Vegetarians should soon be able to enjoy dairy-free curd with a farmer from Chemberi in Kannur district preparing to begin operations to bring out the product on a commercial scale.
The development comes in tandem with Coconut Development Board launching a research programme to develop cheese and yogurt from coconut milk. Board chairman T. K. Jose said that ice-cream from coconut milk had already been test-marketed and the results were encouraging.
Thomas George, the Zoology graduate turned innovator, developed the method to ferment and coagulate coconut milk by increasing the quantum of lauric acid in coconut milk by adding the acid extract from honey as a catalyst.
The product had received provisional certification from Patent Office, Chennai, he said.
Experiments
He had been experimenting with several methods since 2006 before chancing upon the new coagulating method.
The curd from coconut milk had been tested at the Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore for its properties. The test results are positive, he said.
Mr. Jose said that curd from coconut milk was served to a group of coconut farmers, who approved of the new product’s quality.
Coconut producer companies in Kerala had offered to help Mr. George market the produce. He said that he planned now to start commercial production on a small scale by joining hands with investors who had ‘innovative ideas’ on the proposal.
Mr. George said that curd from coconut milk had anti-diabetic qualities. Prof. E. Kunjikrishnan at Parassinikkadavu Ayurvedic Medical College said that clinical trials were on at the Medical College to test the medical properties of curd from coconut milk.
The Board chairman said that even if curd from coconut milk did not have any anti-diabetic quality, it did offer a healthy option to the growing group of vegetarians.
