Description:TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method for preparing nutritional sweet toddy from coconut palms, date palms and palmyra. The sweet toddy prepared by the present method has a shelf life of about 12 to 18 months when stored at room temperature, a nutritious content and a consistent level of alcohol.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The commercial potential of coconut palms is always unique when compared to all other oil crops because of the diversified industrial products derived from the coconut palms. Along with coconut oil, coconut milk, coconut cream, desiccated coconut, the palms are the store house of natural nutritive drinks - tender coconut water, mature coconut water, coconut neera and sweet toddy. Although India is a country with mature coconut palms in abundance, the country however does not have a viable processing technology for such green drinks on par with processing technologies for natural drinks at the international market.

With regard to sweet toddy which is harvested from the spadix of coconut palms by traditional methods, it is seen that a commercially acceptable technology for processing and bottling of sweet toddy by preventing auto-fermentation after harvesting the toddy, with an intention to extend the shelf life of the drink at room temperature, has not been developed yet. As a recognized natural alcoholic drink, with 6 to 8 % alcohol, the nutritional value of sweet toddy in the form of minerals, amino acids, vitamins and proteins has not been considered for popularizing sweet toddy as a natural nutritive drink with a recommended level of alcohol in the toddy industry.

As a tropical tree popularly known as ‘Tree of Heaven’ with enormous nutritive, therapeutic & industrial values, coconut palms grow in 2 million hectares of India in more than 13 states, out of which an area of about one million hectare is covered in Kerala alone. Interestingly, at a global level, coconut palms grow in more than 90 countries covering an area of 12 million hectares. Sweet toddy is a popular alcoholic drink harvested by traditional methods from the inflorescence (Spadix) of coconut palms. Apart from the content of alcohol in moderate level ranging from 6 to 9 %, sweet toddy is unique amongst all other hot drinks because of its nutritional value. Sweet toddy is rich in protein, sugars, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. But a viable processing technology for bottling sweet toddy preserving its natural quality by preventing its auto fermentation after harvesting, is not available so far. Today, at an industrial scale, different agencies are marketing harvested toddy which are in a condition that cannot be stored for more than three days maintaining consistency in the natural taste. Subsequent storage of the drink will initiate acetic acid production by lowering the pH, which makes the drink undesirable for consumption.

Almost all coconut growing countries especially India, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Indonesia etc. harvest toddy and market it at an international scale. However, the storage of harvested toddy beyond three days has become a tedious task in toddy industry. In most cases, tappers discard the over fermented toddy in bulk quantity since it is not good for human consumption. There have been some attempts for preparing canned toddy, but the quality is not up to the mark owing to lack of appropriate processing technology.
Hence, there is a need for a robust method for the processing of toddy in order to ensure a longer shelf life of the drink at room temperature, parallelly maintaining the alcohol content of 8% in the drink with innate sweetness and without any change in the quality, aroma, and flavour.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Consequently, the present invention discloses a method of processing toddy to maintain an alcohol content of 8%, which facilitates the storage of toddy up to 18 months, at room temperature and with no compromise in its nutritional properties, taste, quality, aroma and flavour.
The present disclosure relates to a method of preparing sweet toddy comprising steps of:
a) collecting toddy in a container,
b) adding citric acid to the collected toddy and stirring the toddy,
c) adding potassium metabisulphite to the toddy and stirring the toddy,
d) pasteurizing the toddy at 70-80 °C for 15 to 20 minutes with mild agitation, to obtain processed sweet toddy, and
e) bottling the processed sweet toddy.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the citric acid is added to the toddy at a rate of 0.5 to 1 gram per litre.
In another embodiment of the present disclosure, potassium metabisulphite is added to the toddy at a rate of 0.25 to 0.5 gram per litre.
In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the processed sweet toddy is at the pH of 4 to 6.
In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the processed sweet toddy has a pH of 5.5 and comprises 5-8% of alcohol, 70-80% of water, 10-14% of sugar, 0.15-0.22% of protein, 0.10-0.20% of fat, 0.3 to 0.5 % of minerals, 0.25-0.30% of amino acids and 0.05 to 0.10% of vitamins.
In still another embodiment of the present disclosure, the processed sweet toddy contains vitamins selected from vitamin A, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, vitamin B6 and vitamin C; minerals selected from sodium, iron, potassium, magnesium, calcium and phosphorous; and amino acids selected from tyrosine, phenylalanine, histidine, cysteine, arginine and valine.
In still another embodiment of the present disclosure, citric acid is added to the toddy to maintain the pH between 4 to 6 and to prevent the formation of acetic acid.
In still another embodiment of the present disclosure, the potassium metabisulphite is added to the toddy to prevent microbial growth.
In still another embodiment of the present disclosure, the step of pasteurization extends the shelf life of the toddy to 12 to 18 months.
In still another embodiment of the present disclosure, the toddy is sourced from coconut palms, date palms or palmyra.
These and other aspects of the embodiments herein will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following descriptions, while indicating preferred embodiments and numerous specific details thereof, are given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the embodiments herein without departing from the spirit thereof, and the embodiments herein include all such modifications.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG 1. illustrates a flowchart to show the various steps involved in the method of processing today, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG 2. shows the pasteurization tank of 250 litres capacity in which sweet toddy is pasteurized for 70 to 80°C for 15 minutes.
FIG 3. shows the processed and bottled sweet toddy

The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention in any way.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.
The present disclosure relates to a method of processing toddy to maintain an alcohol content of 8%, and to extend the shelf life of toddy up to 18 months, at room temperature with no compromise in its nutritional properties, taste, quality, aroma and flavour.

In other words, the objective of the present technology is to process freshly harvested nutritious sweet toddy from palms such as coconut palms, palmyra and date palms, by maintaining the natural quality and nutritional values with a consistent level of alcohol content and with an increased shelf life of more than one year in room temperature.

With regard to coconut palms, coconut inflorescence sap (Neera) and sweet toddy are two independent products extracted from coconut spadix in two different biochemical conditions and their edibility and quality are quite different from each other.

Neera is a non-alcoholic soft drink whereas toddy is a beverage with low alcohol content. Neera is highly perishable and it has the tendency of fermentation in the vessel inserted into the coconut Spadix for tapping Neera. To prevent the fermentation of Neera, an anti-fermentation mix comprising potassium metabisulphite is added to the collected sap.

However, with regard to toddy, there is no interference in the natural biochemical process of fermentation of the sap and external agents are not added to arrest the fermentation, unlike coconut neera. Innate fermentation is allowed to progress in order to produce the maximum level of alcohol (8%).

The present invention is based on the scientific interference in the traditional tapping process of sweet toddy. The major constraint of harvesting sweet toddy has been its tendency to form acetic acid after three days of storage. In other words, extending the shelf life of harvested toddy is a challenge in the toddy industry. The objective of the present invention is to extend the shelf life of harvested toddy beyond 12 months without causing any change in the palatability, aroma, and flavour of the toddy, maintaining consistent level of 8% alcohol with all nutrients during storage at room temperature. Further, the present protocol of processing toddy is cost effective and affordable. The present protocol of processing and bottling sweet toddy prevents further adulteration after harvesting of toddy.

The present disclosure relates to a method of preparing sweet toddy comprising steps of:
a) collecting toddy in a container,
b) adding citric acid to the collected toddy and stirring the toddy,
c) adding potassium metabisulphite to the toddy and stirring the toddy,
d) pasteurizing the toddy at 70-80 °C for 15 to 20 minutes with mild agitation, to obtain processed sweet toddy, and
e) bottling the processed sweet toddy.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the citric acid is added to the toddy at a rate of 0.5 to 1 gram per litre.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, potassium metabisulphite is added to the toddy at a rate of 0.25 to 0.5 gram per litre.

In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the processed sweet toddy is at the pH of 4 to 6.

In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the processed sweet toddy has a pH of 5.5 and comprises 5-8% of alcohol, 70-80% of water, 10-14% of sugar, 0.15-0.22% of protein, 0.10-0.20% of fat, 0.3 to 0.5 % of minerals, 0.25-0.30% of amino acids and 0.05 to 0.10% of vitamins.
In still another embodiment of the present disclosure, the processed sweet toddy contains vitamins selected from vitamin A, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, vitamin B6 and vitamin C; minerals selected from sodium, iron, potassium, magnesium, calcium and phosphorous; and amino acids selected from tyrosine, phenylalanine, histidine, cysteine, arginine and valine.

In still another embodiment of the present disclosure, citric acid is added to the toddy to maintain the pH between 4 to 6 and to prevent the formation of acetic acid.

In still another embodiment of the present disclosure, the potassium metabisulphite is added to the toddy to prevent microbial growth.

In still another embodiment of the present disclosure, the step of pasteurization extends the shelf life of the toddy to 12 to 18 months.

In still another embodiment of the present disclosure, the toddy is sourced from coconut palms, date palms or palmyra.

Harvesting of sweet toddy has been performed traditionally by toddy tappers for decades. Harvested toddy is basically a fermented sap with 8% alcohol. The problem that is addressed by the present method of processing toddy is the maintenance of 8% alcohol level and the innate sweetness without affecting the quality, aroma, and flavour. Normally harvested toddy can be stored only for three days in room temperature. Subsequent storage will initiate the production of acetic acid by lowering the pH. In the present method citric acid is employed to maintain the pH. The weak organic acid - citric acid keeps the pH consistent in the toddy at an acidic range of 4 to 6. Moreover, citric acid can act as a preservative and as an emulsifier. This range of pH suppresses the formation of acetic acid in sweet toddy.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method for the production of nutritional sweet toddy involves two main phases:
i. Tapping and harvesting of sweet toddy from palms
ii. Processing, bottling and storage

Tapping and harvesting of sweet toddy
Toddy tappers implement a traditional procedure for tapping toddy. The coconut palms used in the present method are sourced from plantations of Trissur district, Kerala and fresh sweet toddy was harvested and collected from traditional toddy tappers without any contamination. Being a tropical country, there are ample plantations/farms of coconut palms in India. Compared to other coconut growing states of India, Kerala stands first in the area of cultivation of palms, with 1 million hectares of farms of coconut palms (more than 15 crore).

A coconut tree is averagely about 70 feet tall or 30-50 feet based on the variety of the palms and the flowers are right at the treetop. A toddy tapper needs to climb all the way to the top and he does so in a matter of seconds with a piece of simple equipment tied around the waist. Once a toddy tapper reaches the treetop, he ties a vessel or container to the flower stump and makes a small cut in the flowers. The sap starts flowing into the container. From a single tree, sometimes about 2 to 5 litres of sap are extracted. The fresh sap is sweet, lukewarm and non-alcoholic. It may be refrigerated and sold as a sweet drink.

However, to prepare toddy, the sap has to be fermented. Once the sap is collected into the container, it starts fermenting very quickly owing to the natural yeasts in the air. In about two hours, toddy is formed. It is sweet, slightly pungent and has 4% alcohol content. Toddy may be allowed to ferment further to make the drink stronger. The more it ferments, the stronger it turns. But if it is allowed to ferment for more than a day, it starts getting sour and tastes like vinegar. Some of the consumers of the drink, prefer the taste to be sour, however for most consumers, sourness in the drink is undesirable. So, before the drink turns sour, most of the toddy is sold, consumed or preserved in a refrigerator. The present method precisely offers a solution to the problem of excessive fermentation or auto fermentation of toddy.
It is important to make sure that during the collection of toddy, the vessel or pot intended for collection is clean and dry, prior to insertion of the same in the spadix of the coconut. The collection of the sap can be done twice a day for obtaining sweet toddy. This is because prolonged time for collecting toddy from palms will increase the intensity of fermentation which in turn enhances the percentage of alcohol content.

If the collection time is from morning to evening on the same day (for a duration of about 12 hours), the sweet toddy would have only 4-6 % alcohol. Hence, the toddy collected within a span of 12 hours in a day, having a lower alcohol content, can be named as Young sweet toddy.

If the collection is for a longer duration, for instance 24 hours, then the percentage of alcohol in the drink increases to 6-8 %. Hence, the toddy collected within a span of 24 hours in a day, having a higher alcohol content, can be named as Mature sweet toddy.

Processing, bottling and storage of sweet toddy
The harvested sweet toddy is collected in a plastic or metal barrel with a capacity of 200-300 litre at the plantation site itself. In order to prevent the excessive fermentation, an accepted food preservative citric acid at the rate of 0.5-1 gram per litre is added to the toddy collected in a barrel. The mixture is stirred well. The citric acid maintains the pH of the drink consistently at an acidic range of 4 to 5 which suppresses the formation of acetic acid. Citric acid also acts as a preservative and as a emulsifier.

After proper mixing of citric acid in the drink, the second food preservative - potassium meta bisulphite (for example, KMS, Food grade recognized as Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) by FDA) is mixed at the rate of 0.025 -0.05 % (250-500 mg per litre) and stirred well. Potassium meta bisulphite is an antimicrobial agent that prevents microbial growth in toddy. FIG. 1 shows a flowchart of the protocol followed for processing toddy.

After this process, the barrels of sweet toddy are transported to the processing plant and transferred to a tank for pasteurization at 70-80 °C for 15-20 minutes with mild agitation (FIG 2). This step of processing enhances the shelf life of the toddy beyond 12 months. The pasteurised sweet toddy is subjected to bottling in glass bottles. Appropriate hygienic environment is maintained during bottling and capping.

Coloured glass bottles with a capacity of 300 & 650ml are preferable for bottling. The bottle should be washed, dried and sterilized before filling. The filled bottles are slightly hot and hence can be kept in a chamber of running water for 2-3 minutes. Thereafter, the bottles can be stored at room temperature.
The composition and nutritional content of the processed sweet toddy is given in the below table:

Table 1: Nutritional content of processed sweet toddy

Parameters Sweet Toddy (100 mL)
pH 5.5
Alcohol Content 5-8 % - Young sweet toddy (5%) and mature sweet toddy (8%)
Water 80%
Calories 48 K cal
Sugar 10-11% (Mature sweet toddy)
12-14% (Young sweet toddy)
Protein 0.22% (220 mg)
Fat 0.18% (180 mg)
Minerals- Sodium, Iron, Potassium, Magnesium, Calcium and Phosphorous 0.3% (300 mg)
Amino Acids – Tyrosine, Phenylalanine, Histidine, Cysteine, Arginine and Valine 0.25% (250 mg)
Vitamins (Vitamins A, B2, B3, B6 and C) 0.08% (80 mg)

EXAMPLES:
Example 1:
Method of preparing sweet toddy:
Sweet toddy from coconut palms is harvested for a duration of 12 to 24 hours and 200 litres of toddy was collected in a barrel at the plantation site. In order to prevent the excessive fermentation, 200 gram of citric acid is added to the toddy and the mixture is stirred well.

After proper mixing of citric acid in the drink, 100 gram of potassium meta bisulphite is mixed and stirred well.

After this process, the barrels of sweet toddy are transported to the processing plant and transferred to a tank for pasteurization at 70-80°C for 15-20 minutes with mild agitation. The pasteurised sweet toddy is subjected to bottling in glass bottles. Appropriate hygienic environment is maintained during bottling and capping.

Coloured glass bottles with a capacity of 300 & 650 ml are preferable for bottling. The bottle should be washed, dried and sterilized before filling. The filled bottles are slightly hot and hence can be kept in a chamber of running water for 2-3 minutes. Thereafter, the bottles can be stored at room temperature (FIG 3).

The nutritional profile and the alcohol content of samples of freshly prepared sweet toddy was compared with the sweet toddy after 12 months. The samples did not show any significant difference in nutritional content (vitamin, mineral and amino acid profile). More over the alcohol content did not show any variation.
Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments and examples thereof, other embodiments and equivalents are possible. Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with functional and procedural details, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in terms of the procedural steps within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms. Thus, various modifications are possible of the presently disclosed system and process without deviating from the intended scope of the present invention. , C , Claims:1. A method of preparing sweet toddy comprising steps of:
a) collecting toddy in a container,
b) adding citric acid to the collected toddy and stirring the toddy,
c) adding potassium metabisulphite to the toddy and stirring the toddy,
d) pasteurizing the toddy at 70-80 °C for 15 to 20 minutes with mild agitation, to obtain processed sweet toddy, and
e) bottling the processed sweet toddy.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the citric acid is added to the toddy at a rate of 0.5 to 1 gram per litre.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein potassium metabisulphite is added to the toddy at a rate of 0.25 to 0.5 gram per litre.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processed sweet toddy is at the pH of 4 to 6.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processed sweet toddy has a pH of 5.5 and comprises 5-8% of alcohol, 70-80% of water, 10-14% of sugar, 0.15-0.22% of protein, 0.10-0.20% of fat, 0.3 to 0.5 % of minerals, 0.25-0.30% of amino acids and 0.05 to 0.10% of vitamins.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processed sweet toddy contains vitamins selected from vitamin A, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, vitamin B6 and vitamin C; minerals selected from sodium, iron, potassium, magnesium, calcium and phosphorous; and amino acids selected from tyrosine, phenylalanine, histidine, cysteine, arginine and valine

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein citric acid is added to the toddy to maintain the pH between 4 to 6 and to prevent the formation of acetic acid.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the potassium metabisulphite is added to the toddy to prevent microbial growth.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of pasteurization extends the shelf life of the toddy to 12 to 18 months.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the toddy is sourced from coconut palms, date palms or palmyra.