NEERA FAMOUS COLD DRINK.

The extraction of Neera is generally done before sunrise. This is because of it’s high susceptibility to fermentation under ambient temperatures within a few hours of extraction. Tapped neera is filtered for removing foreign particles. Thereafter it is chilled and stored at refrigerated conditions. This is important because, otherwise it turns into toddy with 4% alcohol content by natural fermentation. Several technologies have been developed to process and preserve neera in it’s natural form to retain it’s abundant nutrients store. After processing neera with anti fermenting agents, it is subjected to techniques like pasteurisation in order to remove the microflora present in it. The shelf life of Neera in room temperature is only about 2 months and about 4 to 6 months in refrigerated conditions.

Several products can be made from neera like jaggery, concentrate syrup, sweeteners etc and are gaining popularity in different geographical locations.