Nagpur: Vidarbha native Ajinkya Kottawar, along with his team at AMI Innovations, has set a world record by securing 13 international patents in a single day.
“Filed four months ago, the patents were officially granted on August 6, earning the team recognition in the Guinness World Records, the India Book of Records, Asia Book of Records, Limca Book of Records among others,” said Kottawar.
Out of the 13 patents, 10 were focused on turmeric research, which was initiated around 2018, while the remaining three pertained to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). “India is the world’s largest producer of turmeric, and we have this resource in abundance. Wet turmeric, particularly its curcumin — a natural compound found in turmeric — holds significant medicinal and nutritional value,” said Kottawar.
“Turmeric typically contains about 5% curcumin, a compound that plays a crucial role. However, the traditional method of boiling, drying, and then converting turmeric into powder significantly diminishes its nutritional value. This process should be avoided to preserve its benefits,” he said.
Kottawar emphasised that one of their patented innovations offers a solution that preserves turmeric’s nutritional and medicinal properties, including its curcumin content, without the need for boiling. “This method not only retains the turmeric’s value but also significantly reduces the time, energy, and cost for farmers. Traditionally, the process of boiling, drying, and converting turmeric into powder takes about three months. Our approach completes the entire process—from soil to powder—in just three days,” he said.
Additionally, the team has developed several new products, including turmeric oil and a turmeric liquid which, as per the team, can be used in cooking or consumed directly. They also claim to have discovered ways to utilise certain ingredients, previously considered waste, from turmeric that possess significant medicinal value.
The team also secured three additional patents for advancements in CNG technology. Kottawar said, “The traditional CNG production process takes around 40 days. If I start today, it would take 40 days to determine if everything was correctly measured when the process was initiated. Even after adjustments, it would take another 40 days to confirm whether it worked out or not, totalling 80 days. However, with our new method, we have reduced this time to just eight days. This means within eight days, we’ll know if any changes are needed, and another eight days to produce the final product. This innovation significantly saves time, energy, and money.”
The 31-year-old engineer from Yavatmal was already an accomplished patent holder before this achievement. With the addition of these 13 patents, he now has a total of 41 to his name.
Bharatbhai Patel, Harshad Gatkine, Milan Shah, Shapak Pinjari and Dr Raghunath Mashelkar were among his companions throughout the process.
