Short Communication: Jagal, a traditional health food at Khadi Fair in Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

Abstract

Abstract. Jain V. 2021. Short Communication: Jagal, a traditional health food at Khadi fair in Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. Asian J Ethnobiol 4: 37-41. Fairs and festivals are important to reflect traditional knowledge about various cultural, dietary, and healthcare practices. India has a rich legacy of cultural diversity, confluent in cuisine diversity. Every year, Rajasthan Khadi and Village Industries Board organizes the Khadi fair in different districts of Rajasthan to exhibit and sell the products developed by artisans and local people of the state. Ethnobotanical surveys of the Khadi fair held at Udaipur city, Rajasthan, were carried out for the first time to document traditional health food items being sold in the fair. Semi-structured interviews conducted with sellers and consumers in the surveys revealed the mode of preparation, rate, and intended use of a hitherto unreported traditional health food locally called 'Jagal.’ It is a plant-based product developed mainly from sesame seeds, dried coconut kernel, and jaggery and consumed as a nutritious health food by urban mass and as a reliever of joint and back pain in older adults. Detailed scientific assessment of nutritional and therapeutic benefits of 'Jagal' needs to promote this food on international canvas as a dietary nutraceutical.