hands or transferring it to tins for the semisolid form (Pathiyan). The jaggery produced from the geographical area is having a higher market demand than that produced from elsewhere, since it is very sweet in taste and doesn t have any salty taste like jaggery from the sugarcane grown in alkaline soils. The soil of the river banks of the region, where sugarcane is cultivated gets inundated during the South - West and North - East monsoons and hence is rich in organic matter due to the sedimentation of fresh silt from the flood waters once or twice annually. It provides a media for the luxurious growth of the crop which is the most suitable crop for the flood prone situation. The soil type is riverine alluvium and is unique in having low EC, slightly acidic pH and the natural soil enrichment through silting by flood waters. The Central Travancore Jaggery produced from the area is also unique in having very sweet taste and appealing golden brown colour. Moreover, no harmful chemicals are used for getting the appealing colour, except low concentrations of quick lime (burnt lime-Calcium oxide) giving rise to a concentration up to 40 mg percent in the final jiggery product, which can be considered as a nutritional supplement for fortification with respect to calcium (calcium is an essential nutrient for the human bone and teeth formation and maintenance with a requirement of 644 mg/day).

Central Travancore Jaggery is very sweet in taste without any off flavour or salty taste. The total sugar content varies from 85- 92 % and reducing sugar content varies from 3-15 % on dry basis, depending on different forms, storage, conditions of maturity and lodging of cane, incidence of rain etc. The ash percentage varies from 0.8-1.4 percentage. Central Travancore Jaggery is also a mineral supplement with respect to calcium, iron and phosphorus. The major sugarcane variety of the area is Madhuri developed by Sugarcane Research Station, Thiruvalla. This variety is being preferred due to its higher yield, appealing colour, crystalline texture of jaggery and the ratooning efficiency for 3-5 years. The traditional variety Java , with ability to withstand prolonged periods in inundated fields, is cultivated in some pockets of Kottayam district.

The yield of jaggery from this variety is comparatively less though colour and texture are good. This variety also has reasonable ratooning efficiency. The variety Madhumathi is also a good jaggery yielder for the plant crop and jaggery is darker in colour than the above two. The farmers share their experience that since the sweetness of the jaggery produced in the region is more, comparatively less quantity of the same is required for preparations compared to jaggery from other sugarcane areas and other states. The reducing sugar content of the Central Travancore Jaggery is high and the ash content is low, which may be the reason for the sweetness and taste. Even though higher content of reducing sugar is not a positive factor for long storage, this together with the low ash content, gives better taste and sweetness to this unique product. Moreover in the world market, quality products produced from specified localities have higher demand. Hence, due to the better taste, flavour and sweetness, jaggery prepared from this area, which was a major centre for jaggery production and trade in the past, definitely will be having immense scope in the world market also.

Characteristics of Sugarcane grown in Central Travancore

Central Travancore Jaggery is produced in the river banks and nearby places of Manimala, Pampa, Achenkovil and Meenachil rivers in the central parts of Travancore coming under Pathanamthitta and Kottayam Districts and Chengannur Taluk of Alappuzha District in Kerala. This includes the 54 Panchayats and 3 municipalities of Pathanamthitta district, the 74 Panchayats and 4 Municipalities of Kottayam district and the 9 Panchayats and One Municipality in Chengannur Taluk of Alappuzha District. All sugarcane farmers of above said Panchayats and municipalities are producers of this GI. The river basins and nearby places of these region are inundated during both the monsoon periods and accumulation of silt occurs during these times and hence has very rich fertility status. The properties of the soils of some major locations of the river banks are as below. The pH is Acidic Ranging from 4.7 €“ 5.2, EC 0.08 €“ 0.16 dS/M, Organic Carbon 0.8 €“ 1.1%, and available Nutrients, Nitrogen 80-150 ppm, Phosphorus 1.5 -€“ 5.5 ppm, Potassium 30 - 90 ppm, Sodium 30 €“ 65 ppm and Calcium 100- 200 ppm. During 1936, the river banks of Pampa and its tributaries alone produced sugarcane in 8000 acres of land in Thiruvalla and Pathanamthitta Taluks of Central Travancore and this was solely used for jaggery production. In those days the export of Jaggery from the Travancore State was 1, 13,598 cwts., accounting for Rs 11,35,676/ . Jaggery locally known as sarkara was one of the major export commodity in those days coming to 1 percent of the total export value of the Thiruvithamcore Kingdom and also there was a large internal market for the same. After the opening of the Pampa Sugar Mills in 1946 at Thiruvalla by the British Government and also the Mannam Sugar Mills in Pandalam after that (both in Central Travancore), the area of the sugarcane cultivation increased tremendously coming to 8000 ha in the banks of Pampa and its tributaries alone. But due to several problems, the mills were closed and the area reduced drastically. At present the area of sugarcane is less than 500 ha. in the region. The area of sugarcane cultivation in Central Travancore, coming under Kottayam and Pathanamthitta Districts and Chengannur Taluk of Alappuzha District, is above the MSL and lies between the latitude of 9 ‚ º4 - 9 ‚ º52 N and longitude of 76 ‚ º 21 - 77 ‚ º18 E.

Specification: 

Central Travancore Jaggery is prepared locally by evaporating the sugarcane juice obtained by mechanical crushing of the cane. Quick lime (burnt lime/Calcium oxide) is used in low concentration and some times local plant clarificants (bhindi/okra) are used for lodged/immature canes while boiling to improve the colour and for better crystallization of the product. Even though no preservative is used traditionally, due to high humidity of the area the product is easily degradable by fungal growth and hence preservative in prescribed limit (up to 70 ppm SO2) can be allowed. The Central Travancore Jaggery is produced in solid, semisolid, liquid or powder form having very sweet taste, flavour and golden brown to brown in colour. Major forms of Central Travancore Jaggery available in market are Pathiyan Sarkara and Unda Sarkara . The semi solid form, Pathiyan Sarkara (pathiyan means malleable) is embedded with sugar crystals having good taste, flavour and golden brown to brown in colour and is stored in 25-30 kg tins. The hand made ball form, known as Unda Sarkara (unda means ball) is hard, easy for storage, has a prolonged shelf life and is golden brown to brown in colour. The liquid form known as pani (Pani-means having liquid consistency) is being made and used for home purposes only due to its low shelf life. The uniqueness of Central Travancore Jaggery is that it is very sweet, have good taste, appealing colour, adopt organic methods for processing and do not have the salty taste of jiggery produced from sugarcanes cultivated in the alkaline soils and processed using lot of chemicals. Properties of different forms of Central Travancore Jaggery are given below.

‚  

‚The Central Travancore Jaggery is very sweet in taste without any off flavour or salty taste. The total sugar content varies from 85- 92 % and reducing sugar content varies from 3-15 % on dry basis, depending on different forms, storage, conditions of maturity and lodging of cane, incidence of rain etc. The ash percentage varies from 0.8-1.4 percentage. Central Travancore Jaggery is also a mineral supplement with respect to calcium, iron and phosphorus.

Proof Of Origin (Historical records) :

The Travancore State Manual (Volume III), published by State Editor, Kerala Gazetteer Department, Government of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, (1996 Edn.), (page 630-632) gives an account of the sugarcane cultivation, jaggery production and its export details ofthiruvithamcore Kingdom in the early nineties. The value of the jaggery exported fromThiruvithamcore during the Malayalam era 1102 €“ 1111 (1927-1936 AD), ranged from Rs. 2.08 lakhs to Rs.11.36 lakhs and the quantity varied from 33144 cwts. to 113598 cwts. More over it is stated that there was a large market for jaggery within the country and the produce mainly came from Central and North Travancore. Of these also, the major area was confined to the Thiruvalla and Pathanamthitta taluks in Central Travancore, on the river banks of Pampa and its tributaries. Almost the whole of the crop was used for production of jaggery locally known as sarkara . The details of cultivation of sugarcane, varieties used, details of harvest etc are also provided. Jaggery is mentioned as a major export commodity from the area indicating the superior quality of the produce and also its large scale production. Practically every traveller to India over the centuries mentions sugarcane; the Moroccan Ibn Battuta wrote of the sugarcanes of Kerala which excelled every other in the 14th Century.

Method of Production

Cultivation Practices:

The sugarcane, from which jaggery is produced is cultivated, using sugarcane Setts containing 3 buds from the top portions of the cane, either in ridges and furrows or in pits during December- January. The organic manures and chemical fertilizers are applied at recommended dose as nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) (NPK) at 165: 82.5: 82.5 kg/ha for sugarcane. The entire phosphorus is applied as basal dose and N and K are top dressed in two equal splits on 45th and 90th day after planting. Partial earthing up is done after 2nd top dressing and the final earthing up is done after south west monsoon and the trash is removed from the canes about 3 months before the harvest.

Harvesting and Processing:

The cane is harvested on maturity (10-14 months) by cutting the cane 2-3 cm above the soil. Roots if any, dry leaves and the top portion of the cane are removed. The cleaned cane is then crushed mechanically in an electric 3- roller crusher and the juice obtained is filtered and kept for sedimentation for some time to remove the impurities. The supernatant sugarcane juice is then decanted to remove the sediments, mixed with low concentrations of quick lime solution in water for better crystallization and then evaporated in big jaggery pans over local fire wood furnaces up to specific temperatures (approximately 108^o C to 122^o C for the different forms of jaggery). The frothing impurities are removed at the early stages of evaporation. The processed juice is removed to cooling pans made of wood, stainless steel or on to ground lined with marble/ kadappa stone, allowed to cool to get the crystalline texture and packed in tins or earthen pots in semi solid form. For the preparation of Unda sarkara, the striking temperature is slightly higher than the semisolid form. The processed juice is transferred to the cooling pans as above to get crystalline texture and shaped into small balls while hot, manually with hand. The same is stored in gunny bags or bags made of Palmyra (Borassus flabellifer) leaves in air tight rooms/huge wooden boxes (Ara & Pathayam). The sugarcane trash obtained after crushing the cane is utilized as the fire wood for boiling the juice and there is no waste production except the fire ash which can be used for the cultivation of sugarcane. Hence it is an eco-friendly cottage industry. Also there is not much need of transportation of raw material, since the jaggery production sites are near to the sugarcane fields.

Uniqueness :

Central Travancore Jaggery is unique for its very sweet taste, texture and flavour. Traditionally no chemicals, other than low concentrations of quick lime, up to one g/l juice (tied in muslin cloth and kept in juice tank/decanted supernatant €“ which leads up to 40 mg percent calcium in jaggery) is used in processing and hence is more or less considered as an organic product. The jaggery produced from good mature canes from the area has an appealing golden brown colour and is crystalline. The taste is also very good and sweeter than jaggery from the alkaline soils with no off flavour of salt. The basic media for preparation of various Ayurvedic medicines is jaggery. The Central Travancore Jaggery is preferred for preparation of Ayurvedic medicines, for which Kerala is very famous, due to its appealing golden brown colour, higher sweetness and organic nature. Jaggery itself has numerous medicinal properties and is mentioned in the Ayurvedic books. It is cooling, diuretic, refreshing and lactogenic, acts as tonic, cardiac tonic, normalizes semen & sperm and improves throat conditions. It is prescribed for use in diseases like anemia, jaundice, cold and cough, breathlessness, kidney problems, rheumatic conditions etc. For preparation of Prasadams of various temples also the Travancore Jaggery is preferred adding to its high market demand. In Chalai market of Thiruvananthapuram (major market of Thiruvithamcore), Central Travancore Jaggery is sold at a premium price which is Rs. 3 - 4 / kg higher than jaggery from other places.

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