Dr. Kamil Ashraf, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, JNMC, A.M.U

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Fox nuts or Lotus seeds, popularly known as Makhana come from a plant called Euryale Fox which grows in the stagnant water of wetlands or ponds in Eastern Asia. They have been used in Chinese medicine since 3000 years and find an important place in the science of Ayurveda too. It is considered an aquatic cash crop in India. It was once distributed in India, covering a long range from Kashmir to Manipur along side the Himalayan stretch from Northwest to far East. Now, its distribution has been confined within Bihar, along with adjacent states like Orissa, West Bengal, and Assam. Makhana is either eaten as raw puff or blended with vegetables, dal, etc. The seeds are edible after being processed and are highly nutritious. Harvesting and processing
The immense richness in nutrition justifies the painstaking method of its harvesting and processing. This species starts flowering during mid March to April, followed by fruiting. The fruits coat ruptures after maturation of fruits, resulting in the spread over of all seeds in bottom. Four to five people together collect seeds from bottom at a time. They fix a bamboo pole, locally known as Kaara, in one place and cover up to 2-3 m radius around it during collection. They together dip into water at the base of bamboo pole and then each diverges in different direction to the periphery. They drag seeds with the help of their palms and gather them to the base of the bamboo pole. One dip for one person lasts 30-45 min. The whole procedure of seed collection surrounding one pole takes 1-1.5 hr and depends upon the amount of seeds lying in the ground. Collected seeds are washed and cleaned with the help of a container, locally known as Auka. The seeds are then put in a crescent shaped container, locally known as Gaanja, which is then swung as well as shaken repeatedly by touching water surface, until all the seeds get cleaned; this practice removes all the unnecessary wastes adhered with seeds. Clean seeds are then packed into small bags each with carrying capacity of about 20-30 kg and brought to the embankment. The seeds are again poured into a cylindrical container, locally known as Khanjhi, which is rolled over ground so as to rub seed coat, which get smooth afterwards. The next day, female members spread them over a mat for drying for 2-3 hr under bright sunlight. All the processed seeds are then sieved for gradation. The process arranges seeds as per their size by allowing them to pass through the sieving devices, locally known as Jharna, a rectangular thin iron plate of 1,158 cm2, bounded by wooden frame of 6.35 cm height. The entire gradation process requires 10 devices marked with No 1-10, based on their individual mesh size. Dried seeds are put in No 1 sieve and shaken so that bigger ones remain as such, while smaller ones pass through the same. Again passed seeds are sieved with No 2 and the process continues until No 10 sieve is used. All the graded seeds are stored separately. First frying As soon as seeds get dry, they require frying; otherwise they become spoiled. Frying is done in a round aluminum pot placed on earthen oven, which is prepared by digging out of earth.    Its periphery is with three ridges made up of sticky consolidated mud plastered with semisolid cow dung for long lasting. Mostly, ladies take part in frying. About 600 gm nuts, dry seeds called as Nut, are put in aluminum pot heated above earthen hot oven for 5 minutes at a time and stirred fast and continuously with the help of frying stick, known as Larna, comprising about 20 sticks made up of either bamboo or iron, each 38 cm long. After frying, nuts are preserved in container made up of long bamboo strips or reeds, one kind of long grass; it is plastered with semisolid cow dung. The upper portion of the container is shielded with course cloth so as to maintain inside temperature. Second frying Once fried, they are to be fried second time after 60 hours to have the puff ready to eat. The entire process is called as Bhaja/Lava: about 200g of fried nuts are put at a time for 2-3 minutes in aluminum pot heated above an earthen hot oven. During frying, a person takes out 6-12 fried nuts from the pot with wooden spoon, called Sipi, and hands them over to the left palm of second person sitting beside him. He immediately place them on a wooden plate, called Pata/Aphara and his right palm holding a wooden hammer, called Pitna/Thapa, thrash them within a matter of few seconds. The fried nuts get expanded as soon as thrashed, resulting into formation of white puff, by removal of black seed coat. One white puff gets expanded three times more than that of the nut. A haul of white puffs are put in container and rubbed with palm so as to remove the residues of black seeds coat still adhered with puffs. Thus, the seeds of lotus (Kamal ka phool) are transformed into eatable and highly nutritious puffs called MAKHANA after a long and tedious process involving hard work and expertise. Nutritional values and medicinal importance Nutritional studies show that edible parts of the seeds contains 12.8% moisture, 9.7% protein, 0.1% fat, 76.9% carbohydrates, 0.5% mineral matters, and 1.45% iron, besides a good proportion of sugar, ascorbic acid, and phenol28. Amino acid index is higher than that in other staple foods, which signifies its unique food quality. 1. They are low in cholesterol, fat and sodium and calories. This makes them an ideal snack to satiate those in-between meal hunger pangs. 2. They are beneficial to those suffering from high blood pressure, heart diseases and obesity due to their high magnesium and low sodium content. 3. Makhanas are recommended for diabetics too due to their low glycemic index. 4. An anti-ageing enzyme in these seeds is said to help repair damaged proteins. 5. In addition, the presence of a natural flavonoid called kaempferol (also present in coffee), helps prevent inflammation and ageing. 6. Makhanas are gluten-free, protein rich and high in carbohydrates. 7. They are low in calories - making them an ideal snack for weight loss. 8. The seeds are used for the treatment of stomachache, articular pain, diabetes, spleen, and gonorrhoea diseases. 9. Different parts of the entire plant are used for medicinal purposes as remedy for rheumatism, polyurea, parturition, and bile disorder.

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