Technology to extract limonene from kinnows can make plants viable: Dept Even as the Punjab government has set the ball rolling for disinvestment of the Rs 84-crore processing plants,its horticulture department has opposed the move. The nodal officer for citrus and deputy director of the department,in a letter to the Punjab State Farmers Commission and the Punjab Agro Juices Limited (PAJL),the agency handling the plants,has offered an alternative to make the two plants at Abohar and Hoshiarpur viable by using Punjabs bountiful harvest of kinnows. Backed by his five-year work and research by the Post Harvest Technology Centre of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in Ludhiana,Dr Gurkanwal Singh has requested the state to instead opt for technology to make the plants viable by extracting high-value compound,limonene,from kinnow peel,juice and seed. Kinnow is the richest source for limonene known for anti-cancer properties and reducing cholesterol. Against three to five parts per million (ppm) limonene in other citrus fruits,its concentration in kinnow juice is upto 20 ppm. In kinnow seed,it is nearly 2,500 ppm. If some appendages are added to the existing plants to extract seed from the fruit and limonene from kinnow seed,peel and juice,it will not only make the plants viable but also offer better returns to farmers by creating demand for processing of the fruit, he says. However,the government seems to be in no mood to invest more on the plants. The PAJL has forwarded the proposal for adding more machinery for limonene extraction to the Union government,seeking funds under the Secondary Agricultural Processing Scheme. There is always room for improvement and recovering high-value byproducts such as limonene can make the project viable. We have moved the proposal to the Centre. If approved,it will be recovered from the private investor on disinvestment. If not,the technology can also be brought in by the private sector after disinvestment. This is a policy decision taken by a committee headed by the chief minister and they will take a final call on it. As of now,we have initiated the disinvestment process and our advisers have finalised details for inviting expression of interest (EOI) from private investors, said PAJL Chief Operating Officer K G Sharma. While Sharma says several private players may be interested in taking over the plants,both are presently operating far below their capacity of 20 million tonnes per hour. In 2008,orders also came from Pepsi and Baba Ramdev for processing gourds,aloe vera and carrots. This year,the plants have been mainly used for processing tomatoes by a Punjab company,Cremica. We had sent a team to Haridwar and Baba Ramdev has affirmed an order for processing amla, Sharma added. The proposals merit also depends on demand for limonene and the states ability to market it. Limonene is used in powder form in cosmetics and medicines. In addition to its anti-cancer properties,the United States Department of Agriculture has also found it to be useful in lowering cholesterol and possessing anti-HIV properties. Kinnow output down,prices up After a record of 8.5 lakh tonnes,kinnow output this year is likely to plunge to 5 lakh tonnes due to high temperatures in March and April. The fruiting is less every alternate year. However,the output this year will go even lower than the 2008-09 figure of 7 lakh tonnes owing to higher temperatures during March-April,when the plants are at flowering and fruit setting stage, said nodal officer for citrus Dr Gurkanwal Singh. The forecast of low output is fetching high prices for growers. The prices already are Rs 13-15 per kilo and by January-February,when the sweeter and riper fruit comes and the season nears its end,it will go past Rs 20 a kilo, adds Singh.
