Conclusion
Lime is the most effective, cheapest and easily available substance which prevents fermentation taking place in the sweet sugary sap of Palmyrah, in SriLanka. Azadiracta could also be used as an inhibitor next to lime. Vateria and Careya are not recommended because of their poor ability to inhibit fermentation.
Implication
Large scale multicentre studies should be done to find out the effect of various substances that are commonly used to prevent fermentation taking place in the sweet sap, in order to get a good sweet toddy and to determine the efficient substance that could be used to prevent fermentation of sugary sap for the industrial application.
Figure 18 : Sweet toddy collected from a collecting pot lined with lime
