Rajasree has been experimenting with the fruit since 2016. (Supplied)
Think jackfruit and it conjures images of an unwieldy fruit that is difficult handle. From using specialized knives to a oils for lubricating one’s hands, cutting up a jackfruit is like an event!
Recognised as the largest tree fruit, India is the largest producer of jackfruits. And Kerala is one of the largest jackfruit-growing states. Known for its taste and nutritional benefits, it is interesting to note that jackfruit is an extremely versatile fruit. One can use it in both raw and ripe form. Almost every part of the plant is highly useful. Leveraging this quality of the fruit is Rajasree R. An innovative agripreneur from Thiruvananthapura, she produces a whopping 400-plus products from this fruit.
The brain behind the start-up Fruit N’ Root, Rajasree has been experimenting with the fruit since 2016. She has managed to use even its thorns to create products.
Born and brought up in Kerala, Rajasree was never really away from nature. Even though her father was in the postal department, he nurtured an interest in agriculture. He worked on the family farm during the early morning and evening hours. He cultivated paddy, banana, tapioca, little millet, and ginger etc. Her mother was often busy dishing up meals for the farmers and their families.
Rajasree produces a whopping 400-plus products jackfruit. (Supplied)
While Rajasree enjoyed playing around the paddy fields as a child, marriage took her to places like Mumbai and Qatar. In Qatar, her innate talent for gardening blossomed. Soon, she set up a kitchen garden where she grew veggies like potatoes and onions. Given that jackfruit was always a part of her diet, her mother periodically sent her sun-dried jackfruit bulbs and seeds which Rajasree used to prepare dishes like thoran, avial and puzhukku.
Even though she enjoyed the taste of ‘home’, she disliked the smell of the fruit that was retained during the sun-drying process.
“My friends really enjoyed the dried jackfruit sent by my mother. But I always wondered if there was a way we could eliminate the odour during the process of drying,” says Rajasree.
In 2016, Rajasree returned to Kerala for her children’s higher education. Witnessing the abundance of native jackfruit all around, its potential and also the quantum of wastage, she decided to turn it into a business.
Rajasree’s start-up has managed to use even jackfruit thorns to create products. (Supplied)
“There are over 50 varieties of jackfruit in my native village of Nooranad in Alappuzha district. It is organically grown and all-natural. During summer, the yield is huge. As a result, a lot of the fruit is left unconsumed. Hence, I decided to utilise this natural resource and this spurned the birth of my start-up ‘Fruit N’ Root’” says the 52-year-old.
Realising the potential of jackfruit flour as a replacement for refined flour (maida) coupled with her children’s love for pasta and burgers, Rajasree enrolled for a two-day training in mastering dehydrating technology for jackfruit in Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) in Kayamkulam.
“After that, I wanted to learn the art of making pasta using jackfruit flour but I was unable to find a pasta-making machine. In the Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (CTCRI), Sreekariyam I came across the tapioca pasta-making machine. I entered into a contract to purchase their technology and since then I have been using their incubation centre to manufacture jackfruit pasta,” says the entrepreneur.
Since its inception, Rajasree has been researching ways to use different parts of the fruit like the rind and even the leaves to make everything right from flour to cosmetics and even toothpowder. Rajasree has a team of 10. She sells her products through social media, word of mouth, friends and family.
Some of her unique offerings apart from pasta and flour include puttu powder idiyappam powder, chapathi powder, poor
Rajasree sells her products through social media, word of mouth, friends and family. (Supplied)
Besides, jackfruit halwa, ice cream, wine, curry mixture, murukku, papad, cutlets and even jackfruit-flavoured yoghurt are available at Fruit N’ Root. Jackfruit flour which is in high demand has no preservatives or ingredients like refined flour.
Her effort was duly rewarded. She was given the ‘Best Jackfruit Processor/Other Value Addition 2021’ award instituted by the Kerala Government. She is also the recipient of top awards in cookery competitions conducted by the Food Safety Authority of India.
Apart from jackfruit, Rajasree also works on products using banana and tapioca as well as organic rice flour using the Njavara/Navara variety.
She has also successfully experimented with germinating the latter to produce GABA (gamma amino-butyric acid) rice from Njavara.
May 15, 2024
May 14, 2024
May 08, 2024
May 08, 2024
May 08, 2024
May 07, 2024
