WATERLILY SEEDS FARMING
Water lily seeds are the seeds extracted from water lily plant -Euryale ferox – only extinct species in the genus Euryale. These seeds are wrongly called Lotus seeds.
Now the question arises- “What is the difference between Water lily seeds and Lotus seeds?”
WATERLILY SEEDS:-
· Family- Nymphaeaceae
· It is also known as Makhana.
· It is obtained from prickly water lily plant.
· From plant species named as Euryale ferox Salisbury.
· Stored in bulb of water lily flowers.
· These seeds after harvest, after a series of events including sun drying, roasting, popping becomes light and crunchy snack.
· These can be naturally processed- more alike to popcorn but corn free.
· Eaten in India for centuries.
LOTUS SEEDS:-
· Family- Nelumbonaceae
· It is also known as Kamal seeds.
· It is obtained from Lotus plant.
· From plant species named Nelumbo nuciferagaertner.
· Stored in lotus’s emergent roots.
· These seeds cannot be popped instead these are roasted or dried. Can be eaten.
· Its hard shell is removed after harvest for roasting then they can be eaten.
· Most common ingredient in Chinese herbal soups.
Now the different names of popped water lily seeds are:-
Makhana , foxnut , gorgon nut.
Water lily seeds can be consumed in many different ways that is during fasting and celebrations. These can be consumed as puffed or popped snack, added to curry dishes, milk and even to salads or soups. No doubt, water lily seeds are full of nutrients. In addition, these seeds are gluten free, corn free, grain free, dairy free and vegan. Compared to popcorn, water lily seeds have 50% more protein, 67% less fat, 20% less calories. It is traditional and crunchy snack of India. These are pea-sized collected from water lilies when they shed their seeds annually. These are usually flavoured with ghee and species and during the hindu festival Navratri, makhana is usually eaten during fasting periods. Water lily seeds contains some minerals in appropriate quantities- Magnesium, Iron, Manganese, Potassium, Phosphorous, Copper. In the past 2 years, they become more available in US as healthy popcorn- esque snacks.
Example of water lily seeds launched recently is Ashapops which have both – savory and sweet flavors.
Benefits of Water lily seeds:-
Water lily seeds are good for our body because these have high nutritive value that is very healthy for our body. Water lily seeds can be consumed as snacks, medicine as well as an ingredient in various Indian dishes.
1. Water lily seeds is good for the health of our heart therefore it contains various nutrients that keeps our heart strong and free from diseases. If any person have diseases related to heart like for example: hypertension – then he/she should eat makhana since due to high potassium and low sodium ; makhana will help to reduce blood pressure to normal level.
2. Also makhana improve the quality of our blood and oxygen in our body. Also helps to avoid heart diseases.
3. Water lily seeds also manages our blood sugar level because it contains high amount of protein and carbohydrates, Makhana also prevents obesity and diabetes.
4. Makhana detoxifies our body by keeping our spleen clean which helps us to boost our immune system since spleen filters and removes dead blood cells from our body.
5. It makes our bones strong and keeps it healthy so that we can do our daily life and intensive physical exercises easily and effectively since makhana is the source of Calcium and therefore helps to nourish our bones.
6. Also helps in weight loss. Adding an appropriate amount of lily seeds to our diet will help to reduce our some amount of weight. Makhana also detoxifies our liver, boosts our metabolism. It has low calories and saturated fats, have high fiber content.
7. It also flows down our ageing process that is acts as anti-ageing agent. If we eat makhana on a daily basis then due to its high nutritive and protein content, it makes our body better equipped to fight the effects of free radicals which keeps our skin soft and helps us to look younger. Also , makhana contains Kaempferol which also slows down the ageing process of our body.
8. Makhana also improve our mental health, helps in digestion and keeps our kidneys disease free.
SEEDING OF WATER LILY SEEDS-
Sow water lily seeds just after purchasing them or just after collecting them from plants in summer to increase its germination chances. If once these seeds got dry, they will not germinate.
1. Take water lily which is formed by crossing the parents artificially or naturally that is a ripening pod made by bees. A process known as bagging is to be done by using either zipped or twist-tied loosely around stem.
2. When pod ruptures, there is an accessory covering of certain seeds developed from seed stalk (in both angiosperms and gymnosperms) known as Aril surrounds seeds- helps in floating up of seeds into bag to reach surface of water.
3. Collect the bag, put the contents in any open container which have sufficient high amount of water. If we have to observe whether the seeds are still viable or not – then see small, white, tan, red seeds are not viable; whereas large, dark, gray, green, black seeds are viable.
4. After some days, aril and residual flower parts sheds off and viable seeds sinks down.
5. Store these tropical seeds in refrigerator or plant immediately. Seeds should be stored in warm water to keepit viable for a longer time period.
6. But these seeds can be sprouted in warm water therefore plant these seeds before they sprout that is storage period of these seeds in warm water is from storing to that time so that seeds are not sprouted.
7. Put layer of soil in bottom , add water, level and compact the soil. Then distribute the seeds evenly on layer of soil and do a light shower of white sand over the seeds
8. When seedlings are grown and have floating leaves- make sure to carefully dig them up and pot them individually.
Now, after seed sowing of water lily seeds, fertilizing is one of the important step in growing of makhana. Fertilizing helps in producing strong plants with numerous flowers. Fertilize once a month.
During 1 year- seedling only produce foliage.
During 2 year- number of beautiful flowers on pond’s surface.
It usually takes 3-4 weeks for lily seeds to germinate and it takes 6-8 weeks for plants to get mature.
HARVESTING
The harvesting process is time taking and requires skilled labors. Collection of seeds from plants of water lily is easy. After the flower gets mature, cover and tie the flower with cheesecloth or fabric bag. Once seed pod is burst, it gets opened and therefore collect the seeds into a clean container filled with water by shaking it. After a time period of 1 week remove all the non viable seeds (the seeds which are floating on surface of water). Then collect all the viable seeds ( the seeds which are sedimented on the bottom of water) and either plant them in the field or store it in cool place for future use. Storing in refrigerator that is place having low temperature is mandatory to avoid it from getting non viable.
POTTING WATER LILIES AND LOTUS
There are different potting instructions for tropical as well as hardy water lilies.
For tropical water lilies; they should be planted once in a year, they become bare-root plants. Put it in the centre of container for further growth.
For hardy water lilies, plant rhizome at 45 degree with growing tip in the centre of container. Cover the soil with sand or gravel.
PRUNING
Every flower of waterlily lasts for 3-5 days. They are diurnal that is open during day and closed at night. The flower will sink into the water once it gets finished. Various seeds, pots formed. It has costly seed production. Remove the dying flowers once they sink into the water. Also clean or remove dead and dying leaves by cutting or snapping it off.
PROCESSING OF WATER LILY SEEDS
The source these lily seeds are from farms in Bihar, India. Also we take it directly from farmers and also ensure fair wages to them. There is a sustainable and ethical supply chain and sourcing of highest – quality seeds. Also the cultivation of these lily seeds are purely sustainable since it does not harm our environment or eco system therefore this is a natural cycle.
The puffing of lily seeds is necessary. These seeds are puffed mechanically that is with the use of special machines which has 2 units:
Roasting unit – it has a thermal heating system with conveyor mechanism to pass roasted seeds to outlet.
Popping unit – it breaks hard shell with the help of pressure which makes the roasted seeds pop.
MARKETING
There is increasing obsession for waterlilies throughout the world. Makhana is a high value commercial product cultivated in some major states like Bihar and few parts of eastern India. In some states makhana is a natural crop like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Tripura and Manipur. Makhana market growth at CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) = 7% during 2019-2023.
Demand of makhana market in United States and United Kingdom is unexplored which encourages new people to enter the market. Its demand is increasing day by day. It is also substituting the need of popcorn. Bihar produces more than 85% of makhana produced in country.The 2 flavors of foxnut introduces in India which changed its consumption in the particular region, the 2 flavors are- chatpata masala and classic homestyle. Global trends and scenario of foxnuts is seems to be increasing in India, China, United Kingdom and Columbia.
There are number of businesses that are emerged to bring puffed water lily seeds to US, where majority of people prefer low-calorie snack instead of those unhealthy potato chip. Bohana is the seed snack brand of water lily, launched in 2018. Bohana was handpicked by pepsilo’s nutrition greenhouse project for investment. Since 2017, many other start-ups emerged and began to sell sweet and savory puffs in many flavors in the market.
Ashapops brand started by mother-son duo Asha and Jai Farswani in 2017 therefore water lily seeds can fill the gap of low calories and nutrient-rich food.
