From forest rituals to skincare labs, the mahua tree’s renaissance is here

The first stirrings of mahua’s renaissance come, fittingly, from its own heartland. Sohrai, a skincare brand by Rupesh Pawar and Khanak Gupta, draws its name from a tribal harvest festival and its potency from the exquisite lipid profile of mahua oil. “While most oils lean heavily on a single fatty acid- olive on oleic, coconut on saturated fats, rosehip on linoleic-mahua stands apart with its beautifully balanced profile,” explains ​​Gupta, the CEO of Sohrai. “With 46 per cent oleic, 20 per cent stearic and 19 per cent palmitic acid, mahua delivers both deep hydration and lightweight nourishment,” she says, citing recent studies on its fatty acid profile published in the Journal of the American Oil Chemists’ Society and the Indian Journal of Natural Products and Resources.

Pawar, Sohrai’s chief technical officer, calls himself an “oil scientist”. He grew up in Maharashtra’s Nanded district, a tribal belt festooned with mahua groves. “In our folklore, ganja and mahua are siblings,” he explains. “Mahua is the sweet, nurturing sister. Ganja, the wild, untamed brother. Mahua soothes the body; ganja frees the mind.”

Pawar is uniquely positioned, rooted in his upbringing and trained in research and development. His proprietary enzyme-extracted mahua butter claims to deliver lipids deeper into the skin. “This is India’s answer to cacao or shea butter,” he says.

Tree of Life by Kalyan Joshi, Courtesy of Baro Art

‘The beauty industry’s interests are piqued. In 2023, Estée Lauder’s New Incubation Ventures awarded Sohrai its Impact award, with plans to incorporate the velvet-textured butter into upcoming formulations.

Before Sohrai’s rise, Global Beauty Secrets joined hands with Mrinalika M Bhanjdeo of the erstwhile Mayurbhanj royal family to launch the Kukmu Mahua face oil. “I grew up watching tribal communities weave wonders from the mahua tree,” says Bhanjdeo. “Its seed oil, dense with fatty acids, was too extraordinary to leave in the shadows.” Its oil is prized for eczema, psoriasis, dry skin and body aches, explains ​​Dr Gunvant Yeola, an Ayurvedic physician and principal of Pune’s Dr DY Patil College of Ayurved. “Its bark calms redness and itching while mahua wine forms the base or most medicated wines.”

‘The belief in the mahua flower’s ​​immortality comes from its unusual resilience. Once dried, it can be brought back to life simply by being soaked in water. These “reborn blooms are then fermented into the heady, floral liquor that forms the centrepiece of tribal birth, marriage and death rituals. While some parts of post-colonial India grew squeamish about alcohol, these communities never abandoned their sacred brew.