Research on to make Kesari dal safe for consumption

HYDERABAD: With research on Kesari dal proving beyond doubt that its consumption would result in paralysis, scientists are now exploring the possibility of removing toxicity from the dal at the cultivation stage itself so that it can be safely consumed by common man.

An international conference on 'Recent trends in Lathyrus Sativus research' will be organised in the city on November 8-9, 2012 on how to facilitate consumption of Kesari dal, without the toxicity that leads to paralysis. "The benefits of consumption of Kesari dal are plenty. But our experiments had proved that consumption of high quantity of Kesari dal would result in paralysis, but we are not stopping at that," said Dr Arjun L Khandare, deputy director, Food and Drug Toxicology Research Centre (FDTRC), National Institute of Nutrition (NIN).

At the request of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), NIN had conducted studies on a goat at the Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University (Angrau) feeding it with huge quantities of Lathyrus grain, which are known to contain a particular neurotoxin called Oxalyl diaminopropionic (ODAP). This resulted in the goat developing paralysis.

The study had been undertaken at the instance of the planning commission due to the demand made by some activists to lift the 50-year-old ban on cultivation of Kesari dal in the country. Some states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, however, allow cultivation of Kesari dal. According to Dr Khandare, Lathyrus Sativus is a rich source of protein, carbohydrate, arginine and non-protein amino acid homoarginine, which makes it versatile compared to other available pulses. "In fact, it can be cultivated without water also. Kesari dhal is also less expensive compared to other dals available in the market," Khandare said.

The question before scientists now is to make consumption of Kesari dal safe. For this purpose, an international conference is being organised by NIN-ICMR in the city in which researchers, agriculturists, farmers, biomedical scientists, toxicologists, clinicians, food and feed technologists from the country and abroad are expected to participate. It may be mentioned here that Kesari dal was a popular food crop in the world until it was proved that consumption of it would result in neurolathyrism.

The scientists are now focusing to make Lathyrus Sativus safe for consumption by reducing the ODAP to very low level using detoxification methods and also through genetic modification. This will make it a very highly beneficial food supplement and cost-effective as well. Such a move by scientists should bring cheer to Dr Shantilal Kothari, president, Academy of Nutrition Improvement, Nagpur, who has been spearheading a movement in the country for lifting ban on the cultivation of Kesari dal.