Sarki Oil : Indifference regarding the production and consumption of Sarki Oil
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Oil : Castor oil is widely used in the kitchen in many countries of the world including America. Castor oil is mainly used for frying. Because the food fried in it stays fresh for longer and keeps its taste, flavor and nuttiness intact.
However, despite the fact that the production of sorghum in India is more than other oilseeds, there is indifference towards the production and use of sorghum oil, said Sandeep Bajoria, president of the Mumbai-based All India Cotton Seed Crushers Association.
He was speaking at the 4th SEA-AICOSCA Cotton Seed Oil Conclave-2023 organized jointly by SEA and The All India Cotton Seed Crushers Association (AICOSCA) on Saturday (8th).
Mr. Bajoria said that oilseeds like groundnut, mustard, soybean, sesame, sunflower, safflower are grown in large quantities in India. Along with this, edible oil crops such as cotton, coconut and oil palm are now grown.
Recently, India has started producing rice bran oil. Interestingly, its production in India is 1 million tons, which is ahead of China and Japan.
After India became the world’s number one producer of cotton recently, among all the major oilseeds produced in the country, cotton seed or Sarki is the highest production. It has also overtaken soybeans, mustard and groundnuts. Sarki is versatile. It is used as cotton seed. Clothing is made from cotton. But by processing its seeds i.e. Sarki, a large quantity of meal is prepared from it. It is used as economical animal feed.
Apart from dairy business, it can also be used as animal feed in poultry and fish seed business. Value addition can be achieved as valuable by-products such as cotton linters, hulls are also produced from the same process. Most importantly, the edible oil produced from this process saves money spent on imports and important foreign exchange for the country.
Packed with various qualities and relatively cheap, Sarki can be a hen that lays golden eggs. But for that modernization of Sarki processing industry is very necessary. Cotton cultivation in India is done only for development of textile industry. Sarki is mainly used for the production of meal. But edible oil is neglected.
Only parts of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra use cottonseed oil for edible purposes. On the other hand, in America, since 1800, cottonseed oil has received the status of ‘America’s Native Vegetable Oil’.
There, this oil is also used well for salad dressings. Cottonseed oil is an excellent source of fatty acids compared to sesame, safflower and groundnut, mustard, olive and almond, according to scientists at the Tral Institute for Research on Cotton Technology (CIRCOT), ICAR, Mumbai.
This oil contains high amounts and effective pro-vitamin A in the form of carotene and vitamin B complex. Cotton seed oil is called ‘oil’. Conventional oil contains about 30 percent, while cottonseed oil contains 50 percent essential polyunsaturated fatty acids.
It prevents hardening of the coronary arteries. It is one of the few oils on the American Heart Association’s list of ‘OK’ foods. Bajoria mentioned at this time that this oil, which is free from cholesterol, has less fat content.
