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{{Short description|Type of Custard apple variety from Maharashtra, India}}
{{Infobox geographical indication
| name = Beed Custard Apple (बीड सीताफळ)<ref>{{cite news |title=Summer Season: कीड नियंत्रण हेच सीताफळाचे उत्पादन वाढीचे सूत्र, उन्हाळी बहरात योग्य व्यवस्थापन गरजेचे |url=https://www.tv9marathi.com/agriculture/pest-control-is-the-formula-for-increasing-the-production-of-custard-apple-672130.html |access-date=2 February 2025 |work=TV9 Marathi |date=28 March 2022 |language=mr}}</ref>
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| alternative names =
| description = Beed Custard Apple is a custard apple variety cultivated in [[Maharashtra]]
| type =[[Custard Apple]]
| area = Beed district
| country = [[India]]
| registered = 31 May 2016
| material =
| official website ={{URL|https://search.ipindia.gov.in/GirPublic/Application/Details/494|ipindia.gov.in}}}}

'''Beed Custard Apple''' is a variety of [[custard apple]] mainly grown in the [[State of India|Indian State]] of [[Maharashtra]]. It is a common and widely cultivated crop in [[Ashti, Beed|Ashti]], [[Kaij]], [[Dharur, Beed|Dharur]], Manjarsumba, [[Ambajogai]] and the [[Balaghat Range]] of [[Beed district|Beed]] district in [[Marathwada]] region.<ref name=":ipindia" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Custard Apple Value Chain in Beed District of Maharashtra, India: A Case Study |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/375994441_Custard_Apple_Value_Chain_in_Beed_District_of_Maharashtra_India_A_Case_Study |website=ResearchGate GmbH |access-date=2 February 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Custard Apple Value Chain in Beed District of Maharashtra, India: A Case Study |url=https://jmpp.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Amit-Kumar-Singh-Himanshu-Kumar.pdf |website=Journal of Management & Public Policy |access-date=2 February 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=सीताफळाची गोडी जगभर |url=https://marathi.indiatimes.com/maharashtra/beed/sitaphal/articleshow/47995251.cms |access-date=2 February 2025 |work=Maharashtra Times |language=mr}}</ref>

Under its [[Geographical Indications in India|Geographical Indication]] tag, it is referred to as "Beed Custard Apple".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Roy |first1=Chandan |title=The Role of Intellectual Property Rights in Agriculture and Allied Sciences |date=17 July 2018 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-351-12526-0 |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/The_Role_of_Intellectual_Property_Rights/jDNlDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Beed+Custard+Apple&pg=PT157&printsec=frontcover |access-date=2 February 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

==Name==
Beed Custard Apple is a prized crop in Beed district and so named after it. Locally it is called Sitaphal - the origin of the name can be traced back to [[Sanskrit]] language, where "sheeth" means "cold" and "phal" means "fruit".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pramod |first1=Niharika |title=Cool, creamy Sitaphal |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/kochi/2024/Nov/09/cool-creamy-sitaphal |access-date=2 February 2025 |work=The New Indian Express |date=9 November 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

==Description==
The Beed custard apple, known for its sweet taste, has been a gift from the Balaghat ranges to the Beed district for over four centuries. The high potassium content and micronutrients in the rocky terrain's shallow, gravelly, well-drained soil in Balaghat ranges, particularly around Dharur, Ambajogai, and Ashti, contribute to the distinct taste of Beed custard apples.<ref>{{cite news |title=Seven agriculture products get GI tag |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/seven-agriculture-products-get-gi-tag/articleshow/52579129.cms |access-date=2 February 2025 |work=The Times of India |date=4 June 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Custard Apple Cultivation : आत्महत्याग्रस्त बीड जिल्ह्यात सिताफळ लागवडीतून वर्षाला 50 लाख रुपये उत्पादन; वाचा सविस्तर |url=https://www.etvbharat.com/marathi/maharashtra/state/beed/custard-apple-cultivation-in-beed-district-50-lakh-rupees-outturn/mh20221211173706015015744 |access-date=2 February 2025 |work=ETV Bharat News |date=11 December 2022 |language=mr}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=सातासमुद्रापार बीडच्या फळांना मागणी, शेतकऱ्यांनी कमी पाण्यात करून दाखवला करिष्मा |url=https://lokmat.news18.com/maharashtra/beed/beed-farmers-abandoning-traditional-farming-and-switching-to-custard-apple-farming-know-more-mrdb-916105.html |access-date=2 February 2025 |work=News18 लोकमत |date=6 July 2023 |language=mr}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=पारंपरिक शेतीला फाटा देत खडकाळ जमिनीत फुलवली सीताफळाची बाग |url=https://www.etvbharat.com/marathi/maharashtra/state/beed/custard-apple-orchard-planted-in-rocky-soil/mh20201024163227526 |access-date=2 February 2025 |work=ETV Bharat News |date=24 October 2020 |language=mr}}</ref>

The sweetness of Beed custard apples is due to their high Total Sugar (20.12%) and reducing sugar content (17.97%), which is higher than other varieties like Mammoth (16.6%) and Washington (15.7%). The climate in Ambajogai and Dharur, with hot and dry temperatures and low rainfall, is favourable for custard apple production, with a yield of 10.89 kg/Plant.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Division |first1=Publications |title=Yojana December 2021 (Gujarati): A Development Monthly |publisher=Publications Division Ministry of Information & Broadcasting |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Yojana_December_2021_Gujarati/IHhUEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Beed+Custard+Apple&pg=PT3&printsec=frontcover |access-date=2 February 2025 |language=gu}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=बीडच्या सीताफळाची गोडी वाढणार |url=https://marathi.indiatimes.com/maharashtra/aurangabad/beed-custer-aaple/articleshow/56243723.cms |access-date=2 February 2025 |work=Maharashtra Times |language=mr}}</ref>

The key features to identify Beed custard apples are their round shape, shiny green external fruit colour, pleasant texture and flavour, and creamy white or yellowish colour of the pulp's wide spaces, visible upon maturity.<ref name=":ipindia">{{cite web |title=Beed Custard Apple |url=https://ipindia.gov.in/writereaddata/Portal/IPOJournal/1_85_1/gi-journal-79.pdf |website=Intellectual Property India |access-date=2 February 2025}}</ref>

==Geographical indication==
It was awarded the [[List of geographical indications in India|Geographical Indication]] (GI) status tag from the [[Geographical Indication Registry (India)|Geographical Indications Registry]], under the [[Government of India|Union Government of India]], on 31 May 2016 valid up to 25 August 2024.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Singh |first1=Ayesha |title=GI tag: It’s all about regionalism, economics, stupid |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/thesundaystandard/2017/Nov/18/gi-tag-its-all-about-regionalism-economics-stupid-1704871.html |access-date=2 February 2025 |work=The New Indian Express |date=19 November 2017 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Rejuvenation of old and senile custard apple (Annona squamosa L.) Orchard Cv. Balanagar |url=https://www.thepharmajournal.com/archives/2023/vol12issue12/PartAJ/12-12-466-573.pdf |website=The Pharma Innovation Journal 2023 |access-date=2 February 2025}}</ref>

Balaghat Sitaphal Sangh from Dharur, proposed the GI registration of Beed Custard Apple. After filing the application in August 2014, the Custard Apple was granted the GI tag in 2016 by the Geographical Indication Registry in [[Chennai]], making the name "Beed Custard Apple" exclusive to the Custard Apple grown in the region. It thus became the first Custard Apple variety from India and the 19th type of goods from Maharashtra to earn the GI tag.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lalitha |first1=N. |last2=Vinayan |first2=Soumya |title=Regional Products and Rural Livelihoods: A Study on Geographical Indications from India |date=4 January 2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-909537-7 |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Regional_Products_and_Rural_Livelihoods/ivqNDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Beed+Custard+Apple&pg=PT101&printsec=frontcover |access-date=2 February 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

The prestigious GI tag, awarded by the GI registry, certifies that a product possesses distinct qualities, adheres to traditional production methods, and has earned a reputation rooted in its geographical origin.<ref>{{cite news |title=Beed Custard Apple : भौगोलिक मानांकन मिळूनही बीडच्या बालाघाट सिताफळाला मिळतोय केवळ १० ते १२ रूपये किलोंचा दर |url=https://www.lokmat.com/agriculture/farming-ideas/beed-custard-apple-despite-the-geographical-designation-balaghat-custard-apple-of-beed-fetches-only-rs-10-to-12-per-kg-a-a989/ |access-date=2 February 2025 |work=Lokmat |date=22 October 2024 |language=mr}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Dagdi Jowar of Jalna]]
* [[Borsuri Tur Dal]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Indian cuisine]]
[[Category:Agriculture in Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Geographical indications in Maharashtra]]

Beed Custard Apple - Revision history

Pankajglobal at 01:11, 5 February 2025