The Mahua flower's cultural significance belies its potential

A decade ago, a Google search of “Mahua+India” showed only Facebook profiles of women named Mahua, Bengali ancestry sites and eventually, on page 3 of the search results, an article referencing the mahua tree. A lot has changed in 10 years and while there is stiff competition from another wildly popular and outspoken Mahua, a Google search today will throw up lots of information about the Mahua tree, its fruits, flowers and liquor.

PREMIUM Mahua fresh flower The mahua tree, found around most of Central India, largely in forests and increasingly cultivated as well, is socially and culturally important to local communities who have lived in and around these forests long before the forest laws that now regulate their relationship.

Most of these local communities are part of tribes for whom the tree, a Kalpavriksha, represents ancient traditions, folklore and livelihood. Even today, the tree is economically important because of the widespread uses of its flowers, fruits, seeds and timber. Early ayurvedic texts mention the mahua tree and various medicinal uses of its seeds and flowers so we know they have been around since 200 BCE at least.

The most popular use is the mahua flower and even more so the liquor made from it. The mahua flower looks nothing like a typical flower and is almost grapelike – small, round, yellow when ripe, and very sweet – the only giveaways are the pollen and hints of petals at the top. Given the flower’s high sugar content and tropical temperatures, it is no surprise that fermented mahua brews, vinegars and wines have always existed in varying strengths and recipes among local communities.

The more interesting skill the locals seemed to have developed over the years (centuries or even millennia) is the distillation of a mahua brew into a clear alcoholic spirit. The only flower in the world to be distilled, mahua spirit was traditionally made using natural and effective pot distillation tools a clay pot, hollowed bamboo stems and mud as a sealant usually placed in a small stream.

Mahua liquor is proof that Indians have been brewing beers, making wines and distilling spirits before many other civilisations and certainly before the western civilisations who inform our current perception of alcoholic drinks. Gond painting titled Mahua pickers(Artist Sukhnandi Vyam/Credit WikiCommons) Especially since the country's liquor industry is much larger in volume than IMFL.

In the case of mahua spirit itself, there are thousands of tonnes of the flower being sold annually to country liquor manufacturers who use it to make country spirit either sold as mahua daru (in States like Odisha) or just as desi daru (local/country liquor). There are no set quality standards for these spirits, no stringent checks on blending with other spirits and no clearly available numbers on sales and consumption.

Other than country liquor manufacturers, middlemen and tax coffers, this model benefits no one else in the value chain. Least of all those who collect the flowers and sell them cheaply to middlemen and those who drink the substandard mahua desi daru. The irony is that these two groups are often the same.

Mahua tree post flowering Though glamorous, liquor is not the only product of use made from mahua flowers. A whole host of food products and beverages (jams, jellies, honey, syrups, soaps, perfumes among others) can and do currently get made from the flowers. There are several small and mid size self help groups at village and taluka levels that make these products.

These products should be flying off the shelves except that they never make it there. They need manufacturing and marketing support and while there are some private brands that have taken this up, the gap is huge and a lot more interest and effort is needed for these products to reach end consumers.

To make alcoholic spirits, a carbohydrate or sugar based source ingredient (potatoes, grains, sugarcane, mahua flowers) has to be distilled to produce a clear spirit called ethanol. Other than as potable alcohol, ethanol is also used in the pharmaceutical, chemical and cosmetic industries. Another use of ethanol is in biofuel blending where non renewable fuels, petroleum and diesel, are blended with ethanol which is made from renewable sources.

India actively blends fuel with ethanol and its current blending target for 2023 2024 is 15% (ie 15% ethanol, 85% petrol) with a target of 20% by 2025 2026. Most ethanol in India is made from sugarcane and grains but there is a concerted movement towards other feedstocks (source ingredient for ethanol) such as rice, maize, agricultural waste, restaurant waste and even other novel feedstocks such as aquatic plants, microalgae and other biomass.

In this context, mahua flowers that can make blend quality ethanol for biofuels become more relevant today. Unlike other biofuels like palm oil, making mahua spirit will require no deforestation or additional cultivation. But can all of this happen sustainably and equitably, with due respect to the tree itself and the local, mostly tribal communities, that collect its flowers? Or will the impending mahua wave wash out any chance of grassroots revival of an ancient practice and source of sustained livelihood for local communities? For mahua spirit or any product made from these flowers to be economically viable to manufacturers and beneficial to local communities, the regulations around the mahua flowers itself– from sourcing, storage, pricing to sale – will need to be made simpler, standardized and equitable at every step in the value chain.

Whether this will happen only time, and intent, will tell. The mahua flower has been in quiet obscurity for too long. These bountiful flowers offer us a great story, an amazing drink and a lot of possibilities. In revitalising the mahua story, we have a chance to do right by this magnificent forest flower.

And one can only hope that we do. Susan Dias runs Native Brews, an alco beverage organisation that researches and develops indigenous Indian liquors. It has been closely involved with the movement for legalisation, development and commercialisation of Mahua spirit. The views expressed are personal Unlock a world of Benefits with HT! From insightful newsletters to real time news alerts and a personalized news feed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! Continue reading with HT Premium Subscription Daily E Paper I Premium Articles I Brunch E Magazine I Daily Infographics Subscribe Now @1199/year Already Subscribed? Sign In SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Share this article Share Via Copy Link Central India.