NIIST TECHNOLOGY WON WIPO GOLD MEDAL

  The National Institute of Interdisciplinary Science & Technology(NIIST) won the WIPO Gold Medal for its technology for clean bio-processing of white pepper for from green and black pepper. The Institute has also won the meritorious invention award instituted by the National Research Development Corporation of India, for the same technology. The award comprises a purse of Rs 5 lakh.
     Developed by a team led by V.B Manilal of the process Engineering and Environmental Technology division.Other team members were Ajith Haridas and Gopinathan.M. The microbial process uses enzymes to degrade pectin, the cementing tissues present in between the skin and oil glands on the pepper kernel. It is claimed to be simpler more cost-effective, pollution-free and  faster than the conventional method of mechanical stripping or chemical treatment. The process also yields methane gas as a by-product.
    there are nine production plants set up in Kerala,Karnataka and Tamil Nadu based on this technology. NIIST has also licensed the technology to another six small and medium enterprises.
   the skin-removed pepper generally known as the white pepper is preferred to black pepper in most food preparations. The current annual demand for white pepper exceeds 100,000 tons. The traditional retting method for production of while pepper followed by global suppliers particularly Vietnam,Indonesia,Malaysia and Brazil, compromises on the quality of pepper. The world Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is a United  Nations body at Geneva for the promotion of innovation and intellectual property generation

Prof.John Kurakar