MAKING NON-PALATABLE FOODS PALATABLE

We consume a wide variety of fruits in large quantities. However, we discard their non-palatable nuts/seeds. Many of these non-palatable fruits, leaves, peels, seeds, roots, barks and kernels (referred as non-palatable produce), e.g., mango seed kernel (MSK) and avocado seed, are discarded due to their astringency or bitterness. We have developed a simple, non-hazardous, green, mild and almost universal process of debittering many non-palatable astringent produce.

This process involves treating the non-palatable produce with baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) followed by a carboxylic acid, such as citric acid or lemon juice. The debittered solid food is not astringent or bitter and it is highly nutritious, mainly composed of protein, carbohydrate and fat while the extract is an excellent health drink, rich in vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals/therapeutic chemicals, such as anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-carcinogenic and reducer of cholesterol & blood sugar. This process uses household food additives and can be done by almost anybody at home. The process of debittering astringent produce appears to be almost universal. The process can be used for making a large number of non-palatable produce palatable. A variety of nutritious dishes, such as bread, curries and highly therapeutic drinks can be made from the debittered produce.

There is no study on the value of non-palatable produce. However, if non-palatable produce is made palatable, they can provide highly nutritious food and disease preventing therapeutic drinks which can be worth tens to hundreds of billions of dollars and it can minimize pollution.