eChapters

Prices of major spices such as chillies, jeera, turmeric and cardamom are being driven to the ground by higher production, poor export earnings and a lack of working capital with traders to hold the stocks. Last December, all these spices were at record highs. With the prices ruling high last year, the acreage of most of the spices has increased this year, indicating excess production. The chilli acreage has increased by 15% to 20% while the land under jeera crop is estimated to have gone up by over 26%. The turmeric production is heading for a historic high of 82 lakh bags (each bag of 70 kg) and cardamom is having a bumper harvest.

Arecanut palm (Areca catechu L.) is the source of common masticatory nut, popularly known as arecanut, betelnut, or supari. It is used extensively in India by all sections of people as masticatory, and is an essential requisite for several religious and social ceremonies.

Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) is an export-oriented crop grown for its nuts, a true drupe. Often referred as ‘wonder nut’, it is highly delicious and nutritive. Its nutritional composition compares well with almond, hazel nut and walnut. It is a zero-cholesterol nut with high content of unsaturated fatty acids, proteins and carbohydrates with a right combination of amino acids, vitamins and minerals. Kernels extracted from nuts are often consumed as such or used in confectionery items and various kinds of dishes. Kernel oil of pale yellow colour is used in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) extracted from its shell has many industrial applications - for making paints, resins, flame-retardants, etc. Testa covering the kernel, rich in tannin, can be an acceptable substitute for wattle bark tannin in leather industry. Cashew apple, the pseudo-fruit, is rich in vitamin C. It is used to cure scurvy, diarrhea, uterine complaints and dropsy.

Potato is one of the major non cereal food crops in the world and ranks fourth after rice, wheat and maize. Due to its high production potential per unit area and time, the crop has been recorded for sustaining millions of lives during the times of war and hunger. Native of South America, this crop was introduced into India in early seventieth century. Currently India ranks 3rd for area and 2nd for production in the world [AICRP (Potato) Bulletin No. 2]. Potato is generally grown as rabi crop during October to December in gangetic plains of India but in hills it is grown almost throughout the year as commercial cultivation. In some states like Karnataka, it is generally grown during kharif season.

4.1 Introduction and Measuring

A measure of central tendency exhibits only one of the important characteristics of distribution, namely they typical representative figure to the whole set of its values. This measure alone will not adequately describe a set of observation unless all the observations are alike. Moreover one cannot understand completely about the data set with a measure of central tendency.  Because in real practical situation there may exits a number of sets of observations (or different distributions) whose measures of central tendency are same but they may differ individually from each other in a number of ways.  In particular two sets of values have the same mean but whilst one set of data is grouped close to the mean the other one is more spread out.  The following examples will illustrate this view point clearly.

Carbohydrates are the most abundant biomolecules on earth. They occur in nature as glucose, starch and cellulose etc. Each year, photosynthesis converts more than 100 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide and water into starch, cellulose and other plant products. Carbohydrates are polyhydroxy aldehydes or ketones and their derivatives. They provide 4K calories of energy per gram. They promote utilization of lipids and reduce wastage of proteins. They are readily available in roots, tubers, cereal grains, sugarcane and sugar beet.

Enzymes are organic catalysts produced by living organisms. They make possible biochemical reactions. Hence they are called biocatalysts. They are mostly a specialized class of proteins. However, there are some non-protein enzymes like ribozymes, which are RNAses. Enzymes speed up reactions at ambient temperatures. This is in contrast to chemical reactions like saponification of lipids which take place when lipids are boiled for a few hours with concentrated alkali. Enzymes, namely, lipases, hydrolyze lipids at body temperatures in minutes. They are superior to chemical catalysts by a factor of 10⁷ to 10¹⁴ . An enzyme may be a simple protein or a complex protein. They are produced by cells and are mostly globular proteins. Each cell contains an estimated 3000 different enzymes.

Abstract

Nitrogen is the most essential nutrient for all plants and is also the major limiting factor in plant productivity. High yielding varieties of all crops are responsive to nitrogen but its ever-increasing use has shown detrimental impact on the environment along with extremely low use efficiency. Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in crop plants depends on various internal and external factors, which are dealt in detail. There has been a significant interest in genetic engineering of the crops to improve NUE. The use of biotechnological interventions by manipulating genes of the nitrogen utilization pathway to improve NUE has not been very successful. But transgenics/mutants with modified capacities for nitrate uptake, assimilation and remobilization have enhanced our understanding of the genetic control of NUE. In both cellular, and at whole plant level the mechanisms involved in N remobilization from the senescing organs towards the grain have recently gained importance but their understanding is still preliminary. Recent evidences have shown that grain filling during later stages of crop growth is supported by N recycling.

When you are assigned with your thesis problem or some problem is puzzling you, the first step is to search the related literature ; here the term literature is used not as it is used in humanities but this means the literature related to the research work published by the earlier scientists on the topic. The searching of literature is a most important and first step in conducting research on a particular topic. This not only acquaint you with the work of other scientists who tried to solve the problem but also confirms the possibility that previous scientists might have solved that problem and yours will be a repeat attempt ; in that case you may tackle other aspects of the problem, if at all they are existing and important in present circumstances.

Abstract

The substantial loss in the shielding ozone layer has resulted in an increase in the solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) on the Earth’s surface, which is detrimental for all living organisms ranging from prokaryotes to eukaryotes, including humans. This has augmented the scientific concern and interest in searching for the photoprotective compounds from diverse organisms. Cyanobacteria, the primitive O2-evolving photosynthetic prokaryotes are solely dependent upon the solar radiation for their energy requirement and thereby have to always face the UV-B stress. UVR affects cyanobacteria either directly or indirectly by inducing oxidative stress. In response, they have evolved the capacity to synthesize, accumulate and metabolize a variety of UV-absorbing compounds such as, mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs), scytonemin, carotenoids, biopterin glucoside, as a strategy to reduce the direct and indirect damaging effects of UVR.

Factors which influence the colonization and life cycle of VAM fungi have important bearing on the extent to which they may benefit their host. As we move closer to using mycorrhizal fungi to increase growth and productivity of different plant communities, a thorough understanding of the factors which influence their survival, germination, root colonization an d sporulation will be critical. Seasons, physico-chemical characters of the soil, agronomic practices, plant protection chemicals, pollutants and genotypic characters of the host may affect VAM fungi and their potentiality to colonize and provide benefit to the host. In view of this, the effect of such factors on the VA mycorrhizal symbiosis and its benefit to diverse plant communities has been extensively investigated worldover.

Levitical Law of Old Testament initially authorized meat animals for food of man who had to part the hoof and chew the cud. So man started eating the animals and their edible parts of animals who consume grass and other arable crops.  Examples were cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, pigs, horses, deer, reindeer, yak, camel etc. Now poultry have become major meat producing species while rabbit, guinea pigs, various game animals and birds provides substantial meat. Advancement of knowledge on quality and safety enforced the man to evaluate and grade the live animals and carcasses for values decision in marketing.

Phosphorus is the second important key element after nitrogen as a mineral nutrient in terms of quantitative plant requirement (Donahue et al., 1990), which is required in optimum amount for proper growth of plants and soil micro-organisms. Being a constituent of ATP, it is involved in various processes such as cell division, energy transduction through photosynthesis and biological oxidations and uptakeof nutrients. The average soil contains 0.05% phosphorus, but only one tenth (1/10) of this is available to plants due to its poor solubility and chemical fixation in soil (Barber, 1984). About 98% of Indian soils have inadequate supply of available phosphorus (Ghosh and Hassan, 1979). A survey of Indian soils showed that out of 363 districts, only 2.2% were high, 51.5% medium and 46.3% were low in phosphorus content (Ghosh, 1982).

Effect of Air Pollutants on Plants
 
Elements of those air pollutants which accumulate in plants (S from SO2, heavy metals from anthropogenic emissions etc.) may be used for specific bio-indication of possible effects caused by these pollutants, and for mapping their spatial and temporal distribution. Measuring accumulated components in plants rather than directly in the environment, provides the dual advantages of an integrated rather than a momentary value, and of a biological content rather than a mere concentration (Stocker and Gluch, 1990).

Abstract

The objective of this chapter is to provide an overview of heat pump dryer (HPD) and recent developments in its applications for drying of agricultural and food products. The basics of heat pump dryer, classification, operating principle, configuration and control system have been presented for better understanding. Many researchers have concluded that HPDs use energy more efficiently than electrical dryers. The heat pump dryer is best suited for drying high value commodities such as fruits, vegetables, spices, condiments, herbs, medicinal and aromatic plants at near ambient temperature for producing better quality dehydrated product.

Abstract
 
Grains are usually harvested above 20% (wb) moisture level and they are prone to microbial attack at high moisture level. In order to avoid both qualitative and quantitative losses that arise from microbial growth, grains are usually dried to safe moisture level. The safe storage moisture content may vary from 8-16% (wb), depending upon the grain and climate type. Therefore, drying is a necessary step in preventing these losses. Drying also reduces the bulk weight of the materials, thus easing transportation and storage. Drying can occur in thin layer or in deep bed. Different drying theories are proposed to characterize these drying processes. Theoretical as well empirical drying equations have been developed.

Abstract

Inspired by the human eye to brain assessment process, computer vision technology has demonstrated its potential for monitoring and controlling of several operations in food industry. Computer vision technology is, therefore, applied extensively in food drying process for monitoring nutritional value and sensorial characteristics because of its promising characteristics such as reliable objectivity and repeatability. In this chapter, after providing a brief explanation of the computer vision technology and its prerequisites and principles, an example is given to elucidate how this technology is used for monitoring the visual attributes of foodstuffs during drying process. Overall, monitoring the visual properties of food products like size, shape, color, and texture in off-line mode are the most popular issues to fascinate researchers’ attention to apply the computer vision technology in food drying. Nevertheless, industrial applications of the computer vision technology for real-time monitoring and control of food drying facilities as final goals of its introduction in food drying industry seem to be limited. For future studies, it is suggested to apply this unique technology along with advanced soft computing methodologies for in-line monitoring and control of food drying process in order to achieve high quality dried products. Finally, outlooks and potential employment of this technology in food drying domain are discussed as well.

India is the seventh largest country in the world with 17 per cent of the world’s population and with a total geographical area of 329 Mha, extending from 8°4’ to 37°6’ in the North and 68°7’ to 97°25’ in the East. It is bounded by the World’s highest mountains- the Himalayas in the North and surrounded by the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal in the South. The Indian Coastline along the southern part of the Country is over 7500 km long. The Country includes vast plains like the Indo-Gangetic Plains, and the Central Deccan Plateau, bordered by the Western Ghats on either side in the West and the South. The biodiversity in the terrain leads to a wide variety of climatic conditions, ranging from tropical to temperate climates across the Western Ghats. These range from permanent snowfields to tropical coastlands; areas of virtual desert in the northwest to fertile intensively cultivated rice fields in the northeast. A large proportion of India’s population continues to live in rural areas and depends heavily on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, animal agriculture and forestry for its livelihood. Agriculture is the mainstay of Indian economy. The Indian climate is dominated by the great wind system called the Monsoons, on which the Indian agriculture is dependant. The southwest monsoon is critical to the kharif crop (first crop), which accounts for more than 50% of the foodgrains production and 65% of the oilseeds production in the Country. The inter-annual monsoon rainfall variability in India leads to large-scale droughts and floods, resulting in a major effect on Indian foodgrain production (Parthasarathy and Pant, 1985; Parthasarathy et al., 1992; Selvaraju, 2003; Kumar et al., 2004) and on the economy of the Country (Gadgil et al., 1999a; Kumar and Parikh, 2001). Climatic variability and occurrence of extreme events are major concerns for the Indian subcontinent as they are inbuilt features under the projected climate change scenario. All the projections on climate change are based up on the General Circulation Models (GCMs). All the models project increase in temperature over the Country under different GHG emission scenarios. Rainfall variability is felt in different sub-meteorological divisions across the Country. Though the GCMs have been successful in depicting the gross features of the observed large scale climatological features, there is large uncertainty associated with these projections on regional scale, since the GCMs are yet to realistically reproduce the observed features at regional scale, particularly over the monsoon region (Kumar, et al., 2002). Several downscaling approaches are being used to derive the regional features from large scale model simulations. Under the projected climate change scenario, India will be one of the Countries facing the adverse impacts of climate change as agriculture is the mainstay of people of India. Hence, understanding of rainfall and temperature variability across the Country deserves attention in the projected climate change scenario.

The global economy has adversely been affected to a considerable extent due to weather related disasters which are not uncommon in the recent past due to global warming and climate change. It is true in the case of the Indian economy too. The year 2010 was the warmest year ever recorded, followed by 2009 in India. The year 2015 was the warmest year globally. Model simulations indicate that a marked increase in rainfall and temperature over India would be seen during the current century. The maximum expected increase in rainfall is likely to be 10–30% over the Central India. Temperatures are likely to increase between 2 and 3^oC by the end of 2100 A.D. Greater number of high surges and increased occurrence of cyclones in post monsoon period along with increased maximum wind speed are also expected along the East Coast of the Country. As a result, the occurrence of floods and droughts, cold and heat waves adversely affected the foodgrains production to a large extent across the Country in one or other region as seen in 2014, 2012, 2009, 2004, 2002 and 1987. It is true in the case of plantation crops also, which are predominantly grown in the Humid Tropics like Kerala (8°15` N and 12°50`N latitudes and between 74°50`E and 77°30`E longitudes). As seen in previous chapters, summer drought and heavy rains including waterlogging during monsoon period is a threat to plantation crops production in the Humid Tropics to a considerable extent. Waterlogging and floods due to excess rains could be minimised by providing surface and subsurface drainage facilities in plantation gardens which will improve the soil health and nutritional status, in turn yields can be increased in plantation crops.

Abstract

Elaboration of mycotoxins by several moulds in different agricultural commodities has been reported to be widespread. The mycotoxins are reported to cause variety of health hazards in different animals including Chicks, cow, horse, rat, Mouse, pig, rabbit, dog, including man. More than 150 species of moulds are reported to elaborate chemically and biologically diverse toxic metabolites. These mycotoxins  are known to induce variety of diseases commonly known as mycotoxicoses.The fungi which elaborate mycotoxins are diverse belonging to different groups of fungi.Mycotoxigenicity of these moulds not only differ among different genera but also among different species.  Some fungi such as Aspergillus flavus, A. terreus, Penicillium griseofulvum, P.expansum, P.nordicum, P.verrucosum, Fusarium acuminatum, F.culmorum, F. graminearum, F.moniliforme, F.oxysporum, F.solani, F. tricinctum and Cheatomium globosum are known to produce more  one  type of mycotoxin which differ in their chemical structure and biological activity.

Tomato, the ‘Apple of Love’ or ‘Golden Apple’ is one of the most popular, widely grown and highly praised vegetable in the world. In India, commonly referred as ‘Poor Man’s Orange’, has wider coverage in comparison to other vegetables. Tomato universally treated as ‘Protective Food’, is eaten raw or cooked or in processed form (soup, juice, ketchup, puree, paste and powder, green tomato - pickles and preserves) or it supplies vitamin C and adds variety of colours and flavours to food. It is a very good source of income to small and marginal farmers and contributes to nutrition of consumers. Tomato seed contains 24% oil used as salad oil and in manufacture of margarine. By virtue of its many attributes, it is considered as a favourite crop for research in physiology and cytogenetics, all over the world. Tomato is also rich in medicinal value. The pulp and juice are digestible, mild aperient, a promoter of gastric secretion and blood purifier. Tomato, a primary source of lycopene, showed significant association with low prostate cancer risk and cancers of digestive tract. It is one of the best vegetables which keeps our stomach and intestine in good condition. Tomato juice has become an exceedingly popular appetizer and beverage.

E    :    Reduction potential.    
Early induced responses    :    The early induced responses or early nonadaptive responses are a series of host defense responses that are triggered by infectious agents early in infection. They are distinct from innate immunity because there is an inductive phase, and from adaptive immunity in that they do not operate by clonal selection of rare antigen-specific lymphocytes.

I&D    :    Incision and drainage.     
I&E    :    Internal and external.     
I&O    :    Intake and output.     
I.P. (IP)    :    Intraperitoneal .    
I.V. (IV)    :    Intravenous.

Climate change and variability are concerns of humankind. The recurrent drought and desertification threaten seriously the livelihood of over 1.2 billion people who depend on land for most of their needs. The global economy has adversely been influenced due to droughts and floods, cold and heat waves, forest fires, landslips and mudslips, icestorms, duststorms, hailstorms, thunder clouds associated with lightning and the sea level rise (Fig. 1). The year 1998 was the warmest and declared as the weather related disaster year, which caused hurricane havoc in Central America and floods in China, India and Bangladesh. Canada and New England in the U.S suffered heavily due to icestorm in January while Turkey, Argentina and Paraguay with floods in June 1998. In contrast, huge crop losses were noticed in Maharashtra (India) due to unseasonal and poor distribution of rainfall during 1997-98. The 1997/1998 El Nino event, the strongest of the last century affected 110 million people and costed the global economy nearly US$ 100 billion. A string of 16 consecutive months saw record high global mean temperature in 1997-98.

Introduction and History

Leguminosae/Fabaceae is a superfamily of dicotyledonous plants, which in species diversity is the third largest family of plants accounting for 5% of Earth’s plant biodiversity and make up for more than at least 1% of the total Earth plant biomass. Among these, legume grains and pulses having more than 20 to 30% lysine protein content are cultivated in 145 million ha of land in developing countries. This family is also characterized by presence of specialized tumor like structure formation (nodules) on roots (occasionally on stem as in Sesbania rostrata, Aeschynomene) that is inhabited by microsymbiont gram-negative bacteria (Rhizobium), engaged in fixing atmospheric nitrogen or symbiotic biological nitrogen fixation.

Coriander is used by man since long as coriander seeds were found in Egyptian tombs of 960 BC. Further, Persia grew coriander 3,000 years ago and it added fragrance to Hanging Gardens of Babylon. In 3^rd century BC, Romans also found coriander seed as an excellent seasoning for popular foods.

Besides seeds, fresh leaves are being used for garnishing of food in many Latin American, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Indian dishes since long. Fresh coriander leaves are also known as Chinese Parsely. In India, coriander seed is used almost daily in scores of curries for flavouring and leaves for garnishing. Coriander is a native of Mediterranean region.

Abstract

Leadership behavior is seen in every group of social animals like elephant, honey bee, human being, etc. Initially people thought this behavior as inborn character and only few lucky people possessed it. But now it has been proved that this character can be developed by interested people through systematic training. In every family parent are playing the role of either leader or manager and being a role model gradually transmitting this behavior to their children from childhood itself. Training begins at home of every successful leader.  In this article the characteristic features of leaders, style of their functioning, leadership theories and the difference between a leader and a manager are discussed in details. Important tips have been mentioned to follow for becoming a good and successful leader.

The potential value of any feed for supplying a particular nutrient can be determined by chemical analysis but the actual value of the feed to the animal can arrived at only after making allowances for inevitable losses that occur during digestion, absorption and metabolism. The first tax imposed on feed is that represented by the part of it which is not absorbed and excreted in the feces.

This may be defined as the factor present in feeds/ fodders or trees leaves and impair some aspects of animal metabolism, produce adverse biological effect in animal production. These are referred mostly as toxic factors because of the deleterious effects they produce when taken by the animals. The term ‘toxic factor’ however, is misleading because there is an implication that the substances are lethal beyond certain level of intake.

Cyanobacterial species

Cyanobacterial species viz., Anabaena variabilis, Anabaena fertilissima, Nostoc muscorum, N. punctiforme, N. linckia, N. commune, Spirulina platensis, Westiellopsis prolifica and Hapalosiphon sp. were obtained from National Center for Conservation and Utilization of Blue-green Algae, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. Cultures were maintained in BG-11 growth medium throughout the study in the laboratory.

Similar to animals of the higher order, insects also possess all important internal systems of organs necessary for the proper performance of the various vital functions. The most important of the systems are the alimentary or  digestive  system,  the  circulatory  system,  the  respiratory system, the reproductive system and the excretory system. The fundamental arrangement of the various organs is more or less similar in all insects and does not exhibit much remarkable variations as seen in the external morphological features. The dorsal blood vessel or heart runs along the median line immediately below the dorsal wall. The digestive system including the alimentary canal and its appendages lie in the middle, below the heart. The nervous chain lies below the alimentary canal and immediately  above  the  ventral  wall.   The  organs  connected  with  the reproductive system are found in the posterior region of the abdominal cavity on both sides of the alimentary canal.  Though these arrangements are characteristic of all Arthropods, including insects, they are quite different in the higher animals (Fig.23)

Insect pest control includes all measures adopted to make the life of insects hard and ultimately to destroy them or to prevent their multiplication and spread. Such measures can be taken up before the appearance of the pests or after occurrence of the pests. To achieve this purpose, it is quite necessary to know the factors which favor the occurrence of the pests and acquire enough knowledge about the nature and life cycle of the pests, the vulnerable growth stage at which they can be effectively destroyed and appropriate measures of control. Control measures may be either preventive or direct.
Insect pest control is broadly classified under two different heads viz., natural control and applied control.

I. Natural control
    1.    Climatic conditions. Temperature, rainfall, sunshine etc.
    2.    Physical or topographic factors. Mountains, oceans, rivers, lakes, forests, deserts etc.
    3.    Natural enemies. Parasitoids, predators including insects, birds, mammals, reptiles etc.
    4.    Disease causing organisms or parasites. Entomophagous fungi, bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms.

Introduction

In present times aquaculture is being practiced using both conventional or non-conventional methods with considerable variations. Aquaculture can be termed as – extensive, semi-intensive and intensive based on operations and involvements. An increase in the intensity of aquaculture requires an increase in capital as well as operational costs.

Here we will examine the three main levels of aquaculture used in various habitats and later consider the conventional methods of aquaculture.

Different Levels of Aquaculture

Fish culture practices can be classified into three different kinds or levels on the basis of the intensity of aquaculture in terms of capital as well as operational costs. The chances of crop failure often increase with increasing intensity of aquaculture, which may involve: 

The information that drives the process of life is encoded in the genome of the organism. Structurally defined, a genome is an organization of genetic information consisting of nucleic acids (deoxyribonucleic acid or ribonucleic acid). Arrangement of nitrogenous bases in the nucleic acid codes the information for execution of cellular processes. Four types of bases (Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine) are present in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) while in RNA Uracil replaces thymine group of any three bases on transcribed RNA represent a codon. With four types of bases, sixty four types of codons can be formed. Genetic information encrypted in these codons is released in the form of arrangement of polypeptides consisting proteins via mRNA intermediate. This universal process of flow of genetic information from DNA to RNA to protein is known as the central dogma of life. The whole set of information coded in 64 codons, out of which 61 codes for one or more amino acids (building block of polypeptides/proteins) and three indicating where to stop is called the book of life or genetic code.

I. IMMUNOLOGY OF MALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM

There are two basic functions of the immune surveillance of man and animals with respect to sperm immunity during spermatogenesis and fertilization process: support of the elimination of the vast majority of 'waste "spermatozoa that fail to fertilize and preservation of the tiny minority of surviving spermatozoa that are able to fertilize the oocytes. The primordial forms of spermatozoa arising in the seminiferous tubules of testes are preserved by the blood-testes barrier which is formed by sertoli cells ringing the semineferous tubules (Hunter, 1989). During maturation in the epidydimis, the spermatozoa acquire their antigenic properties. Simultaneously, the spermatozoa are coated with some proteins of seminal plasma having the immunosuppressive activity toward lymphocytes and macrophages involved in the immune reactions. The seminal plasma proteins accompany the migration of spermatozoa to the female genital tract (Matousek, 1985).

There are six major classes of nutrients: carbohydrates, fats, fibre, proteins, minerals and vitamins. Water is not a nutrient but play important role in livestock industry. These nutrient classes can be categorized as either macronutrients (needed in relatively large amounts) or micronutrients (needed in smaller quantities). The macronutrients are carbohydrates, fats, fiber, and proteins. The micronutrients are minerals and vitamins.

The term minerals is used by nutritionists to refer to inorganic chemical elements, but is used by many other scientists to mean a homogeneous crystalline compounds. Mineral elements are not inert materials. Mineral elements may change valence states and are transferred from one chemical compound to another. Minerals are active participants in enzymatic reactions, have specificity of function, and are critical to life.

The Mother Nature bestowed humanity with about 250,000 known plant species and perhaps the same or may be higher number of unknown plant species. Out of this treasure, 80,000 plant species are edible but human beings have probably exploited about 3,000 of these species for food and was cultivating about 150 on a commercial scale. However, largely human beings consumed only 20 different kinds of crops the world over and four of which viz. rice, wheat, maize and potato are supplying about 60 % of total calories. Under the circumstances, the food crops base even for well-known crops are shrinking at an alarming rate and in this process, many species have extincted from man’s food bowl. While doing so, we have considerably reduced the range of organic compounds that we now consume, thus making ourselves vulnerable to various stresses. Realising  importance of diverse food base in our life, thinking is going on among people of all lifestyles that more and more crops particularly those, which are known to be edible but have remained as “under-utilised crops”, should be brought into cultivation. This will ensure both food and nutritional security of people. Among these, tuber crops constitute an important crops group, which was sustaining food security much before agriculture came into existence.

Yam bean (Pachyrhizus erosus) is a leguminous tuber crop of immense production potential. The crop has high rate of dry matter production / day / unit area and is known for its high degree of photosynthetic efficiency. Besides contributing significantly as a source of food to  weaker sections, the crop has immense industrial value for extraction of starch and production of animal feed. Yam bean is well suited to small and marginal holdings and has the capacity to withstand adverse biotic and abiotic stresses. It comes up well in comparatively marginal lands and does not require intensive care. It has  great potential in developing and underdeveloped countries where most of the farmers are small and marginal . This crop is very important in the context of food and nutrition security and assumes great significance due to ever-increasing human population. Still the importance of this crop is underestimated and unlike most staples, the crop fails to attract attention of  agricultural researchers throughout the tropical and subtropical countries of the world. The crop is still largely under-exploited and is subjected to little selection pressure. A large degree of variability exists for several agronomic characteristics in the existing germplasm. With a little attention from the scientists ,this crop could usefully be exploited by genetic improvement and development of crop ideotypes which would meet a wide range of needs in developing countries.

Introduction

A geographic information system or geographical information system (GIS) is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of spatial or geographical data. The acronym GIS is sometimes used for geographic information science (GIScience) to refer to the academic discipline that studies geographic information systems and is a large domain within the broader academic discipline of geoinformatics. What goes beyond a GIS is a spatial data infrastructure, a concept that has no such restrictive boundaries. In a general sense, the term describes any information system that integrates stores, edits, analyzes, shares, and displays geographic information. GIS applications are tools that allow users to create interactive queries (user-created searches), analyze spatial information, edit data in maps, and present the results of all these operations. Geographic information science is the science underlying geographic concepts, applications, and systems.

GIS is a broad term that can refer to a number of different technologies, processes, and methods. It is attached to many operations and has many applications related to engineering, planning, management, transport/logistics, insurance, telecommunications, and business. For that reason, GIS and location intelligence applications can be the foundation for many location-enabled services that rely on analysis and visualization. GIS can relate unrelated information by using location as the key index variable. Locations or extents in the Earth space–time may be recorded as dates/times of occurrence, and x, y, and z coordinates representing, longitude, latitude, and elevation, respectively. All Earth-based spatial–temporal location and extent references should, ideally, be relatable to one another and ultimately to a “real” physical location or extent. This key characteristic of GIS has begun to open new avenues of scientific inquiry.

STARCH : Starch is a complex carbohydrate that has been cursed by dieters in years past, but that now is praised by nutritionists as a particularly healthful source of energy. In food preparation at home starch is a very important as a thickening agent. However starch is but one of several polysaccharides that are used as thickners in the food industry.

STRUCTURE : Although starch is the name used by nutritionists this complex carbohydrate actually consists of two fractions amylose and amylopectin. The two fractions occur together in starch from most sources so the overall behaviour of starch is determined in large measure by the relative amounts of amylose and amylopectin. Each of the fraction has unique properties that contribute to the functionality of starch from various plant sources.

1. Introduction

Fruits and vegetables represent highly perishable items of agriculture, mainly because of their high water content in fresh form. Their production, yield and management under agriculture is dealt essentially under horticulture. They abound in species and varieties in different geographic regions of the world, influenced by the agro-climatic conditions. Some are endemic and confined to certain geographic regions only. Accordingly, they may be tropical, sub-tropical or temperate, depending on their requirements of temperature for growth and yield.

1. Introduction

Vegetables and fruits are the next in demand for human consumption after rice and wheat, in all parts of the globe. Fresh fruits & vegetables and their value added products are increasing in popularity day by day almost in all the countries, because of their richness in dietary fibre, minerals & vitamin contents and for their medicinal properties. Maintaining agricultural produce quality and its evaluation are thus naturally important. Decisions concerning maturity and ripeness of fruits and vegetables are based mostly on visual inspections, which are subjective in nature. The quality of fruits and vegetables is mostly decided on the basis of size, shape, colour, gloss, flavour, firmness, texture, taste and freedom from external as well as internal defects. Internal quality factors such as maturity, sugar content, acidity, oil content and internal defects, however, are difficult to evaluate non-destructively. Methods are needed to better predict the internal quality of fruits and vegetables without their destruction. Recently, there has been an increasing interest in non-destructive methods of quality evaluation, and a considerable amount of effort is being made in this direction. But the real problem is how these methods are to be exploited practically on commercial scales and what are the constraints faced in implementing them.

1. Introduction

In this era of genomics, proteomics and metabolomics the challenge in nutritional science is to clarify human nutrient requirements and design nutritional strategies to promote health and functional longevity. Our ancient Indian belief that ‘we are what we ate’ and our future health as individuals may well depend upon what we eat today. Plant-based dietary antioxidants are believed to have an important role in the maintenance of human health because our endogenous antioxidants provide insufficient protection against the constant and unavoidable challenge of reactive oxygen species (ROS). We have various endogenous defense chemicals but they are inadequate to prevent oxidative damage that makes human system prone to various degenerative diseases. Hence, it is necessary for increased intake of dietary nutraceuticals that may help maintain the balance between oxidants and antioxidants, slow age-related changes, and prevent onset of degenerative diseases.

1. Introduction

Pulpy and juicy fruits like orange, guava, banana, grape, mango, papaya, pears, apples and jackfruit can be converted into fruit products like squashes, juices, cordials and ready-to-serve (RTS) fruit beverages. These RTS fruit beverages are both refreshing and thirst quenching and have become very popular. Liquid fruits are the clarified juices prepared from these pulpy and juicy fruits. There is a demand for liquid fruits in the international market for various applications. The liquid fruits can be used as a natural alternative to synthetic beverages. They can be suitably concentrated or diluted, blended with other juices and also can be carbonated as fruit based soft drinks. Removals of pulpy material from the juices make them easier to preserve by pasteurization and are amenable to carbonation. Pulpy fruits can be successfully processed into liquid fruits (clarified juices) by using pectic enzymes. The emphasis of the fruit juice processing industry has, so far, been mainly on conventional clarification processes like enzymatic and chemical treatments followed by filtration using filter aids; and concentration by vacuum evaporation.

1. Introduction

Intermediate moisture foods are semi moist foods that have some of their water bound by glycerol, sorbitol, salt or certain organic acids, thus preventing the growth of many microorganisms (Stewart et al. 2001). It is now well recognized that fruits and vegetables are dehydrated to an intermediate moisture level (20-50%) (Stewart et al. 2001; Purvi et al. 2003). As the intermediate moisture products are characterized by a semi moist consistency so these foods have enough moisture content to permit easy chewing but low enough water content to prevent spoilage production of intermediate moisture foods is based on an increased scientific understanding of the chemical reactions involved in traditional food preservation methods (Purvi et al. 2003).
There will be better retention of original flavor and texture compared to fully dried products, with concomitant reduction in bulk, weight and cost of packaging, transportation and storage. Such intermediate moisture foods are more appropriate for developing countries in view of their minimal processing requirements, stability under ambient conditions, safety, convenience, ease of nutrient content adjustment, energy savings and low capital investment. They are also eminently more suited than dehydrated or canned foods for military rations (FAO, 2005).

From the earliest time, man had to conserve and preserve his food, so that surplus at harvest following a successful crop can be stored for use throughout the year. Prime agricultural products in general and more so with fruits and vegetables which are being processed world wide or preserved to a more stable form so that they can withstand transport, handling and storage over a long period. As civilization developed, man learnt to preserve fruit and vegetable products with salt, spices and by drying , smoking or cooling which could extend their shelf life. Later by experience, he learnt that by protecting it from environmental factors such as air, moisture and light, the shelf life of these processed products could be further increased. He tried to keep them dry and covered to protect from insects and rodents. As with solid foods, primitive man experimented with beverages also. It is likely that the first beverage known to him after water was fruit juice. This undoubtedly led to the discovery of wines made from the fermented fruit juices. Later on, preservation methods and development of packaging materials underwent drastic changes.

1. Introduction

Extrusion is one of the most preferred ways for creating the indulgence called ready-to-eat (RTE) snack foods with diverse shapes, sizes, colours and also nutritional and functional values which appeal to the diverse group of consumer with varied choices. In this chapter ready-to-eat extruded and puffed snacks are the focus covering the technology involved, criteria for ingredient selection, design of experiment, process modelling, effects of extrusion on physical, nutritional and functional quality of the snack; a few relevant case studies are also discussed.

1.1 Market for RTE snack foods

Indian cooking and lifestyle have undergone tremendous changes in the last 15 years. There are many major factors impacting this change which include, liberalization policy, dual income, separate living of couples, innovative kitchen applications, media proliferation, etc. The cooking style and eating habits in India varies drastically from southern part to northern part of the contry. Due to lifestyle pressure nowadays people prefer easy short way of cooking food rather spending too much time on cooking. Rapid urbanisation is also one of the reasons for people to buy such products. Snack foods comprise a very large variety of items including potato chips, crackers, nuts and extruded snacks, among others (Harper, 1981). Snack food extrusion includes subjecting selected raw material to a variety of complex physical processes to yield snacks with varied shapes and textures (White, 1994).

The RTE market in India was expected to expand to reach Rs. 2,900 crore by 2015, according to an analysis done by Tata Strategic Management Group (TSMG). The products may vary from noodles, pasta, masala packages, stuffed paratha, etc. and many more. There are many regional players who are making foray into ready-to-eat segment. Many national and international players like Nestle, Pepsico, ITC, Haldirams, Cavinkare, are already in Indian market with their products.

1. Introduction

Milk and milk products constitute essential dietary components for a vast majority of the population. India with annual production of more than 135.6 million tonnes has emerged as leading milk producing nation. The per capita per day availability of milk in India is more than 290 g. Buffalo milk accounts for 57% of the total milk produced in India. Ethnic dairy products account for 90% of all dairy products consumed (Aneja et al., 2002). Many health benefits have been attributed to fermented dairy products and probiotic microorganisms (Salminen et al., 1998). The market for functional foods, nutraceuticals, wellness foods and beverages is fast growing. The harmful effects of synthetic drinks have propelled health conscious consumers to go for natural and traditional drinks. In search of better returns, the Indian dairy industry is widening its focus to include traditional milk products, and these are emerging as new profit centres for the organised sector.

Traditional dairy products have several advantages. They require low capital investment and give high profit margin. They are more appealing to the Indian palate. Dahi or curd is the most popular indigenous fermented dairy product. There are numerous references to dahi in vedic literature. The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (Anon, 1976) describes dahi as a product obtained from pasteurized or boiled milk by souring (natural or otherwise), using harmless lactic acid or other bacterial cultures. Indian dahi and its western counterpart yoghurt differ considerably in terms of cultures used and their bouquet and flavour profiles (Aneja et al., 2002). The major flavor compound in dahi is diacetyl. Dahi made from buffalo milk has a firm body and white glossy appearance, with a cream layer on top. Mixed mesophilic cultures of Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris, Lactococcus lactis subsp diacetylactis along with Leuconostoc species are grown together for production of dahi.

1. Introduction

There is a general consensus that fruit and vegetable consumption is a key factor for a balanced diet. Globally, majority of people consistently are consuming less than the daily recommended fruit and vegetable requirement. Even in developed nations e.g., Australia, Canada, Europe, UK and USA, researchers have concluded that there is large gap between actual and recommended consumption of both fruits and vegetables despite decades of concern and publicity while resultant outcomes were short-lived. In a study from 52 low and middle-income countries 77.6% of men and 78.4% of women consumed less than the minimum recommended servings of fruits and vegetables. Same study reported 74% low fruit and vegetable consumption among adults in India (Hall et al., 2009). In India, recent studies on the fruit and vegetable intake amongst urban residents was reported as 265 g per day as against 400 g per dayof fruits and vegetables excluding potatoes and other starchy tubers, that is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2008).

Epidemiological studies conducted in recent years have indicated a positive correlation between the consumption of fruits and vegetables and prevention of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Health-promoting functional characteristics of vegetables are mainly attributable to their functional bioactive constituents. These effects can be listed as antioxidant activity, cholesterol-bindingcapacity, antidiabetic activity and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity. Studies conducted in cell culture models and animal models have revealed that bioactive compounds of plant foods, including soybean, hawthorn fruit, tea, buckwheat, oats, onion, garlic, almond, and vegetable juice, composed of tomato watercress, parsley, carrots, celery, lettuce, beets and spinach, have cholesterol-lowering activity (El-Shatanovi et al., 2012; Vadivel et al., 2011).

1. Introduction

Antioxidants are considered an important class of nutraceuticals which are associated with health improving properties. Antioxidants are compounds which when present in foods at concentrations lower than an oxidizable substrate, markedly delay or prevent the oxidation of substrate (Halliwell, 1999). They are increasingly applied in food systems to retard the oxidation process, particularly in lipid containing foods (Droge, 2002; Lee et al., 2004). The commercially available solutions to counter food oxidation are predominated by synthetic antioxidants such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and tertiary butyl hydroquinone (TBHQ), among others, which are increasingly rejected by consumers and legitimized by regulators due to long term health implications (Park et al., 2001). As a consequence, the development and utilization of natural antioxidants as alternatives to synthetic ones have attracted global interest among researchers.

The use of spices and herbs in foods was known since ancient times to modify or to improve the flavor. However, the antioxidant properties of only some of the spices have been recognized. Different spices and their extracts such as turmeric, ginger, fennel, rosemary, and sage, among others, are reported to possess very high antioxidant properties, owing to the content of biologically active compounds, which enables their food application (Madhavi et al., 1996). Exploitation of natural antioxidants in consumer goods is increasingly accepted and will gain momentum due to the rise of green consumerism. In this chapter, an attempt has been made to provide an insight into natural antioxidants and colors. Beginning with the source distribution of natural antioxidants, followed by review of extraction methods for their isolation from plant based matrices and bio-preservative properties in vegetable oils to delay rancidity. Lastly, a thorough collection of literature pertaining natural colors has been presented to potentiate the application of clean label ingredients in food systems. The application of natural antioxidants and colors in food products can vouch the food safety with value addition in terms of their nutraceutical properties.