Biotechnology in Tradition-Methods of starter preparation for alcoholic beverages employed by different tribal communities of Arunachal Pradesh

Transcription

1 Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge Vol. 11(1), January 2012, pp Biotechnology in Tradition-Methods of starter preparation for alcoholic beverages employed by different tribal communities of Arunachal Pradesh Shrivastava 1 *Karuna, Greeshma AG 2 & Srivastava 3 B 1,2 Microbial Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Forestry, 3 Department of Agricultural Engineering North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology, Nirjuli , Arunachal Pradesh karuna.nerist@gmail.com Received ; revised Traditional fermented foods and beverages occupy special place in North-Eastern states of India particularly in Arunachal Pradesh due to their nutritive value, taste, health aspects, social, ritual and cultural importance. Among ingredients of traditional beverages, starter cultures are source of yeast cells which is responsible for conversion of carbohydrate into ethanol. Starter cultures are prepared by the local people themselves, in which female members of the community are generally involved. Arunachal Pradesh is an ethnically diverse state and so its method of starter preparations. This paper mainly deals with the review of traditional process technology and the raw materials used for the preparation of starter cultures by different tribes of Arunachal Pradesh. For this purpose, a field study was conducted among major tribes residing in 14 districts following participatory and conventional methods. The data were also collected on the cost incurred, time of preparation and period of storage of starter cultures in their traditional systems. Keywords: Starter culture, Alcoholic beverages, Traditional practices, Tribes, Arunachal Pradesh IPC Int. Cl. 8 : A61K 36/00, A01G 1/00, A01G 17/00, A01G 19/00, A23L 1/00 Arunachal Pradesh is the largest state among North-Eastern states and is situated between 26 28' and 29 o 30' North latitudes and and 97 30' East Longitudes covering an area of sq km 1. Biogeographically, the state is situated in the Eastern Himalayan province, the richest biogeographical province of the Himalayan zone. The state shares long international boundaries with Bhutan to the West, Republic of China to the North and North-east, Myanmar to the East, and the states of Nagaland and Assam to the South. The Paleo-Mongoloid originated population of the state is 10, 97,968 as per census figure of and is scattered over 16 districts and 3,863 villages. The state is inhabited by the world s largest variety of ethnic tribal groups and sub-groups 2 (a total of 25 major tribes and more than 125 subtribes), each speaking their own languages and dialect. Broadly, the people may be divided into three cultural groups on their socio-religious affinities. The Monpas and Sherdukpens of Tawang and West Kameng districts follow the Lamaistic tradition of Mahayana. Second group, the Khamptis and Singphos *Corresponding author inhabiting the eastern part of the state are Budhists of Hinayana. The third group comprises Noctes, Wanchos, Tangsa, Tutsa, etc. of Changlang and Tirap district are practicing elementary form of Vaishnavism 1. Fermentation is one of the oldest and relatively low energy yielding process and an easily manageable preservation technique which increases the shelf life of food products. It improves the nutritional quality of food by developing suitable physiochemical characteristics and gives tastes, flavor and texture to the food. Alcoholic beverages are one of the important fermented products prepared and consumed by indigenous tribes of India since the time immemorial. In the North Eastern region of India, most of the fermented beverages are produced manually and locally using traditional practices. Beverages are the drinks which have stimulating and refreshing qualities and occupy an important position among various tribes of Arunachal Pradesh due to their festive, cultural, ethnic and nutritive values. Consumption of these drinks is a common practice among all groups of people in Arunachal Pradesh; however, they take these drinks especially after hard

2 195 SHRIVASTAVA et al.: BIOTECHNOLOGY IN TRADITION-METHODS OF STARTER PREPARATION work for refreshing themselves. These drinks are prepared locally and manually in every house hold through out the year. Even a new born baby is first allowed to taste the drink as they consider it as a nutritive drink rather than liquor hence all members of the community including infants, children and lady members are consuming it regularly. For the preparation of beverages as well as starter cultures, mostly female members of the family are involved and better skilled than male members. The main raw material required for the preparation of traditional drink is the old yeast cells which are preserved in the starter cultures. The preparation of starter culture is also a tactful process by which continuity of yeast life is maintained. These starters are prepared, stored and passed from generation to generation in various tribes following traditional practices hence they contain indigenous yeast varieties. The preparation of starter cultures is done in a much unsophisticated and unhygienic manner without any scientific input hence the quality of the finished product is not maintained. Therefore, there are the chances of contamination with unwanted microbes that may interfere in the normal fermentation process and cause toxification of end product. However, preparation and production of these fermented beverages has remained a traditional family art, practiced in each house hold in a crude way. The people/tribe/community of an area normally follow more or less similar procedure involving almost same ingredients, but the same practice changes with the change of area, district or tribe. The starter culture used in the fermentation of beer is prepared by different tribes in their own way. The main ingredients are rice or millet as cereal substrate, certain plant species 3,4,5,6 which are considered as activating agents of yeasts and in this mixture older starter is always added. The whole process is laborious and time consuming which takes about 6 days to 1 month time. In some districts/villages, a group of people are involved in the preparation of starter culture only and sale it in the local market where as the other group exclusively preparing the drinks for the whole community. The methodology used in the preparation of these starter cultures is very crude and unhygienic, thus may affect the quality of beer. In order to understand the similarities and differences that exist among different tribes in their traditional system of starter preparation, the type of other materials used and time period taken, a survey was conducted using a well prepared questioner, by direct interviews and discussions with the local people involved in this work. Methodology To achieve the objectives of proposed work, a tribe-wise (19 out of 25) and district-wise (14 out of 16) survey is conducted in a total of 38 villages distributed in 14 districts of the state. Reliable information is collected through a detail questionnaire distributed to potential knowledge holders (10 nos.) of each tribe/village and through their personal interviews. The starter cultures have many local names depending on the tribe. Some of them are si-ye, pee, paa, epope, pham, ipoh, etc. The characteristics are recorded about the process technology of starter preparation, equipments and raw materials used, cost involved and storage/shelf life of starter culture in their traditional systems. The plant species used by different tribes in the preparation of starters are collected and identified following standard procedure 3,4,5,6. Results Through this survey, a range of traditional starter preparation methods is documented which mainly differs in time period taken, substrate material used, type of plant species involved as preservatives/ antimicrobial agent and expenditure incurred (Table 1). Detailed methodology of starter preparation of different tribal groups is given below: Deuri and Khampti tribes In traditional method of starter preparation of Deuri and Khampti tribes, glutinous rice is first soaked in water for 30 minutes at room temperature. Water drained off, rice is dried and then crushed in heavy wooden mortar and pestle to turn it into fine powder. To this rice flour, leaves and flowers of the plant Leucas aspera Spreng. (Local name Zola) are added along with old starter which is ground and mixed thoroughly. For 1 kg of dry rice, about 6-8 balls of old starter having a weight of 10 gm each are added. The mixture is then made into paste by adding water, kneaded immediately into small round cakes of approximately gm weight each and wrapped in fresh leaves of Phryium capitulam Wild 7 locally called Ektem (wild banana) and sack cloths. The fresh yeast cakes are then placed on bamboo strips over the fire place for about 1-2 days to allow cell multiplication. As the yeast cells use rice flour, partial

3 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL 11, NO 1, JANUARY Table 1 Traditional method of preparation of starter cultures among different tribes of Arunachal Pradesh Name of tribes Raw materials used Local name of the starter fermentation takes place which is evident by giving off a strong alcoholic smell. These cakes are sun dried for 3-5 days and stored in dry place for future use. The shelf life of this preparation is about 6 months. The total expense for 1kg of preparation is around Rs.14. Nocte tribe Traditional method of starter preparation of Nocte tribe requires comparatively more time than others, i. e. about 20 days. In their method, the rice is first soaked in water for 2-3 hrs. The excess water is Time taken for preparation (days) Storability Period (month) Cost or expense/kg (Rs.) Deuri and Khampti Rice, old starter the leaves and flowers Si-ye of the plant Leucas aspera Spreng Nocte Rice, old starter Piper betle Linn. Pee Thangsa Rice, old starter, leaves of Scoparia Ipoh dulcis Linn. and Leucas lanata Benth Rice, old starter, leaves of Piper longum Chho Singpho Linn and whole plant of Scoparia dulcis Linn Rice, rice water, old starter, leaves of Epope Sulung Veronia cinerea Less. and Amomum aromaticum Roxb Rice, old starter, leaves of Cissampelos Paa Nyshing pareira Linn. and Clerodendron viscosum Vent Rice, old starter, bark of Cinnamomum Bokha Hill miri glanduliferum Meissn. and fresh leaves of Solanum nigrum Linn. Tagin tribe Rice, old starter and tender leaves of Phab Cinnamomum glanduliferum Meissn Wancho Paddy (Germinated) and old starter Epchi culture Rice, old starter culture and tender Ipoh Miji leaves of Artocarpus lakoocha Roxb and Mangifera indica Linn Lisu or Yobin Rice, old starter and bark of Albizia Aje myriophylla Benth Rice, old starter culture and dry leaves Pee Mishmi and Adi of Clerodendrum indicum Linn. and fresh leaves of Cissampelos pariera Linn Rice, old starter culture and flowers of Paa Sherdukpen Veronia cinerea Linn., leaves of Buddleia macrostachya Benth., and roots of Plumbago zeylanica Linn. Apatani Rice and old starter culture Pee Monpa Rice, old starter culture and leaves of Pham Solanum khasianum Linn. Rice, old starter, tender parts of Melia Si-ye Aka or Horussu azedarach Linn. (local name Deguwa) and leaves of Sapindus mukorosi Gaertn. Rice, millet, old starter culture flowers Epchi Khowa of Acacia farnesiana wild, Cyperus rotundus Linn. and Phryium capitulam wild leaves drained off and soaked rice is mixed with old 6-8 balls of 10 gm each per kg of rice without air drying. This mixture is then ground with 4-5 leaves of Piper betle Linn. (Common Pan) into a course paste and kept for fermentation for two days. After fermentation, flat cakes of approximately 3-5 cm diameter are prepared having weight of about gm each. These cakes are then sun dried for about 20 days and stored in dry earthen pots for future use. Shelf life of this starter is up to 1 yr. This method is a little more expensive as compare to others

4 197 SHRIVASTAVA et al.: BIOTECHNOLOGY IN TRADITION-METHODS OF STARTER PREPARATION because each Pan leaf, one of the raw materials, costs about Rs.2, and hence, total expense comes about Rs.25/kg of the products. Thangsa tribe Thangsa tribe also has a traditional method of starter preparation in which they use two types of plants. They take about 50 gm leaves of Scoparia dulcis Linn. (Locally named as Phansim) and 5-6 plants of Leucas lanata Benth.(Locally called Khamo) / kg of rice, which is washed and grounded in to fine paste. Glutinous rice is soaked in water for half an hour and crushed into coarse paste. In a large steel vessel, the green leaves and rice pastes are mixed, and then 5-7 pieces (approximately 8-10 gm) of pulverized old starter/kg of dry rice are added little by little. The whole mixture is kept for fermentation for 2-3 days over fire place. After fermentation, the mixture is made into flat cakes or biscuits of about 3-4 cm diameter having a weight of approximately 7-10 gm each and kept over bamboo mat for sun drying for days. Dried cakes are stored in dry bottles in dark corner of the house for up to one year. This method of traditional preparation is comparatively cheaper as the total cost for production is only Rs.12/kg of rice. Singpho tribe The starter culture used by Singpho tribe in the preparation of traditionally fermented drink is made by using rice as a substrate along with whole plant of Scoparia dulcis Linn locally called Khom and the leaves of Piper longum Linn. locally called Charbo. The polished rice is first washed, soaked in water for 1 hr then dried and ground into fine flour. This fine rice powder is slightly roasted over fire. A handful of Khom leaves and 5-6 Charbo leaves are washed and ground into fine paste with a little water. This paste is taken in a wide mouthed large vessel and roasted flour is added to this paste little by little till it become a semisolid dough. To this, 1-2 old starter culture balls (powdered) of approximately gm weight each/kg of dry rice are added and mixed. The mixture is thoroughly mixed by adding required quantity of water to turn it into a thick paste, which is made into biscuits, each of approximately gm weight and 6-10 cm diameter. These balls are kept in shade, dried for two weeks and stored in bottles in a cool, dark place of the house for future use. The storability of this starter is from 4 to 6 months. The total expenditure for the whole process is Rs.25 /kg of the product. Sulung tribe The Sulung is the major tribe of Kurung Kumey districts. The people of this tribe use two types of plants i. e. Veronia cinerea Less. locally named as Doh and Amomum aromaticum Roxb. (Locally called as Gongaga) in their starter preparation. Rice is first washed then soaked in water for half an hour and kept for air drying under shade. About 50 gm leaves of both plants/kg of rice are washed, ground along with rice using a big wooden pestle and mortar and slowly rice water is added till the mixture become a semi solid paste. To this, about 50 gm of old powdered starter is added and mixed thoroughly. This paste is kneaded into large round, flat cakes having the weight of gm and a diameter of about 5 cm. These cakes are kept in warm place mainly near the chimney for two days to accomplish fermentation. These cakes are then dried for days in an open place under shade and kept in air tight bottles for 6 months for further use. Total cost of production is about Rs.18/kg of the final product. Nyshing tribe The process technology of starter preparation of Nyshing tribe starts with polished rice soaked in water for about 4-6 hrs and ground into coarse paste. About 8-10 leaves of Cissampelos pareira Linn. (Local name Ctuepati) and 20 gm Clerodendron viscosum Vent. (Local name Khanoba) leaves/kg of dry rice is washed, boiled in a little water and ground into paste. In a large aluminium vessel, the rice and leaves pastes are mixed with about gm of powdered old starter culture and made into thick paste by adding water little by little. This paste is kneaded into small cakes of approximately 6-10 gm weight each. These cakes are then allowed to ferment and drying for days by keeping them on a bamboo basket over the fire place. The dried cakes are stored in a cool place for future use. The storability of this starter is about 8-12 months. The total cost of production is Rs.16/Kg of rice. Hill miri tribe The Hill miri is the major tribe of Upper Subansiri district. In each batch of starter preparation, the people of this tribe normally use 2-3 kg rice. The polished rice is first washed and soaked in water for about 2 hrs. Wet rice is spread on a bamboo mat for air drying. Using a big wooden pestle and mortar, the rice is ground into fine powder. Bark (about 15 gm) of plant named Cinnamomum glanduliferum Meissn. (Local name Rolu) is crushed into fine powder and

5 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL 11, NO 1, JANUARY fresh leaves of Solanum nigrum Linn. (Local name Shynreh)/Kg of rice is ground into fine paste separately. In a large earthen pot, bark powder, leaves pastes, rice flour and gm of old starter powder are mixed and made into dough by adding a little water. This dough is kept for fermentation for 2 days in a warm place or over the chimney and made into small cakes of approximately 6-10 gm. These cakes are sun dried for about 1week and stored in earthen pots. The shelf life of this starter cultures is about 6 months and the whole process involves an expenditure of Rs.15/ kg of the product. Tagin tribe The raw materials used by Tagin people for the preparation of starter culture include polished rice, old starter culture and the tender leaves of Cinnamomum glanduliferum Meissn. (Local name Nakail). Soaked rice is dried, crushed into fine powder using heavy wooden mortar and pestle. A handful tender leaves of the Nakail plant along with 6-8 balls of old starter is ground into paste, rice flour is added to it and mixed thoroughly. The mixture is immediately molded into small round cakes having the weight of about gm each of 5-8 cm size. They are wrapped in fresh Macaranga indica Wt. leaves. The yeast cakes are then placed on bamboo strips over the fire place for about 1-2 days to allow cell multiplication. After that they are sun dried for 5-10 days and stored in tight bottles for up to 6 months. Total cost of the preparation is only Rs.16/kg of the product. Wancho tribe These tribes have a special traditional method of starter preparation. Instead of rice, people of Wancho tribe use paddy as the substrate for starter preparation 8. About 2 kg of paddy (Oryza sativa L.) is soaked in 4 L of water for 2 days. Excess water is drained off; wet paddy is tied up in a clean cloth and set aside for germination for 4-5 days. Sprouted paddy is spread on a bamboo mat, sun dried for 4-6 days in shade and ground into coarse powder using a rough stony pestle and mortar. About gm of old starter powder is spread on the paddy flour and made into a semi solid mass by adding sufficient water. This paste is mold into round cakes of approximately gm and kept on Ektem leaves over the fire place for fermentation for 1-2 days. These yeast cakes are then sun dried for about 1 week to store in a dark and cool place. The shelf life of this starter is about 1year. The total expenditure of this preparation is a bit lesser i. e. Rs.10 only/kg of the final product. Miji tribe People of Miji tribe use a separate dark room in their houses exclusively for starter preparation. In this room, only those who are involved in the process are allowed to enter. They use the tender leaves of Artocarpus lakoocha Roxb. locally called Burhar and Mangifera indica Linn. locally named as Ongti as one of the ingredients of starter culture. The rice is first soaked in water for 2-3 hrs, excess water is drained off and wet rice is ground into a fine paste. About 6 gm leaves of both plants / kg of rice also made into a fine paste. In a large steel vessel, the green leaves paste, rice paste and 6-8 balls of old starter balls (35-40 gm each) are mixed thoroughly. The mixture is molded into large, flat round cakes, placed on a large steel plate and kept for fermentation for one day. They are then sun dried for 10 days and stored in glass bottles for future use. This starter can be used up to 8 months. The whole process costs only Rs 12/ kg of rice. Lisu or Yobin tribe The methodology of starter preparation in this tribe includes use of broken white rice (about 3 kg) which is first soaked in water for about 30 min.; excess water is drained off and then air dried on a bamboo mat for 15 min. The dried rice is powdered by pounding in a wooden mortar with a wooden mallet. About 250 gm dried bark of Albizia myriophylla Benth. (Locally called Jufo) plant is powdered and mixed with rice powder along with powdered old starter culture and water. A homogenous mixture is obtained, which is kneaded into cake like structure in the form of oval or rounded flattened mass known as Aje. The prepared Aje is kept for 6-10 days under shade for drying. Dried cakes are stored in earthen pots containing paddy husk or paddy straw and its mouth is air tightened using thick cloths. The shelf life of this preparation is about 1 yr and the whole preparation costs about Rs.20/ kg of the products. Mishmi and Adi tribes In traditional method of preparation of Mishmi and Adi communities, two species of plants are used with rice. Dried leaves (10 nos.) of Clerodendrum indicum Linn. (Local name Chingori) and fresh leaves (30 gm) of Cissampelos pariera Linn. (Local name Shijape) are ground into paste using a little water. Glutinous rice soaked in water for 2-3 hrs, dried by spreading on a bamboo mat and ground into a paste. The rice and leaves paste are mixed in a wide mouthed vessel and powdered 5-6 old starter balls (about 10 gm each) are

6 199 SHRIVASTAVA et al.: BIOTECHNOLOGY IN TRADITION-METHODS OF STARTER PREPARATION added to this mixture thoroughly. The final mixture is then molded into small cakes of approximately 10 gm each. These cakes are sun dried for 2-3 weeks and stored in dark earthen pots for 1 year. The total expenditure for the whole preparation is about Rs.18/kg of rice. Sherdukpen tribe In their system, rice is first soaked in water for 3-4 hrs, air dried and ground into fine powder using wooden pestle and mortar. The flowers of Veronia cinerea Linn. (Locally called Iche), leaves of Buddleia macrostachya Benth. and roots of Plumbago zeylanica Linn. (25 gm each) are ground into paste and 25 gm old starter culture powder is added. This plants paste and rice powder is mixed thoroughly by adding water to become loose dough which is kneaded into flat round cakes of approximately gm weight each. Later cakes are placed above the fire place for 2-3 days to accomplish fermentation and cell multiplication. Finally, these cakes are sun dried for days and stored by tying up in dry leaves of Phryium capitulam Wild for about 6-8 months. The whole preparation cost comes about Rs.12 only/kg of the final product. Apatani tribe In contrast to the other tribes, the people of Apatani tribe do not use any plant species or herbal product in their starter preparation. Glutinous rice is first soaked in water for about 2 hrs, excess water drained off and pieces of old starter balls (6-8 gm) are directly added to the wet rice. This rice-starter mixture is ground into paste using pestle and mortar. This mixture is molded into small cakes of approximately 6-8 gm weight each and kept in a dark place for fermentation for 2 days. After fermentation, cakes are sun dried for 10 days and stored in tight bottles. The storability of this starter culture is about 1 yr. The whole preparation costs about Rs.25/ kg of the final products. Aka or Horusso tribe In traditional method of preparation of above tribe, rice is first washed and soaked in water for about 1 hr; wet rice is ground into paste along with flowers and tender parts of Melia azedarach Linn. (Local name Deguwa) and leaves of Sapindus mukorosi Gaertn. Locally known as Hishii (about 100 gm each) using wooden pestle and mortar. In a large container, the paste is mixed thoroughly with old starter powder at the rate of 50g / kg of dry rice by adding a little water. The whole material is kept over night for fermentation and then made into small cakes of approximately gm each. The cakes are arranged on tender shoots bed made of Cannabis sativa Linn. (Locally called Shery) in a dark area of the house. The whole set up is kept undisturbed for 3 days, on 4 th day; the cakes are turned up side down and again kept undisturbed for 2 days. After that, they are dried under shade for 2 weeks and stored in air tight containers. This kind of starter preparation has comparatively long storability period, i. e. up to 2 years and the total cost of production is about Rs. 20/ kg of rice. Monpa tribe The people of Monpa tribe use the leaves of Solanum khasianum Linn. (Local name Ichosu) as one of the ingredients for starter preparation. First glutinous rice is washed and ground into a coarse paste along with a handful of Ichosu leaves. The whole mixture turns light greenish in colour. To this paste, about gm of old starter powder are added and mixed by using a wooden spatula. The mixture is kept for fermentation for 2 days, molded into small tablets of about 6-8 gm weight each, sun dried for days and finally stored in wooden boxes. The storability of this starter tablets is up to 2 yrs. The total expenditure for this preparation is about Rs.20/ kg of rice. Khowa tribe The people of Khowa tribe use a small quantity of millet also along with rice, i. e. for 1 kg of rice; about 300 gm of millet is used. Rice and millet are washed and soaked in water for 6-8 hrs and ground into paste using wooden pestle and mortar. To this paste, 5-7 flowers of Acacia farnesiana (L.) Willd. (local name Tamuae) and 2-3 flowers of Cyperus rotundus Linn. (local name Labuacha) are added. The whole mixture is then transferred to a steel flat plate to mixe thoroughly by hands and immediately molded into small cakes or biscuits of approximately 8-10 gm weight each. These cakes are then arranged on a bamboo mat, covered with Phryium capitulam Wild, locally called as Ektem leaves and left to allow fermentation. After 2 days, Ektem leaves are removed and cakes are sun dried for 8-10 days. After complete drying, the cakes are stored in bottles in a dark and cool place for up to 6 months. The total cost of production of this starter is about Rs.18/kg of rice. Discussion From this study, it is observed that preparation and consumption of alcoholic beverages is still practiced

7 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL 11, NO 1, JANUARY and popular among all tribes in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, for which people prepare starter cultures by themselves. These methods are followed as described to them by their ancestors. Local people of this state are very close to the nature and use various types of plants (mostly wild) and plant products available in their surroundings. In the traditional method of starter preparation also, they use a large number of wild as well as cultivable plant species 3,4,5,6 however they do not know the actual role of these plants in this process. Some myths are associated with the use of plants such as these plants are the source of yeasts or these plants are the main agents responsible for yeast multiplication. It is found that different tribes are using different plants as one of the ingredients of starter culture. Out of them, a few plant species are common and used singly such as Scoparia dulcis Linn. used by Thangsa and Singpho tribes, Cinnamomum glanduliferum Meissn. by Hill Miri and Tagin tribes and Solanum khasianum Linn. by Hill Miri and Monpa tribes. The other tribes also use these plants but in combination of two or more plant species. There are two tribes named Wancho and Apatani who do not use any plant species in the preparation of starter culture rather they use paddy and rice alone respectively along with old starter. The use of plant species Veronia cinerea Less. and Clerodendron viscosum Vent. was also reported earlier 7 in the preparation of Ipoh, a kind of yeast biscuit. The traditional methodology of Sherdukpen tribe has close similarity with the starter culture called as Marcha used by the people of Sikkim 9. In general, 5-22 days time is spent for this preparation in different tribal systems, of which Hill Miri, Tagin, Deuri and Khampti tribes take lesser time (about 10 days) as compare to Nocte, Thangsa and Mishmi tribes (more than 20 days). The time taken for preparation appears to be proportional to the storability period of starter culture accept Tagin tribe who takes 7-9 days only with preservation time of 12 months and Mishmi tribe who takes days with storability time of only 6-8 months. The Tagin tribe is mainly residing in Upper Subansiri district which is situated towards north near China border having comparatively cooler climate and Mishmi tribe is dominant in Lower Dibang Velley and Lohit districts which are situated near Assam border having warmer climatic conditions. The prevailing climatic conditions of these areas may be the reason for long/short storability of starter culture. Many ingredient plant species, used by the people of different tribes, may have played important role in the preservation and storage/shelf life of starters as many of them have been reported to possess antimicrobial activities 3,15, however it needs to be verified. The cost of starter is kept according to the weight or size of each ball/cake. Depending upon the size, it sales at the rate of Rs.1, 2 or even Rs. 5 in the local market and get a good return in terms of rupees invested. The plant species used of in the preparation of starter cultures differs from tribe to tribe. A total of 22 plant species are recorded in traditional method of starter preparation by different tribes (Table-1) in our studies, out of them 8 are trees, 6 are shrubs and 8 are herbaceous species. Most of these species are wild in their habitat. Starter cultures and fermented beverages are mostly prepared by rural women for several centuries. The contribution of women in selecting the plants for growing, domestication and conservation for food purposes cannot be under estimated 10. The non-alcoholic beverages are stimulating and refreshing drinks consumed by most of the people, while alcoholic drinks are generally intoxicating. Therefore, the latter one is consumed by small groups of people especially the tribal people. It is traditionally believed that daily consumption of traditional beverages in small quantity just before and after food is good for appetite as it acts as a health tonic 11. All most all the tribals are fond of some or the other alcoholic drinks during merry making, rituals, ceremonies, festivals, marriages and even in the death ceremonies 12,13. In the 21 st Centuary, the advent of modern civilization has adversely affected the age-old tradition, and thus, younger generations are not exposed to traditional practices. Today, nutritional values of traditional fermented beverages and their preservation is well known. Therefore, it is high time to revive and improve this valuable traditional biotechnology by intervention of modern biotechnological developments 14. Nutritional and cultural value of the ethnic drinks and their close relationship to environmental health should be recognized. By implementing new biotechnological tools, this traditional methodology has great potentials to improve social status of the people in particular and boost up business prospective of an area/region in general. Conclusion The process technologies of starter materials of traditionally prepared beverages are age old practices which still exist almost in crude form among various

8 201 SHRIVASTAVA et al.: BIOTECHNOLOGY IN TRADITION-METHODS OF STARTER PREPARATION tribal communities of Arunachal Pradesh. However, there are minor variations in them from tribe to tribe and region to region. These methods have been passed on from generation to generation. There are also some blind beliefs associated with these practices, which may/may not have any scientific basis. All this knowledge and beliefs need to be preserved documented in a systematic way and must be viewed for improvement through modern biotechnology. Acknowledgement We thank the Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi for financial support and Director, NERIST, Nirjuli, Arunachal Pradesh for providing lab facilities during the course of this investigation. The authors would also like to express their sincere thanks to potential traditional knowledge holders, especially Mrs T Sathbi, Mrs Kago Tanii, Mr Tage Choku, Mrs Tage Sirii, Mr Michi Richo, Mrs Kutum Chungmi, Mr Jambe Lomu, Ms Wangmo Dolma, Mrs T Sering, Mr T Komu and Mrs Gardey Passa who were also the local guides and have helped in various ways. References 1 Arunachal Pradesh, A panoramic view, (Directorate of Information, Public Relations & Printing, Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh), Sweety Jain & Sanjay Jain, Let the World know about Arunachal Pradesh, (Great Book Distributers, Kolkata), Greeshma AG, Shrivastava Karuna & Srivastava B, Plants used as Plants used as anti-microbials in the preparation of traditional starter cultures of fermentation by certain tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, Bull Arunachal Forest Res, 22 (2006) Kritikar KR & Basu BD, Indian Medicinal plants, Vols I-IV, (Lalit Mohan Basu, Allahabad), Ravindra sharma, Medicinal plants of India- an Encyclopedia, (Daya publishing house, New Delhi), Robert Bentley & Henry Trimen, Medicinal plants, Vols I- III, (International Book distributors, Dehradun, India), Tiwari SC & Debajit Mahanta, Ethnological observations on fermented food products of certain tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, Indian J Tradit Knowle, 6 (2007) Dilip Jain, Traditional Brewing of Cereals in the Northeast, Honey Bee, 3 (1989) Tamang JP, Thapa S, Tamang N & Rai B, Indigenous fermented food beverages of Darjeeling hills and Sikkim; process and product characterization, J Hill Res, 9 (1996) Ranjay K singh, Anamika Singh & Amesh k Sureja, Traditional Foods of Monpa tribe of West Kameng, Arunachal Pradesh, Indian J Tradit Knowle, 6 (2007) Chandra Prakash Das & Anita Pandey, Fermentation of traditional beverages prepared by Bhotiya community of Uttaranchal Himalaya, Indian J Tradit Knowle, 6 (2007) Navdeep T, Savitri & Bhalla TC, Characterization of some traditional fermented foods and beverages of Himachal Pradesh, Indian J Tradit Knowle, 6 (2006) Bhaskar Saikia, Hui Tag & Das AK, Ethnobotany of foods and beverages among the rural farmers of Tai Ahom of North Lakhimpur district, Asom, Indian J Tradit Knowle, 6 (2007) Mao AA & Odyuo N, Traditional fermented foods of the Naga tribes of Northeastern India, Indian J Tradit Knowle, 6 (2007) Umrao Singh, Wadhwani AM & Johri BM, Dictionary of Economic Plants in India, (Indian Council of Agricultural Research New Delhi), 1996, 288.