History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c26.s3.t2.12

v1.c26.s3.t2.12

The raw materials employed for brewing were quite varied. The *Rāmāyaṇa* mentions four *āsavas* derived from flowers, fruits, honey and sugarcane. Caraka’s 84 varieties are derived from nine sources. Sugar-rich materials used for fermentation were sugarcane juice, guda, molasses, honey, coconut water, sweet palmyra sap and *mahua* flowers, while fruits included the grape, mango, wood-apple (kapittha), date palm, ber, banana, apricot, jack-fruit, pomegranate, kadamba, bilva, rajadana (chironji) and madanaphala (*Mimusops elengi*). Flavouring materials included fragrant flowers like the *kadamba*, *patala*, *jati* and *dhātākī*, and spices such as *haridrā* (haldi), black pepper and elaichi. Astringent materials like the betelnut (*pugaphila*), and barks of trees like *mesaśṛngī*, *kapittha* and *kadamba* were also employed in making liquor.