eChapters

The wellbeing of a person depends on his immune system. Any deficiency in any component of the immune system is called immunodeficiency and it may impair the normal functioning of his body and makes the person more susceptible to infections.

A tumor or neoplasm is an abnormal growth of the cells to form a lump or mass of transformed cells. This growth occurs due to loss of regulatory control of cell division. The majority of cells and organs have a balance between cell renewal and cell death. 

Transplantation refers to the implantation of a cell, tissue or organ from one site to another site in an individual or from one individual to another. It involves implanting of organs or grafting of tissues to repair defects and to stimulate regeneration.

One of the greatest achievements in science is the development of vaccines. Vaccines have been revolutionary for the prevention of infectious diseases. They have prevented a large number of deaths caused, every year, by dreadful diseases like smallpox, polio, hepatitis etc. Diseases like smallpox and polio have been successfully eradicated by vaccination.

Infectious diseases are the result of a complex interaction between the host and the microbes. Evasions of protective immunity by the parasites critically determine the survival and pathogenicity of the microbes. The invasion of the body by harmful microorganisms is called infection.

The basic purpose of the immune system is to provide defense to the body from various types of infections. But, sometimes, the system which is aimed to provide protection become damaging or even life-threatening. There are situations when immune response against harmless and inert antigens is exaggerated and cause diseases.

Cytokines are the short lived chemical messenger molecules, released by a group of cells which can modulate the functions of the same cell(by which they are produced) or other cells.

Major Histocompetibility Complex (MHC) is a closely linked cluster of genes which have codes for cell surface proteins known as MHC molecules. MHC molecules were previously called as HLA molecules. Since these molecules were first discovered on the leucocytes, these were called human leukocyte antigen or HLA molecules.

The complement system is a group of about 30 heat labile plasma proteins which constitute nearly 15% of total serum proteins. It is a system of plasma and membrane-associated serum proteins which can elicit a highly efficient and regulated inflammatory and cytolytic immune responses to different types of infectious organisms.

The interactions between antigens and antibodies are specific in nature in which an antibody recognizes an antigen through complementarities of shapes on paratope and epitope. An antigen reacts only with antibodies produced by itself or with closely related antigens. The reaction is similar to a lock and key. As a standard lock can be opened by its own key only similarly, an antibody can react only with its own antigen. Antibodies recognize molecular shapes (epitopes) on antigens.

Cell mediated immune response (CMI) is the major defense mechanism against intracellular microbes and tumor cells. It is mediated mainly by T lymphocytes. T cells originate in bone marrow but the maturation of T cells occurs in thymus.

Humoral immune response is the immune response which is mediated by antibodies.. It is called humoral immune response because antibodies are transferred with the ‘humour’ that is fluid or blood. Antibodies are the proteins produced by B lymphocytes.

Antibodies, also called immunoglobulins, are the proteins produced by the immune system against antigens. These are the protective proteins which interact with antigens and neutralize their effects. Antibodies are produced by B lymphocytes. An immunoglobulin has a Y-shaped structure consisting of four polypeptide chains.

When the body is exposed to a microbe or a foreign substance, the body makes some response which is called immune response. Immune responses are initiated by the interaction between a ligand, present on the surface of the microbe or secreted by the microbe or a foreign substance, and a receptor protein on the cell’s surface or a soluble receptor. There are several factors such as shape, charge and presence of other receptors which influence this interaction between the ligand and receptor. This ligand which is recognized by the immune system is called antigen. An antigen can be defined as an organism, a molecule, or part of a molecule which is recognized by the immune system. Often, the term immunogen is also used for antigen. Though, antigen and immunogen are used as synonyms but specifically, they are different from each other.

Innate immunity provides the first line of defense against invading pathogens. But if the pathogens are able to escape from the first line of defense mechanisms, the body uses, another set of immune mechanisms which provide defense in a more specialized manner. These are called second line of defense mechanisms. The second line of defense mechanisms are highly specific in nature. These are called adaptive immune response and provide adaptive immunity. It is also called acquired immunity since these immune responses are not present prior to the exposure of the microbes. When the body is exposed to foreign substances or microorganisms, body develops adaptive immune responses. Adaptive immunity is a set of specialized cells and processes that function to eliminate pathogens or prevent their growth.

Innate immunity or innate immune response is a set of non-specific or less specific mechanisms which provides the first and rapid line of defense. All such mechanisms exist prior to the exposure to a pathogen i.e. before the onset of the infection. It is also called inborn or innate immunity. The different components of the innate immunity like physical barriers, chemical barriers, phagocytosis, inflammation etc. act to prevent the entry or elimination of the microorganisms in a non- specific manner.

The major components of the immune system are the lymphocytes which constitute lymphoid system (Figure 2.1).The lymphoid organs are classified into two categories: primary and secondary lymphoid organs.

The study of the immune system, in its various aspects, is called immunology. Immunology is the branch of bioscience which deals with the defense mechanisms including all physical, chemical and biological properties of the organism that help it to combat its susceptibility to foreign agents and microorganisms. Immunology includes the development and functions of various components of immune system by which the body responds, destroys or neutralizes foreign agents or pathogens. It includes the study at cellular as well as molecular level. Immunology is an interdisciplinary subject which incorporates and requires the knowledge of many branches of biology like microbiology, biochemistry, molecular biology and clinical medicine.

Millets are essential grains that help developing nations in Asia and Africa’s semi-arid tropics, particularly India, Nigeria, and Niger, achieve food and nutrition security.They are grown on soils that are usually too weak for any other crop to grow. They can withstand drought, minimal fertiliser treatment, and temperature swings better than other cereal crops, and their short growing season makes them exceptional. Millets are all-season crops that can be grown all year and provide several security benefits (food, feed, health, nutrition, livelihood, and the environment), making them the most cost-effective agricultural security crop. Sorghum (Great millet), Bajra (Pearl millet), small millets such as Korra (Foxtail millet), Ragi (Finger millet), Kodo millet, Proso millet, Little millet and Barnyard millet are all important millet crops grown in India.

Vegetable oils and fats play a very important role in our diet. They provide essential fatty acids which are precursors of important hormones such as prostaglandins. They control many physiological factors such as blood pressure, cholesterol and reproductive system [1]. Coconut oil is a popular vegetable oil obtained from kernel of fruit coconut (Cocos nucifera). It is liquid at room temperature and bland in taste. Coconut oil is extensively used in cooking purpose in coastal tropical regions although it has been used in abundance for its medicinal properties.

Cooking oil when heated there will be some changes like its colour, flavour, smoke formation etc. One change is the change in total polar compounds (TPC). TPC is used to measure the quality of oil. The TPC value increases with the reheating of oil, higher TPC value means the oil having high contain of peroxide and hydro peroxide. FSSAI fixed the value of TPC at 25%, beyond of this value the cooking oil can causes health issues like hypertension, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease , liver disease even liver cancer.

Snack foods have become an essential part of the diet throughout the World and they are prepared from natural ingredients or components to yield products with specified functional properties. Extrusion cooking technology getting more popularity over other traditional processing technologies because extrusion shows continuous efficient cooking, mixing and forming process.

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is a part of “Chenopodiaceae” family. Up to 250 species of Chenopodium have been identified to date. Quinoa is a South American grain that has been farmed in the Andes for thousands of years, particularly in Peru and Bolivia. It is considered as a sacred plant because of its abundance in protein and essential amino acids (Jancurova et al., 2009). Quinoa is distinguished by its excellent adaptability to a diverse variety of land and environmental variables. Both leaves as well as the grains are considered as the edible parts. However, the quinoa grains have been extensively studied and economically explored (Rocha, 2008).

Developing a nutraceutical or functional food is becoming mandatory as looking at the current nutritional status of the population over the world. Nutraceutical foods are proven to cause several health benefits to people. Hence the basic aim behind developing the nutraceutical chocolate bar was to fulfill the nutritional demands and provide some additional benefits to people. The product mainly contains two key ingredients that are, Drumstick (Morings oleifera) which has the most qualities to call a Superfood” and Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) which is referred to as “Mother of all grains”.

Cellulose is a homopolymer of β (1–4) glucose linkage. It is the most abundant polymer present on the surface of the earth, which is mainly produced by the vascular plants (Sharma et al., 2019; Dayal et al., 2013; Sheykhnazari et al., 2011). Cellulose obtained from higher vascular plants has been employed for making textile and papers.

Wood apple (Feronialimonia) commonly known as Bael in various Indian sub-continent languages is the most under-utilised fruit despite of its aromatic flavor, high nutritional components and important medicinal values. Reason may be due to challenge in harnessing the pulp from the fruit. It is considered under seasonal fruit but it has long duration of shelf-life as compared to other fruits.The physic-chemical characteristics revealed that it has high shell weight of 55.67% as compared to pulp weight of 43.77% (Devi et al. 2018).

Dehydration (or drying) is defined as ‘the application of heat under controlled conditions to remove the majority of the water normally present in a food. The main purpose of dehydration is to extend the shelf life of foods by a reduction in water activity. This inhibits microbial growth and enzyme activity, but the processing temperature is usually insufficient to cause their inactivation. Therefore any increase in moisture content during storage, for example due to faulty packaging, will result in rapid spoilage.

Studies have shown that modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), and controlled atmosphere storage have the ability to delay quality losses and thus extend shelf life of fresh or minimally processed or fresh-cut produce (Church 1994; Gil et al. 1996a, b; Lee et al. 1995). Modified atmosphere packaging of fruits can result in reduction of respiratory activity, delay in softening and ripening and a reduced incidence of various physiological disorders and pathogenic infestations (Artés 1993).

Abstract

The objectives of the study is to help to create self-employment and provide proper information for different conventional milk based products. Traditional dairy foods have always played a crucial role in preservation of precious milk nutrients and promotion of its use among masses. The demand for milk and milk products is increasing with increasing of world's population. To meet these needs, high-end technology is needed for emerging the capability of milk production and preserving it by producing high quality milk products. The dairy industry is highly localized owing to perishable nature of milk products. Approximately 50% of the total milk produced in India has been projected to be processed into a variety of conventional milk products, such as khoa, chhena, paneer, dahi, ghee, kalakand and a wide range of sweets in rural areas mostly by the rural citizens. Therefore, setting up a milk-based food production system and updating conventional technologies to manage milk-based products on a commercial scale is very important.