The mango is a jack of all trades in the Kenya culinary office for it doubles up as a sumptuous, juicy fruit even as it serves as a delicacy in times of want. When the time of drought visits upon areas such as Tana River with its over ten thousand mango farmers (2014 figures), and Makueni in Eastern Province, the locals turn to the fruits as a basic food source, and they are right in doing so, for the mango is highly nutritious as a source of fiber and vitamin C to fight indigestion. Next to the fruit itself, mango juice has almost overshadowed the original in international appeal courtesy of the many healthy benefits associated with its soupy and syrupy blend. Here is a reflection on what stultifies the production of the juice, its elementary challenges and what the stakeholders like us at Selina.co.ke need to do to impregnate the air with maximum mango juice scent with no waste whatsoever.
First of all, we need to bang the gong for the shortage of mango juice processing venues in the country. One of the leading counties for mango production, Tana River, saw as many as 80 percent of its fruit produce go to waste in terms of early harvesting, causing poor yield in later years by the tree, as well as, selling overripe mangoes at throw away prices for lack of a juice processing plant. Thanks to efforts by the county authorities and a farmers’ cooperative, they initiated, at a value of KSH120m a processing venue in Hola that would be able to offer solace to 10,000 small grower communities with its 24-hr utility, with a churning capacity of 30 metric tons.
This development, which came out in 2014 has up to now served as a boon for farmers who no longer have to pre-harvest their unripe fruits since they have the assurance of generating capital from the processing plant. The factory also serves as a production venue for other types of juices including pineapple and avocado oil, besides honey value addition, among others.
Such a windfall may not be always available to family growers in other dry lands of the country and as such, it is essential to lay the foundation for mango farming survival until such a time as there will be enhanced facilities. For one, it essential to keep up with a play-and-catch situation with the shelf span of the fruit after reaping, which is usually about 14 days. To ensure that the fruits do not undergo deterioration between harvesting and processing or export, it is essential to keep them in a coolant and if this is not possible due to facilitation deficiency, keeping them in racks with enough light at cool, dry conditions, can also serve the purpose. Just ensure you do not overload the fruit into a vase as this may reduce shelf life.
Packaging ought to occur in designated racks. These boxes should be ideally having equally spaced openings that are about 8 percent of the entire box measurements. This ensures that even when they are undergoing bulk transportation, they will not only have proper aeration even as they do not crush under the weight as the holes are just slitty enough to serve the purpose without opening a dynamite mine.
There you have it: you do not always require your mango juice in small quantities through a basic juice blender though we commend those small-scale businessmen who parade it in the streets, and to ensure bulk, you need a processing plant. But then, there are masters at this type of trade where you haven’t the resources and we at Selina.co.ke will ensure you have fresh juice delivered right at your address with uptime guarantee.
