THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Deputy Speaker Shanimol Osman had some nostalgic memories to share with her assembly colleagues as they were seated at the Coffee House of the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.
“Back in the days we always had dishes made from jackfruit and banana stem at our house,” she told them when organisers brought her a plate of ‘chakka idlis’ and ‘chakka puzhukk’.
After serving coconut chutney to everyone around the table, she too took a bite of the dishes prepared by the Jackfruit Promotion Council (JPC) arranged here as part of their initiative.
Calling herself a promoter for using jackfruit in beneficial ways, Shanimol said that such methods to preserve traditional food items should always be welcomed. “I don’t know about today’s children, but I feel sad when I see a ripe jackfruit being wasted.
I think such promotion programmes for jackfruit should reach more people,” she said, and shared her memory from a Malaysian visit where she saw jackfruit being celebrated as the world’s largest fruit in an event.
The Congress leader also commented that recent research on how jackfruit can be used to cure severe diseases, including diabetes, is thought-provoking, and called herself a ‘jackfruit promoter’ for this cause.
Aimed at promoting the health benefits of consuming raw jackfruit, the event was also attended by MLAs from all major political parties.
The feast in the assembly was preceded by a state-level seminar ‘Benefits of raw jackfruit: Research findings and possibilities’ at the West Fort here, which was inaugurated by Agriculture Minister T Siddique. Prominent academicians, including Alappuzha Medical College former principal Dr B Padmakumar, spoke.