Journal of Eco-friendly Agriculture

Mahua flower is one of the most important non–timber forest produce (NTFP) in Jharkhand state, but, major part of mahua flower production (80 to 90%) is misused in the making and sale of unhealthy alcoholic liquor in Jharkhand state, just for quick and more earnings. As per collected information from the tribals, previously the same mahua flowers were consumed by tribals and others as mahua laddu also. But now-a-days, it is not in practice, because it has many drawbacks (look, shelf life, nutritive and sensory value etc.). Therefore, an on farm trial (OFT) was conducted to prepare mahua laddu scientifically with the objective to overcome all drawbacks of traditional mahua laddu and for healthy utilization of mahua flowers in place of harmful liquor. Three options were tried in OFT, each with 8 replications. In first option, as farmers’ practice (FP), mahua laddu prepared with traditional method and second and third options were scientific methods i.e. Technological Option I (TO I) and Technological Option II (TO II). Mahua laddus were prepared with scientific method by using local resources and local facilities of rural areas. After developing technology for laddus, their nutritive value was estimated and sensory evaluations (of six parameters) were done through score card method. The economics were also calculated. The result revealed that mahua laddus prepared by TO II was richest in many nutrients among the three options. This mahua laddus were with protein (19.44 g), carbohydrate (135.38 g), energy (135.38 Kcal) and calcium (63.74 mg). The overall acceptability on the date of preparation of FP, TO I and TO II were 6.87, 7.77 and 8.75 respectively. So, it was clear that mahua laddu of TO II was liked most by farm women and others. After calculation, it was found that the cost of mahua laddu (per kg) of FP, TO I and TO II were 32.40, 60.00 and 58.00 rupees respectively. When, shelf life of mahua laddus were studied, it was found that mahua laddus of TO I and TO II had shelf life of 5 weeks from the date of preparation, whereas mahua laddus of FP had shelf life hardly of 1 week only. Traditional mahua laddus (of FP) was found on third position in the studied parameters (nutritive value, shelf life and sensory evaluation), except for economic point of view. Thus, the scientific mahua laddus (TO II) were popularized through the demonstration in many block level and district level kisan melas, exhibitions and through distribution of leaflets and handout written in Hindi among farmers and other persons, who visited kisan mela stall in bokaro and in other parts of Jharkhand state and the response was very encouraging.