Sustainable grassroots innovation with Zeta Foundation

Our Innovation & Mentorship Areas

We help entrepreneurs and organizations build sustainable businesses through technical guidance, process setup, and commercialization support.

Seed Oil Extraction

Despite growing a wide variety of crops including several types of oilseeds like mustard, peanut and sesame, many rural and agriculture-oriented regions in India are currently dependent on buying oil from industries in other parts of the country. This affects the self-sufficiency and the economy of these communities. Hence, providing rural families with small-scale domestic oil extraction machines can help them to produce their own oil that they can distribute within their own communities and increase their self-dependency. This offering aims to connect rural oilseed cultivators with local manufacturers who produce low-cost oil extraction machines while also training them to use said machines.

Banana Fibre Bowls and Plates

Banana plants bear fruit only once in their lifetime, after which they are cut down and usually either left to decompose or used as cattle feed. This, however, doesn’t result in the complete utilisation of the plant’s fibre-rich pseudostem. Instead, after extracting the liquid sap from the stem to use as a biofertiliser, the remaining stock can be dried and shredded to obtain banana fibre mass. This banana fibre is then mixed and pressed with locally available starch to create bowls and plates. These vessels are ideal for the storage of dry food items and are biodegradable, which means that they can be decomposed after use or even act as cattle feed following minor processing. Thus, a single waste material can be used to create three value chains, making the whole process economically viable.

Soap Making using Locally Sourced Seed Oils

The manufacture of soap essentially requires just 3 ingredients: oil, water and sodium hydroxide (caustic soda). Hence, oilseed cultivators can use the surplus oil that has been extracted from the oilseeds to produce homemade soaps. This offering aims to train rural oilseed cultivators and startups how to use locally produced and sourced oils to make both hot-process and cold-process soaps. The objective is also to teach them the difference between saturated and unsaturated oils and fats as well as give them guidance regarding important safety procedures that are to be followed.

Protein Bars from Peanut Oil Press Cake

The residual oil press cake that is obtained following the extraction of peanut oil using an oil extraction machine is known to possess a fairly high protein content. This protein content can be effectively utilised by using the oil press cake to create low-cost protein bars or cookies that can either be sold in local rural markets or distributed at Anganwadis alongside meals. This offering aims to teach rural oilseed cultivators how to make such protein bars and cookies using peanut oil press cake, thus granting them an additional revenue stream and value chain that works towards the development of a rural circular economy.

Essential Oil Extraction

Essential oils from natural sources have great use in Medicinal and Consumer applications. We help organisations to identify such resources and work out cost effective means to extract these oils locally.

Edible Mahua Oil Production

Mahua (Madhuca longifolia) is a tree species that can be commonly found in Central India, especially in the states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Jharkhand. The oil extracted from mahua seeds is used by various tribal communities in these regions for skin care and medicinal purposes and even as a substitute for ghee or butter in cooking. However, mahua oil has a bitter taste and can be considered unpalatable, which is why it needs to be subjected to a complex refining process. This offering aims to reduce the processes required to make mahua oil usable for cooking and teach rural oil manufacturers the same.