Going Fida over Findla

A health drink made from cactus fruit extract, findla acts as a natural detoxifier, boosts immunity and controls diabetes 
Going Fida over Findla

HYDERABAD:I was making rounds of the various crafts and food stalls at the recent International Kite Festival, Ahmedabad.  A small stall in a corner drew my attention, which later completely altered my perception of the Indian rural entrepreneur. Ramesh Bhai from Kathiawar was busy loading pink, fleshy fruits from a heap into a small machine. As I looked in wonder, a reddish blood-like juice dripped into a container. To my torrent of questions, Ramesh Bhai and his accomplice Arjun Bhai gave animated answers accompanied by generous smiles as they can’t speak Hindi and I can’t understand Gujarati.

Anil Panchal stepped in to explain: the stall was offering a health drink made out of a cactus fruit extract.  Called “Findla” in Gujarati, this prickly pear is abundantly found in the wild and is supposed to be of high medicinal value. Apart from various health benefits, this fruit extract is supposed to boost one’s haemoglobin levels, strengthen bones and teeth, lower cholesterol, control diabetes, boost immunity, improve eyesight, soothe the stomach, and act as a natural detoxifier. With so many merits it has every prospect of ruling the ever-evolving “alternative medicine” world!

Anil continued, “Of late, farmers are encouraged to grow this prickly pear for hedges, instead of wire fencing their fields. As they are abundantly found on the roadside, villagers often use it in their food. Table life of these fruits is generally three to five days and can increase up to a month if refrigerated. The fruits turn deep reddish-purple when ripe and ready for consumption. The small juicer machine costs 15-16 thousand rupees.  We use Stevia leaves as a preservative to prolong the shelf life of the extract. As against sugar, which gives a shelf life of 15 days, the use of stevia guarantees a shelf life of four to five months. Apart from the squash, jams are also made from Findla.” 

I have already heard about stevia and even tasted energy bars made out of oats, dry fruits etc. and stevia was used there instead of sugar. He further enlightened me: Stevia is a sweetener/ sugar substitute extracted from the leaves of the plant species “Stevia rebaudiana”. It is said to be 10 times sweeter than sugar. The leaves have been used traditionally for hundreds of years in both Brazil and Paraguay to sweeten local teas and medicines.

Though it has been around for 1,500 years, it has gained popularity only in the past one decade in the rest of the world. As a zero-calorie natural sweetener stevia benefits people with diabetes. All major regulatory agencies around the world have concluded that high purity stevia leaf extract is safe for use as a sweetener for human consumption, including diabetics, pregnant women and children. In Japan, stevia has been widely used as a sweetener for decades. In India, in a notification dated 13 November 2015 FSSAI has permitted its use in a range of products like carbonated water, dairy-based desserts and flavoured drinks, yoghurts, ready-to-eat cereals, fruit nectars and jams. Of late, stevia is being cultivated in India too. 

Besides, being a near-zero calorie food ingredient, stevia extracts have several unique properties such as long shelf life, high-temperature tolerance, non-fermentative. Studies found that kaempferol (present in stevia)can reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer by 23 percent (American Journal of Epidemiology). Chlorgenic acid reduces the enzymatic conversion of glycogen to glucose in addition to decreasing absorption of glucose in the gut. Thus, it helps reduce blood sugar levels. Lab studies also confirm a reduction in blood glucose levels and an increase in the liver concentrations of glucose-6-phosphate, and of glycogen. Certain glycosides in stevia extract have been found to dilate blood vessels, increase sodium excretion, and urine output. In effect, stevia, at slightly higher doses than as sweetener, can help lower blood pressure.

Being a non-carbohydrate sweetener, stevia would not favour the growth of bacteria in the mouth, which is attributed to be a causative agent of dental caries and tooth cavities. Further, being a herb, stevia contains many vitals minerals, vitamins that are selectively absent in the artificial sweeteners.

Then there was a pink powder which is a mix of Roselle flowers and stevia leaves to make a health drink: it helps regulate blood pressure, protects liver with its anti-oxidant properties and gives relief from kidney stones. In one corner Rasik was operating a small oil- extracting machine: as a handful of groundnuts would go in, the oil trickled into a container, neatly pushing out the waste, which in turn is used as cattle feed. Cooking oil can’t get purer than this! He told me in his broken Hindi that three kg of groundnuts yields one kg of oil. 

This is the other side of the festival where kite flyers from 44 countries came to show off their kites and win prizes while our humble farmers got innovative and enterprising, making the best use of what their arid region yields.I picked up all their goodies for a healthy tomorrow. Lifting my big bag of purchases, I pondered: while kites from all over the world fly in the sky, it is the Findla and Stevia that rule the earth for now!(The author is a documentary filmmaker and travel writer; she blogs at vijayaprataptravelandbeyond.com)

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