Development of a New Pre-Drying Method of Accelerated Water Absorption and Partial Gelatinisation of Starch in Paddy using Pulsed Microwave-Water Applications in a Microwave Rotary Drum Dryer.

The present study was undertaken to develop a pre-drying process of an accelerated water
absorption and partial gelatinization of starch in paddy using pulsed microwave-water applications.
The experiments on microwave-assisted water absorption by paddy (var. Sworn
Masuri) at five power density levels in the range 0.2–1kWkg-1 were conducted in a semipilot-
scale microwave dryer. The paddy was exposed to pre-calculated intermittent water
spray and pulsed microwaves up to 100 min. The water absorption kinetics were modeled
using modified Azuara’s equation of mass transfer and the process was compared with traditional
hot water soaking of the paddy at 60 C for 3.33 h. The moisture content gained by
paddy during microwave-assisted water absorption was faster (30% in 1.67 h) compared to
hot water soaking (30% in 3.33 h). The consumption of water, specific energy, and water
absorption time during microwave processing were reduced by 70%, 39.51%, and 50%,
respectively. The method of slopes was used to estimate moisture diffusivity during microwave-
assisted water absorption by paddy. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) of treated paddy were done to understand the changes in the
crystallinity and the microstructure of starch molecules. The microwave-assisted water
absorption process was found to accelerate the moisture gain with the effect of partial gelatinization
of starch in the paddy. Further, the experiment can be continued in the same
microwave dryer to fully gelatinize the paddy at 30% moisture content and dry the gelatinized
paddy.

Effect of convective, infrared and microwave heating on drying rates, mass transfer characteristics, milling quality and microstructure of steam-gelatinized paddy

Paddy (var. Sworn Masuri) was dried by hot air (50
C), infrared hot air (4,185 W m−2 radiation
intensity and 40
C) and microwave rotary drum (0.37, 0.78, and 1.23 kW kg−1 power density)
to evaluate the most suitable method of drying. Before drying, the paddy grains were soaked in
water (60
C, 6 h) followed by steaming (200 kPa, 10 min) to gelatinize the starch. The drying
rate constants, apparent moisture diffusivity (Da), convective mass transfer coefficient (hm), head
rice yield (HRY) and the broken percentage were estimated. The X-ray diffraction analysis and
scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of starch granules and outer husk of the dried paddy were
carried out. Microwave rotary drum drying (MWD) was found to be faster as compared to hot
air drying (HAD) and infrared hot air drying (IRHD). The hm in MWD was found to be
90.76–97.01% higher than HAD and 33.33–78.44% higher than IRHD. The HRY and specific
energy consumption in MWD were, respectively, 5.87% and 89.16% lower than HAD. The
microwave dried rice showed the lowest crystallinity percentage. The SEM of rice starch
obtained by MWD showed cracks and fissures whereas IRHD induced microstructural changes
only in paddy husk.

Development of novel high power-short time (HPST) microwave assisted commercial decontamination process for dried turmeric powder (Curcuma Longa L.).

The commercially available dry turmeric powder
at 10.34% d.b. moisture content was decontaminated using
microwaves at high power density for short time. To avoid
the loss of moisture from turmeric due to high microwave
power, the drying kinetics were modelled and considered
during optimization of microwave decontamination process.
The effect of microwave power density (10, 33.5 and
57 W g-1), exposure time (10, 20 and 30 s) and thickness
of turmeric layer (1, 2 and 3 mm) on total plate, total yeast
and mold (YMC) counts, color change (DE), average final
temperature of the product (Taf), water activity (aw), Page
model rate constant (k) and total moisture loss (ML) was
studied. The perturbation analysis was carried out for all
variables. It was found that to achieve more than one log
reduction in yeast and mold count, a substantial reduction
in moisture content takes place leading to the reduced
output. The microwave power density significantly affected
the YMC, Taf and aw of turmeric powder. But the thickness
of sample and microwave exposure time showed effect
only on Taf, aw and ML. The colour of turmeric and Page
model rate constant were not significantly changed during
the process as anticipated. The numerical optimization was
done at 57.00 W g-1 power density, 1.64 mm thickness of
sample layer and 30 s exposure time. It resulted into
1.6 9 107 CFU g-1 YMC, 82.71 C Taf, 0.383 aw and
8.41% (d.b.) final moisture content.

Effect of microwave blanching on slice thickness and quality analysis of star fruit.

Star fruit (Averrhoa carambola L.) is one of the underutilized tropical fruits and is a good source of vitamins and minerals. Peroxidase (POD) is the most heat stable enzyme which is used as an indicator for adequacy of blanching process. Blanching is a prerequisite for the preservation of fruits and vegetables. Hot water blanching is having disadvantages like wastewater production and loss of valuable nutrients by leaching. Microwave blanching is one of the emerging and clean technology which seems to provide a better nutrient retention due to shorter heating time and zero wastewater production. Therefore, the present investigation was carried outto identify a suitable blanching method (hot water blanching and microwave blanching)for different slice thickness (5, 10 and 15 mm) of star fruit that ensures enzyme inactivation and maximum retention of therapeutic value (ascorbic acid and oxalic acid). It was observed that blanching at 600, 480, 240 and 120 W power level for aslice thickness of 5, 10 and 15 mm required blanching time of 30-60s, 40-70s, 60-80s, 80-150s and 300-720s respectively. For a given slice thickness, the moisture content of samples decreased with increase in power level. The moisture content was reduced to 84-88 % w.b. from an initial value of 90 % w.b. depending on power level and blanching time combinations. At the same time, the oxalic acid decreased significantly with increase in slice thickness and adecrease in power level. The change in ascorbic acid also showed a similar trend but the influence of slice thickness was not significant (p>0.05).

Effect of Storage Conditions on Quality of Ready-to-Serve Beverage from Residual Osmotic Solution of Star fruit

Increasing urbanization has boosted the demand for health-related drinks based on
indigenous fruits. Star fruit due to its high antioxidant potentials along with abundance in nutritional
and medicinal qualities has been recently scrutinized for producing commercialized value-added
products. The present investigation is undertaken with a view to augment the use of resulting osmotic
solution with fresh carambola juice for preparation of ready to serve beverage and to determine their
storability with respect to quality characteristics. The formulated ready-to-serve (RTS) beverage
stored for six months under ambient (25°-43°C) and refrigerated (10°C) condition exhibited overall
sensory parameters within the limits of acceptance. With increasing storability, the ascorbic acid
content decreased from a mean value of 23.94 to 18.42 mg/100mL (ambient) and 21.86 mg/100mL
(refrigerated). Similarly, oxalic acid was reduced from 90.88 mg/100mL to 63.85 mg/100mL (ambient)
and 88.55 mg/100mL (refrigerated). After 4 months of storage the scores of the sensory properties of
RTS was found to be reduced to below 7.5 for ambient and below 8.3 for refrigerated samples. The
refrigerated stored sample showed higher retaining property for flavor attributes. Moreover, the
stored samples manifested the presence of bacteria, mold, and yeast, yet within the limit of
acceptance

Development and performance evaluation of manually operated star fruit slicer.

Star fruit (Averrhoa carambola) is one of the underutilized tropical fruits, which contains
a large amount of therapeutic components in the form of antioxidants, total phenolics, vitamin-C,
minerals, and dietary fibers. For commercial value-addition of the fruit, a hand-operated star
fruit slicer suitable for small-scale processing was designed and developed. The slicer was
evaluated for three fruit-slice thickness. The capacity, efficiency, loss percentage and standard
slice percentage of the slicer varied with thickness. The slicer had slicing efficiency of 86 to
96% with effective capacity of about 30.18 - 7.46 kg.h-1 against 31 to 34% and 6.9 - 1.61 kg.h-1
by manual operation. The loss percentage and standard slice yield percentages were 9.53%
to 15.11%, 83% to 91%, respectively, for mechanical; and 9.21% to 10.45%, 26% to 31%,
respectively, for manual slicing. The results suggested that the developed star fruit slicer is
simple, economical, and more efficient with higher capacity than manual slicing for the range
of fruit slice thickness required by small-scale processing units.

Optimization of salt curing of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) with blanching as pre-treatment using response surface methodology

Pickling or salt curing is one of the major traditional processes to increase the shelf life of
bitter gourd in India. No information is available about optimization of salt curing of bitter gourd and
the related changes in its quality. Moreover, specific investigations are needed to evaluate individual
susceptibility of fruit and vegetables to osmotic dewatering with pre-treatment to obtain new minimally
processed food products. The purpose of this study is to optimize the salt curing process with blanching
as pretreatment for bitter gourd.

Starch gelatinization cum drying of paddy using microwave rotary drum dryer: process optimization, drying and cooking kinetics with quality evaluation.

The microwave-assisted starch gelatinization was carried out in a semi-pilot microwave
rotary drum dryer. Gelatinization experiments were planned using a central composite
design and the process was optimized. The effect of microwave power density, time of
treatment, and water application rate on final moisture content, crystallinity percentage, and
specific energy consumption was studied. The optimized conditions in the starch gelatinization
process were found at 1kW kg
1 power density, 60 min treatment time, and 90mL/
10 min water application rate. Microwave power density and treatment time significantly
(p<0.01) affected the crystallinity percentage and specific energy consumption. Further, the
gelatinized paddy was dried in the same dryer at 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00, and 1.25 kW kg
1
microwave power density levels. The drying characteristics, milling yield, cooking characteristics
and cooking kinetics of the milled rice were analyzed. Drying rates were increased with
an increase in microwave power density. The head rice yield and specific energy consumption
were lower in microwave drying compared with hot air drying. The crystallinity percentage
of microwave dried rice was decreased with an increase in power density. At higher
power density, the microstructure of starch granules showed formations of internal fissures
as well as the effect on the color and cooking rate constants of the rice.

A Comprehensive Review of Mathematical Modelling of Paddy Parboiling and Drying: Effects of Modern Techniques on Process Kinetics and Rice Quality.

Paddy is one of the most important food crops in the world. The major operations of paddy processing
are soaking, parboiling/steaming, drying and milling. The paddy processing is an energy-intensive
process with the substantial wastewater generation.

Design, Development, and Performance Evaluation of an Aloe Vera Gel Extractor.

Aloe vera is a spiky, succulent, perennial plant and a native to warm dry
regions, especially southern Europe, Asia and it has been used for medicinal purposes.
In this study, a hand-operated Aloe Vera Gel extractor was developed and
machine capacity, machine efficiency, and loss percentage were studied. The
comparative performance evaluation of the designed extractor with that of traditional
method (manually by knife) indicated that the extractor offered higher gel
yield (83%), capacity (21 kg/h) than the traditional method offered gel yield (30%),
capacity (4 kg/h) with uniform removal of gel from leaves. The speed of cutting by
the designed extractor was about 5 times higher than the traditional gel removing
process. The aloe vera extractor is simple in design, economical in construction and
operator friendly. Therefore, it can be afforded by the rural farmers and small
entrepreneurs for aloe vera processing and value addition.

Effect of Ultrasound-Assisted Pretreatment on Osmo-Dehydration Kinetics and Quality of Star Fruit (Averrhoa Carambola L) Slices: An Optimization Study

Ultrasound pre-treated osmo-dehydration of star fruit (Averrhoa Carambola L.), an underutilized tropical fruit was successfully employed and the process variables were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). Ultrasound pre-treatment showed positive effects on osmo-dehydration with 4.36% higher water loss and 2.38% less solid gain. The effect of process variables slices thickness (ST), sugar concentration (SC) and immersion time (IT) was studied on water loss (WL), solid gain (SG), ascorbic acid (AA) and oxalic acid (OA). The value of a set of compromised process parameters ST, SC, IT was found to be 10 mm, 56°Brix, and 3 h, respectively resulting into 42.33% WL, 9.73% SG, 419.33 mg/100 g dry matter AA and 6.01 mg/g dry matter OA. Quadratic models were found to fit well (R2, 0.98, 0.89, 0.86 and 0.89) in describing the effect of variables on the responses studied. The regression coefficients of the second-order model and the probability of factors influenced the responses at linear, quadratic and interactive level.

Comparative Evaluation of the Quality Characteristics of the Osmo-dehydrated Star Fruit Slices using Hot air, Solar and Sun Drying

The star fruit (Averrhoa carambola) belonging to family Oxalidaceae is one of the earliest known tribal fruit being grown in abundance in India. It is a multipurpose, drought resistant evergreen tree which is gaining lot of importance for its therapeutic potentials. Due to lack of technical knowledge most of these fruits are not effectively utilised. The present study was an effort to perform a quality characteristics evaluation of osmo-dehydrated star fruit slices subjected to hot air drying (HAD), Solar drying (SOD) and sun drying (SD). The star fruit slices were subjected to microwave blanching, Osmo-dehydrated and the process was optimized. Final samples were prepared at that optimum conditions and subjected to hot air drying, solar drying and sun drying. Quality analysis of the dried sample was done for ascorbic acid (AA), oxalic acid (OA), rehydration ratio (RR). The sensory (colour and shape) analysis was also carried out. Drying time taken was 6-13 hrs, 7-11 hrs and 11-18 hrs for HAD, SOD and SD. The solar dryer achieved considerable reduction of 75% in drying time as compared to that of conventional sun drying. The samples undergone microwave blanching and osmo-dehydration lost part of AA and OA during heat treatments. The sun dried samples showed very low sensory score (5 to 6) which was much lower than those of HAD and solar dried samples. Osmo-solar process may be recommended to be practiced at rural level for dehydration of star fruit slices as a compromise method between HAD and SD considering both the quality parameters of finished product and from energy consumption point of view.

Recent Advances in Processing and Value Addition of Germinated Brown Rice

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A Review on Post-Harvest Processing and Potential of Coconut

Coconut (Cocos nucifera) is an important tropical and subtropical crops and found throughout the World. Many peoples take coconut as part of their daily diets. Because of a large amount of water, coconuts are unique from other fruits. In 2014, world’s coconut production was 61.44 million tonnes and India was the third highest producer contributing 10.93 million tonnes. Fresh coconut meat is common food for 20% of the World’s population, in the form of coconut cream, dried copra, and milk. 100 gram of coconut kernel gives 354 calories with a significant amount of fat (saturated fat) and carbohydrates. It also contains micronutrients such as iron, zinc, dietary minerals, phosphorus, and manganese. Coconut is a functional food having health benefits like reduces blood cholesterol level, heart burning diseases and kidney diseases apart from its nutritional constituents. The objective of this chapter is to provide a brief idea about the therapeutic potential and post-harvest processing of coconut. Different products like dried coconut, coconut water, coconut milk, oil, vinegar can be prepared the raw coconut. More research should be carried out for the production of qualitative value added product and to create opportunities in rural areas which will minimize processing losses and will support the product development and innovation.

A Current Opinion on Application, Storage and Sensory Study of Essential Oil Formulated Food Products

The addition of natural extracted essential oil, a conventional food preservation technique, can be used as food preservative and flavour improvement agents. The reason behind the selection of natural essential oil depend upon the food safety which is a fundamental concern of consumers, researchers and several industries. These natural preservatives are easily obtained from the natural sources like plant, animal and microbes origin. The implications of essential oil increases safer food production. This review attempts to provide an overview of the application of essential oil in food products to understand the mechanism of interaction of bioactive compounds involve with the food products. The molecular mechanism of essential oil and their effect of their individual components on storage study on for the human consumption are of significant concern. It could be an interest in the light of the move by food as well as pharmaceutical industry away from artificial preservatives to move on essential oil as a natural preservative.

Biochar Production from Microwave Pyrolysis of Biomass and Its Utilization: A Review

The biochar is produced by decomposition of biomass using thermochemical process. Biochar production helps in the reduced emission of CO2 into the atmosphere. It is very eco-friendly and also a good substitute for activated carbon. The different biochar processes includes gasification, pyrolysis, hydrothermal carbonization, etc. This process is very much economical and can be used for waste management, greenhouse gas production (GHG), soil filling and energy production, etc. Now-a day’s microwave heating became very popular in food process industries due to volumetric heating. The production of biochar and biofuel by pyrolysis using microwaves is very much cost effective. This review provides information about biochar pyrolysis, biochar yield with its properties and the common catalyst used for the purpose in the microwave pyrolysis. Also the comparison between the conventional pyrolysis and the microwave pyrolysis with its effective utilization is listed. Microwave energy act as a catalysts and interacts with vapour, gas and solid in the reactors. It also helps in product quality improvements. The highest biochar yield can be >60% in microwave pyrolysis. The Brunauere Emmette Teller (BET) surface of the biochar was found to be 400-600 m2/g. The biochar thus produced can be utilized for adsorption of air and water pollutants, biodiesel production and soil conditioning. The quality of the biomass and operating conditions are the parameters that determine the quality of the biochar. The effects of process parameters on the product of biomass were also included in this review.

Climate Change and Livestock production: A Review

Livestock is farm animal who are raised to make profit and food. This sector provides us meat, eggs, dairy, wool, and leather etc. In developing country, the livestock system is changing rapidly for a variety of drivers. The population of human in the world is increasing day by day from 6.5 billion today to 9.2 billion by 2050 which will ultimately increase the demand for more livestock. Livestock production accounts for one-third of the total global crop which competes for water, land, energy and labor. In a developing country like India, the poor people are depending more on livestock farming compared other developed country. But these things are getting challenged due to change in climate. Physical and biological systems are have been changed significantly in most of the oceans and continents due to high warming temperature. The increase in greenhouse gas emission causes a major change in the climate. Changes in herbage growth are caused by the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The hot and humid condition causing heat stress may affect the productivity of livestock and their metabolic activities. Water is also a major factor in growing livestock. It is used in farm production and production of their feed, for processing of feed crops which use water directly or indirectly. Due to water pollution by different industry, the vulnerability of livestock for getting diseases is increasing. The effect of climate change is impacting the biodiversity of the livestock which is a threat to human food security. The important mitigation is to go green, decreasing the emission of greenhouse gasses. The farming habit should be chemical free, organic and biodynamics. These things can protect the livestock and there will be a proper balance between income, environmental objectives, and food security.

Comparative Evaluation of Drying Kinetics of Carrot Slices in Hot air and Microwave Drying

Development of Accelerated Soaking Method for Mustard using Microwave Assisted Heating

Comparative Evaluation of Soaking Characteristics of Chick pea using Ambient water, Hot water and Microwave-assisted Heating