Prohibition state Gujarat is adding colour to the favourite drink of Bacchus.

While a Gandhinagar-based natural colour maker is giving a peg-up to their business by providing colour to wines in Europe, ajwain growers in Jamnagar are giving a healthy twist to beer produced in several nations.

After giving liquor industry the natural caramel colour, Aarkay Food Products, Gandhinagar, will manufacture natural anthocyanin colour from black carrots to export to wine manufacturers in European countries.

In another development, ajwain exports from Jamnagar have gone up as the commodity is used by beer companies in Middle East to help digestion. The increasing health consciousness of beer guzzlers in the Middle East is another reason for the boost in ajwain exports.

Aarkay has been exporting natural caramel colour to liquor industries in Africa, the Middle East and East European countries, including Russia and the Czech Republic, for the past 20 years.

Anthocyanins are water soluble strong colours and have been used to colour food since long back. The pigment is found in grape peel, black currant, bilberry and black carrots. Aarkay Food Products will extract this natural red pigment from black carrots, said sources in the company, which aims  to export 1,000 tonnes of anthocyanin colour by December 2007.

As black carrot cultivation is restricted to Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, Aarkay plans to start contract farming of the crop in central Gujarat. The climate is apt for the crop in central Gujarat.

The firm is in talks with farmers. The company plans to grow around one lakh tonnes of black carrot which would be sufficient to extract 1,000 tonnes of anthocyanin powder.

Conscious about their health, beer guzzlers in Saudi Arabia and Egypt are cheering for the ajwain-mixed beer. Also, the trend is catching up in the US and UK.

People are becoming more health conscious and are using ajwain in their beer drink apart from using it in other purposes. Last year, Saudi Arabia imported about 350 tonnes which has increased this year to 500 tonnes per annum.