SAMBALPUR: The Sambalpur University has secured a patent for an interesting invention, a ragi cake premix.
The patent has been granted for 20 years by Indian Patent office for the ‘Premix Composition of Ragi Based Cake and the Cake Thereof’ developed jointly by PG department of Home Science and the School of Chemistry Head of the Home Science department Chandrashree Lenka said ragi or millet is considered a superfood for its rich nutrition value.
Apart from phytochemicals and micronutrients, especially calcium, phosphorous, it also contains a great amount of protein.
However, it has failed to gain popularity in today’s time because of its taste.
“But when we refer to a cake, people of all age groups like to eat it because it is delicious. While the cakes available in the market are high in calories and not advisable for everyone, the cake we have developed with ragi is low in calories and has therapeutic value”, she said.
Apart from malnutrition, it can be helpful in eradicating diseases like osteoporosis, osteopenia, rickets and anemia. The cost of the ragi-based cake is also remarkably lower than the cakes available in the market.
It will cost only around Rs 2 if the millet and wheat of the Public Distribution System (PDS) is used for making it. It is also a good snack that can be supplied to children at anganwadi centres.
Patent for the premix composition of the ragi-based cake was filed in August last year and granted patent on March 31.
“It took numerous trials to finally succeed in developing the perfect composition with the exact nutritional parameter we needed. We are really happy with the achievement,” Lenka said.
Apart from Lenka, the other members who were a part of the project are faculty members Pramila Kumari Mishra, Achyut Kumar Biswal, Trupti Pradhan and research scholar Tripti Kumari.