<div>Jaggery is the most popular traditional Indian sweetener produced from sugarcane juice by concentration, without molasses being separated. It is a good source of minerals and nutrients, and has several medicinal values as well. With the increasing demand of this nutritive sweetener, efforts are being made to develop a standard manufacturing package that will increase its productivity besides quality improvement in terms of hygiene, standardization of shape, size and storability. The thermal and overall efficiencies of plants producing jaggery are very small due to the loss of thermal energy through flue gasses and un-designed plant parameters of construction. Storing jaggery is also a major problem. Since, the quality of invert sugars and mineral salts, which are hygroscopic in nature, is greatly affected. This intends us to study the technological upgradations used for the production and preservation of jaggery in order to prioritize the required advancements. This review provides information of the technical upgrading of manufacturing plants for jaggery and the preservation of jaggery using various storage and packaging methods.</div>


<div>The Art and Science of Jaggery Making: A Review</div>


<div><strong>Background:</strong> Intercropping is wildly practiced in oil palm plantation in Thailand for a long time. However, there are few studies connected to oil palm intercropping. This study evaluated the effects of perennial intercrops on the agronomic and yield traits of oil palm.<br />
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<strong>Methods:</strong> The observation used a completely randomized design with eight treatments including oil palm monocropping, oil palm intercropped with <em>Intsia palembanica, Hopea odorata, Swietenia macrophylla, Ternstroemia wallichiana, Azardirachta excelsa, Magnolia champaca and Mesua ferrea.</em> The height and stem perimeter of intercrops were recorded as were the plant height and diameter, number of male and female inflorescences and sex ratio of the oil palms. Those parameters were observed in October 2019, February and June 2020.<br />
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<strong>Result: </strong>Oil palm intercropped with <em>A. excelsa</em> produced the highest number of female inflorescences and oil palm intercropped with <em>M. champaca</em> produced the highest sex ratio in October 2019 and February 2020, however, the differences of those parameters were not found in June 2020. There were no significant differences in the diameter, height, the number of male inflorescences throughout the observation. Among the 7 intercrops, <em>M. champaca</em> and <em>A. excelsa</em> produced the highest growth rate of plant height and stem perimeter, respectively. In conclusion, oil palm can be intercropped with perennial plants. However, more research is needed to determine the long-term effects of intercropping in oil palm.</div>


<div>Effects of Perennial Intercrops on Oil Palm Agronomic and Yield Traits</div>


<div>Sugarcane is one of the most important crops in India, which meets the sweeteners requirement of people. India is one of the largest sugarcane producers in the world. Jaggery is a conventional sugar that is unrefined and often eaten all over the world. It is regarded as the healthiest sugar in the world because of its mineral and vitamin content as present in sugar cane juice. It is produced in India by the concentration of sugar cane juice, without separating molasses. The Jaggery making plants are placed in decentralized sectors in India. The efficiency of traditional plants producing jaggery is very poor because they are manufactured by local artisans. The use of multi-pan plants with a heat pump based freeze concentration system is found to be a successful approach for efficient jaggery production from the available literature in the manufacture of jaggery manufacturing plants. Due to the presence of inverted sugars and mineral salts that are hygroscopic in nature, the storage of Jaggery is difficult. The storage of jaggery in a whey coated drying cum storage bin is found to be most efficient in preserving the consistency of jaggery. The greenhouse drying of jaggery is an effective way to extract and preserve the moisture content of jaggery for a longer period of time.</div>


<p>Jaggery Making Process and Preservation: A Review</p>


<div><strong>Background: </strong>Tenera oil palm is widely planted as a commercial plantation crop throughout Southern Thailand. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the phenotypic correlation and the direct and indirect effects among bunch yields and vegetative characteristics in commercial tenera oil palms.<br />
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<strong>Methods:</strong> The oil yield, fresh fruit bunch, bunch number, average bunch weight, leaf area, leaf dry weight and rachis length were recorded from six commercial tenera oil palm progenies. The data were recorded between January 2019 and June 2020 at The Chaipattana Foundation&rsquo;s oil palm plantation in Trang Province, Thailand.<br />
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<strong>Result:</strong> Results show that fresh fruit bunch, average bunch weight and rachis length positively correlated with oil yield (rp = 0.90**, 0.50* and 0.53, respectively), while bunch number and rachis length positively correlated with fresh fruit bunch (rp = 0.58* and 0.47*, respectively). The path analysis shows that bunch number significantly correlated with fresh fruit bunch (0.58*) and strongly directly affected it (1.11). The fresh fruit bunch significantly correlated with oil yield, (0.90**) and had a strong direct (2.08) and indirect effect (1.20). These results indicate that bunch number and fresh fruit bunch are useful variables for oil yield improvement in further breeding programs of oil palm.</div>


<p>Correlation and Path Analysis in Commercial Tenera Oil Palms Collected from Southern Thailand</p>


<div><strong>Background:</strong> Raw palm oil mill effluent is toxic effluent capable of posing serious threat to plants when discharged to the environment. In developing countries, the untreated effluent is often discharged to the surrounding land due to high cost associated with its treatment. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the impact of palm oil mill effluent treated with locally available material on the growth of maize.<br />
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<strong>Methods:</strong> The bunch ash obtained from local material by burning de-fruited oil palm bunch was used for the treatment. The experiment was consisted of eight treatments of concentrations of palm oil mill effluent <em>viz</em> 1.0%, 2.0%, 3.0%, 4.0%, 5.0%, 6.0%, 7.0% and 8.0%. The treatment was carried out on potted maize plants with six replications. Four kilograms of soil was weighed into each pot. Six pots were labelled as control, with untreated palm oil mill effluent added to them. Eight other groups consisting of six pots each were treated with 1.0%, 2.0%, 3.0%, 4.0%, 5.0%, 6.0%, 7.0% and 8.0% concentrations of the effluent. The maize seeds were planted one in each pot to avoid overcrowding. The pots were transferred to greenhouse and each pot was moistened daily with the specified concentration of the palm oil mill effluent. The growth rate, plant height and leaf length of the maize plants were thereafter determined.<br />
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<strong>Result:</strong> The 8.0% concentration of bunch ash in the effluent had the highest expected effect on all the parameters whereas the control gave the lowest expected effect. The effects increased as the concentration of bunch ash in the effluent increased, indicating that increased concentration of bunch ash recorded significant increase in growth rate, height and leaf length of maize. The analysis of variance for the obtained data showed that the effects of the different concentrations were significantly different. This study provides an alternative and cost effective method of ameliorating the toxicity of palm oil mill effluent to plants.</div>


<p>​Effect of Palm Oil Mill Effluent on the Growth of Maize (<em>Zea mays</em>)</p>


<div><strong>Background: </strong>Jaggery, a traditional sweetener is produced from the sugarcane juice and its quality mainly depends on cane juice quality. It is specific to check, which sugarcane variety is producing the best jaggery in terms of its quality and recovery. Thus, this study was undertaken to screen five different promising early (CoH 160, Co 89003, Co 0238) and mid season (CoH 119, CoH 167) sugarcane varieties and to prepare and evaluate jaggery qualitatively.<br />
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<strong>Methods:</strong> The different sugarcane varieties were harvested at proper maturity, weighed and crushed to extract juice in November, January and March. The juice was analyzed for various physico-chemical parameters viz., total soluble solids (<sup>o</sup>Brix), purity, pol, juice recovery (%) and commercial cane sugar (%). Good quality jaggery was prepared and evaluated for the sensory characteristics. The jaggery was evaluated quantitatively for physico-chemical parameters (reducing sugars, total sugars, sucrose, net rendement value, hardness and minerals.&nbsp;<br />
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<strong>Result: </strong>The jaggery was found to have 8.50-10.70 per cent moisture, 68.82-78.95 per cent sucrose, 7.67-8.83 per cent reducing sugars and 1.45-2.63 per cent ash. The jaggery prepared from Co 89003 had significantly highest sensory scores over jaggery made from all other varieties. Jaggery made from CoH 160 variety was comparable with that of Co89003 variety. The early sugarcane varieties Co 89003 and CoH 160 were found to produce good quality jaggery as compared to mid-late varieties.</div>


<p>Screening and Physico-chemical Study of Quality Jaggery Prepared from Different Early and Mid Season Sugarcane Varieties</p>


<p>Jaggery is an unrefined sugar produced by evaporating water from sugarcane juice, making it one of India&rsquo;s oldest cottage industries. Approximately 25-30% of India&rsquo;s total sugarcane production is used for jaggery and khandsari, with an output of 9.2 million tonnes in 2024. The process generates bagasse, a fibrous residue from crushed sugarcane, commonly used as fuel for open-pan boiling. However, this traditional method has low heat utilization efficiency, often requiring additional combustible materials, leading to higher pollution and CO<sub>2&nbsp;</sub> emissions. This paper reviews the existing processes used in jaggery production, identifying best practices and future techno-economically viable improvements. One promising alternative is the freeze pre-concentration process, which selectively removes water from juice before concentration. This method, followed by steam-jacketed pan-based concentration, reduces bagasse consumption and enhances jaggery quality by minimizing prolonged high-temperature exposure. Additionally, incorporating a vapor recompression system can enable evaporation under vacuum, where compressed steam efficiently heats the jacketed pan. By evaluating various jaggery production methods, this review provides valuable insights for jaggery producers, researchers, equipment manufacturers, policymakers and stakeholders in both government and private sectors. Advancements in processing techniques can lead to energy savings, improved product quality and greater benefits for farmers.<br />
&nbsp;</p>


<p>Recent Trends in Jaggery Making Processes: A Review</p>


<div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Background: </strong>The recent market trend of Diabetic products is increasing very fast due to awareness in consumers about the benefits of the products for sound health. It is estimated that around 8-12% of the global population buys diabetic products on regular basis. Shrikhand is fermented dairy product prepared by blending chakka, a semi-solid mass obtained after draining whey from dahi, with sugar, and other ingredients. In the preparation process of both sugar and Jaggary powder, sweeteners are different. While manufacturing White Sugar, harmful chemicals like Phosphoric acid, Sulfur Dioxide, Calcium Hydroxide, Polyacrylamide and Bone Char are used. Jaggery is far better than white sugar, Jaggery is far better than white sugar, because of its nutritional significance of sucrose (C12H22O11), with traces of mineral salts, iron, and some fiber. Shrikhand is a highly refreshing and energy dense dairy dessert due to its high fat, protein and carbohydrates content. Hence, the current study aimed at evaluating the effect of Jaggery powder on the sensory quality and Nutritional quality of shrikhand in order to manage and control eating calorie-rich food like sugar increases the risk of diabetes.<br /><strong>Method: </strong>In this study Laboratory investigation during 2019-2020 conducted. The experiment was carried out in the Department of Dairy science Research Centre, Yeshwant Mahavidyalaya Nanded, MS. To utilize jaggery powder in place of sugar, value added shrikhand prepared by replacing 45 % sugar replaced with three levels of sugar i.e. 31, 41, and 51% Jaggery powder was used and study was laid in Completely Randomized Design with three replication. The effect of all treated samples and their interaction were studied on the sensory quality of Shrikhand.&nbsp;<br /><strong>Conclusion: </strong>In present investigation the effect of Jaggery powder on the sensory and nutritional quality of value added Shrikhand was studied, on the basis of sensory and chemical qualities. There was a significant difference (P&lt;0.05) in overall acceptability scores observed between all treatment combinations. Higher acceptability score (7.99) indicating superior acceptability among experimental samples. The mean liking was in the following trend: SO&gt;S2&gt;S1&gt;S3 .The present work showed that Shrikhand (S2) prepared with 41% Jaggery powder had more acceptable quality characteristics among all the experimental samples. The nutritional parameters were significantly (p&lt;0.05) differ except protein. It is acceptable that sugar can be replaced with Jaggery powder on an equal weight basis in preparation of shrikhand.</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">Effect of Replacement of Sugar with Jaggery Powder on Sensory and Nutritional Quality of Shrikhand</div>

<p><strong>Background: </strong>Oil palm has been recognized as one of the most important crops especially in Southeast Asia and the rest of the world. Palm oil production has recently been lowered as a result of the influence of various factors, which include weather and climate. The distribution of temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, solar radiation and rainfall all influence the growth and development of palms, which later reflects in the production quantity of the fresh fruit bunches and palm oil. The objective of this study is to investigate the impacts of various weather factors especially (temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, solar radiation and rainfall) on oil palm production in Peninsular Malaysia.&nbsp;<br />
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<strong>Methods:</strong> The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 20.0 version was used to analyse the data, which include descriptive statistics and multilinear regression (MLR). The MLR model evaluated the strength of the relationship between oil palm yield (as a dependent variable) and temperature, solar radiation, wind speed, relative humidity and precipitation. Temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, solar radiation and rainfall, on the other hand, have been shown to have little effect on oil palm production and yield.&nbsp;<br />
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<strong>Result: </strong>According to the R<sup>2 </sup>value, the independent variables only explained 20.2% of the variation in palm oil production. This study recommends operating within a comprehensive framework that includes scientific research, planting improved varieties, enhancing regional intellectual and academic leadership, engaging the participation of private and public stakeholders, highlighting participatory initiatives with researchers in consumer countries and enhancing growers&rsquo; ability to adapt best agroecological practises.</p>


<p>What does Modelling Tells us on the Influence of&nbsp;Certain Weather Parameters on Oil Palm Production in Peninsular Malaysia</p>


<p>The oil palm is the richest source of vegetable oil in the world. The hybrid nature of crop necessitates artificial hybridization between proven parent palms which in turn require the pollen from male parent to be collected and stored without loss of viability for sufficiently long period. Reports &nbsp; suggested that pollen grains of various taxa could be successfully preserved in different organic solvents. In the present study, attempt was made to &nbsp; evaluate the suitability &nbsp;of organic solvents to store the oil palm pollen at 0 to -5oC temperature. Among the five solvents used, there was significant variation for viability and germination percentages. Viability was the maximum for pollen stored in Diethyl ether (90.45 %) as well as in n-Hexane (88.41%) after 200 days of storage. &nbsp;Viability of pollen stored in Chloroform and Acetone were moderate and in case of Methyl alcohol, complete loss of viability was observed. With respect to pollen germination in vitro, similar trend was observed. The trend was same at different intervals/period of storage. This was confirmed through in vivo pollination and fruits set studies. Thus, present method indicated that it is feasible to store oil palm pollen in non polar solvents beyond 200 days without considerable loss of viability or germination.</p>


The Art and Science of Jaggery Making: A Review

Effects of Perennial Intercrops on Oil Palm Agronomic and Yield Traits

Jaggery Making Process and Preservation: A Review

Correlation and Path Analysis in Commercial Tenera Oil Palms Collected from Southern Thailand

Effect of Palm Oil Mill Effluent on the Growth of Maize (Zea mays)

Screening and Physico-chemical Study of Quality Jaggery Prepared from Different Early and Mid Season Sugarcane Varieties

Recent Trends in Jaggery Making Processes: A Review

Effect of Replacement of Sugar with Jaggery Powder on Sensory and Nutritional Quality of Shrikhand

What does Modelling Tells us on the Influence of Certain Weather Parameters on Oil Palm Production in Peninsular Malaysia

Efficacy of organic solvents for medium term storage of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) pollen