It’s the Age of Superfoods – in parallel with the Age of the Great Segue to plant-based foods… And like many better-known superfoods, this new player has exotic roots. Literally. Come along with us to the realm of the Lotus Seed!
Harvesting Makhana seed pods: Massive increase in production needed to fill global demand…
Mysterious? Yes… Magical? Arguably… Packed with nutritional goodies and just waiting to be discov-ered by the rest of the world? Definitely!
Coming soon…
Lotus Seeds (also known as Fox Nuts, or more-colloquially as Makhanas) are apparently the coming ‘thing’ in superfoods. They’ve been harvested in Northern India as long as anyone can remember. And thanks to new, simplified growing techniques, they’re being embraced as a crop-of-the-future by pro-ducers in Northern India.
It doesn’t hurt that the rest of the world is all over ‘superfoods’ right now. And lavishing attention on them as the Great Shift to plant-based foods gains traction with just about everybody.
Some background…
Folks in the north-eastern Indian state of Bihar know makhanas well. That’s where 90 percent of the world’s current supply is grown. But that’s about to change, according to makhana boosters eager to popularize the ancient crop.
According to a recent BBC ‘profile’, Makhanas are high in B vitamins, and protein, often enjoyed as a low-fat popcorn alternative and as part of keto and plant-based diets. They’re also a traditional com-ponent of various dishes, including the popular milk pudding kheer, as well as ground into flour.”
What’s happening…
In the wild, the water lily euryale ferox grows in muddy pools 8 to 10 ft. (about 3 m) deep. It’s har-vested mainly by folks whose families have practiced the trade for generations. Like Phool dev Shahni, a makhanas advocate who’s spearheading the movement to make the product the next superfood ‘thing’.
Wild makhanas are literally a chore to harvest. “I used to dive in 7 to 8 ft. [about 3 m] of water for hours a day – coming to the surface to breathe after 8 to ten minutes,” Shahni recalls. But new growing methods have eliminated the need to dive at all.
Makhanas are now being grown in just 1 foot / 30 cm of water. Farmers can simply wade through the fields with the water seldom rising above their knees. That means they can be cultivated and har-vested much more efficiently, increasing yields and ensuring more-reliable harvests.
Official backing
The Makhanas movement has the official backing of the Indian government, in the person of Dr. Manoj Kumar. He’s Senior Scientist at the National Research Centre for Makhana (NRCM), where he spearheaded development of the cultivation of lilies in shallow water.
He was also involved in breeding a more-resilient and productive variety, which he says has tripled the income of Makhana farmers.
My take
Makhanas certainly sound like a great candidate for a plant-based global favourite-of-the-future. But universal adoption of the new treat – say, on the same scale and basis as sunflower seeds – is going to require a major expansion of cultivation and a big-time promotion effort. Nevertheless, boosters like Shahni and Kumar say the drive has already begun. Hundreds of eager growers across India have embraced makhanas and are already expanding production to meet an exploding domentic demand.
Alas, persistent high fuel prices and logistical challenges are keeping global shipping costs relatively high. As a result, the commodity of price of ‘specialty foods’ such as Makhanas remains high. Global adoption of Makhanas will probably only take place when costs fall and supplies increase sufficiently to challenge the aforementioned sunflower seeds – and the current universal snacking standard, popcorn…
~ Maggie J.