GENERAL ARTICLES CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 109, NO. 8, 25 OCTOBER 2015 1411 The authors are in the ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Insti- tute, Kasaragod 671 124, India *For correspondence. (e-mail: balakbh64@gmail.com) Coconut inflorescence sap and its value addition as sugar – collection techniques, yield, properties and market perspective K. B. Hebbar*, M. Arivalagan, M. R. Manikantan, A. C. Mathew, C. Thamban, George V. Thomas and P. Chowdappa Fresh coconut sap (neera), if kept at room temperature for a couple of hours, undergoes fermenta- tion. Fresh sap is golden in colour, with pH > 7 and has no foul odour. The traditional way of tap- ping, i.e. collecting the sap in a mud pot kept at the top of the palm under atmospheric temperature for 8–12 h, ferments the sap before collection itself. The colour turns whitish, pH drops to below 6 and odour of toddy (fermented smell) slowly develops. Hence the only way to avoid fermentation of sap is either keeping collection boxes at low temperature or to collect the sap every hour and store chilled. Central Plantation Crops Research Institute has developed ‘coco-sap chiller’ with ice cubes inside, which maintains the temperature at 2–3C for 10–12 h, and also keeps the sap fresh and unfermented. The sap collected is sweet, non-alcoholic and also free from contaminants like ants, insects, pollen, dust, etc. The fresh, hygienic and unfermented sap is called Kalparasa. It can be sold as a ready-to-serve health drink under refrigerated condition or can be processed into value-added natural products like sugar, jaggery, honey, syrup, etc. without the addition of chemi- cals. Keywords: Coconut sap, health drink, market prospects, sugar content, tapping. PALMS are believed to be among the oldest flowering plants in the world 1 . The five major economic palms of the world are coconut ( Cocos nucifera), African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), date palm (Phoenix dactylifera), be- tel nut palm (Areca catechu) and pejibaye (Bactris gasi- paes). Among these, coconut produces inflorescences all through the year and so can be tapped. In India, it is called ‘tree of heaven’, ‘tree of life’, etc. 2 . For centuries, many palm species including coconut have been tapped to produce fresh juice (sweet toddy), fermented drinks (toddy, wine, arak), syrup (honey), sugar and jaggery. One of mankind’s first sources of sugar was probably Arenga pinnata 1 . Evidence of the use of Borassus fla- bellifer sugar in India has been reported by the Greek his- torian Megasthenes in the 4th century BC. Evidence for extraction of sugar in India is more than 4000 years old 3 , and jaggery and treacle from Caryota urens sap in Sri Lanka 4 has been reported. In Africa, the main traditional use of palm sap is for wine production. The same has been reported in Egypt (date palm) long before the birth of Christ 5 and on the Guinea coast by early navigators during the 15th century 6 . Coconut sap or neera is one of the important drinks, being traditionally tapped from coconut spadix and con- sumed largely by rural population. It is the phloem sap 7 , rich in sugars, protein, minerals, antioxidants, vitamins, etc. utilized by the plant for the growth and development of tender or mature coconut. As the flow of sap is slow and highly prone to fermentation, collection of unfer- mented sap is a challenging task. While tapping, lime is commonly used to inhibit fermentation. Even with lime, the sap becomes white with a foul smell making it unfit as a health drink. The fermented sap is called ‘toddy’, which has a strong odour that makes it unpalatable de- spite being nutritious. The lack of proper collection methods and suitable inhibitors to prevent fermentation led to the inclusion of both fermented (toddy) and unfer- mented (neera) sap under ‘toddy’. Accordingly, the Kar- nataka Excise Act, 1965 (Act 21 of 1966) adapted from the Mysore Excise Act, 1901(Act No. V of 1901), The Hyderabad Abkari Act, 1316 (No. 1 of 1316 F) and the Madras Abkari Act, 1886 (Madras Act 1 of 1886) were enacted and tapping of coconut sap was prohibited. Co- conut is included as an excise tree (Section 11A) and even the unfermented sap of coconut tree from which toddy can be produced is interpreted as toddy. However, unfermented sap and toddy are two different products, both chemically and nutritionally. In this article we