Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has been granted patent on “A fermentation process for preparation of concentrated sugarcane vinegar” by the Indian Patent Office, Government of India, New Delhi. This is the third Indian patent granted to PAU.
Sugarcane is an important cash crop of Punjab and the developed technology will help farmers of the state in adopting a business venture on concentrated vinegar from sugarcane.
As per the patented process, the low acetic acid sugarcane vinegar when transported in bulk results in high transportation cost. However, the present invention stresses optimization of a submerged fermentation-cum-freeze concentration process for producing concentrated sugarcane vinegar having a higher acetic acid strength.
This invention will provide concentrated sugarcane vinegar, thus, reducing its storage volume, transportation cost as well as 18 per cent GST which is charged on volume of export/transport. Besides, the frozen concentrated vinegar is reported to provide better sensory quality to the product than non-concentrated processes.