eChapters

Introduction

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are characterized as Gram-positive cocci or rods, non-aerobic but aerotolerant, able to ferment carbohydrates for production of energy and lactic acid. Lactic acid bacteria includes different major genera: Lactococcus, Enterococcus, Lactosphaera, euconostoc, Melissococcus, Oenococcus, Pediococcus, Streptococcus, Tetragenococcus, Vagococcus and Weissella. Other genera are Aerococcus, Microbacterium, Propionibacterium and Bifidobacterium. Through carbohydrate fermentation along with lactic acid, various organic acids are produced due to which there is a fall in pH level and creates unfavorable environment or inhibits growth of some undesired microorganisms. The low pH makes organic acids lipo -soluble, allowing them to invade into cytoplasm of pathogens by rupturing cell membrane. LAB are generally regarded as safe (GRAS), and have a significant role in the preservation of foods and fermented products. Under controlled conditions they can be used as natural competitive microbiota or as specific starter cultures. Antagonistic substance like bacteriocins are produced from lactic acid bacteria that inhibits the activity and growth of other bacteria and these bacteriocins are active against various pathogens in minimum concentration. These are antimicrobial peptides modified by post -translational mechanisms and exported to the extracellular medium. Till date about 239 bacteriocin producing LAB genome and 789 putative bacteriocin producing genes cluster are stored in the public databases. Many gram positive and gram negative bacteria in the environment produce bacteriocins.

A laboratory is essential for research work in science and development. Most of the research institutes have dedicated laboratories for researchers and students to conduct experiments, perform research work, as well as to provide hands-on learning/training to students. There are certain rules and regulations laid down by the laboratory in-charge which need to be followed strictly for safety purposes. Some of the laboratories keep ‘safety manual’ for researchers to read before entering into the laboratory to conduct experiments. Whenever safety is compromised in a laboratory, there is increase in risk of unwanted incidents in the laboratory. Storing food/beverages in the same refrigerator where laboratory chemicals are kept may lead to disastrous effects on health. This chapter aims to provide instructions in brief on the things to be performed (Do’s) before and after entering onto a laboratory as well as the things never to be done (Don’ts) in a laboratory for the safety reasons.

Good Laboratory Practices (Do’s)

• P Wear apron/labcoat while working in the laboratory.
• P Use gloves/respiratory mask/fumehood while handling toxic/volatile/inflammable chemicals/reagents.
• P Use pippet or pippetor for safety in transfer of solutions.
• P Protect eyes, face and naked parts of the body from UV radiations. Use safety goggles or face mask/apron.
• P Keep your eyes away from Liquid Nitrogen and use cryogloves while handling it.
• P Arrange all the necessary materials/solutions before starting the experiment.
• P Periodically fumigate/ozonize culture and inoculation rooms.
• P Autoclave all contaminated materials before discarding.
• P Pre-treat gel or solution containing Ethidium Bromide (EtBr) before discarding into laboratory waste-disposal bin, and use gloves while handling them.
• P Burn all the transgenic plant materials in an incinerator after taking necessary observations.
• P Make entry in the designated log-book and clean the instrument after using it properly.
• P Switch-off the instrument after use or when not in use.
• P Wash hands with soap and remove the labcoat before leaving/going out of the laboratory7.
• P Ensure that switches for fans/lights, and water taps are off while leaving the laboratory.
• P Follow the biosafety guidelines suggested for handling and disposal of the hazardous chemical.

Introduction
Haemoprotozoan diseases are highly prevalent in tropical and sub-tropical countries owing to the ubiquitous distribution of ticks and blood-sucking flies which are natural vectors for the pathogens. In India, theileriosis, babesiosis and trypanosomosis are major haemoprotozoan diseases and cause substantial economic losses to the livestock industry. Though vaccination of the susceptible stock by attenuated schizont vaccine is available for the control of tropical theileriosis in cattle, chemotherapy is the mainstay for the control of haemoprotozoan diseases. However, the limited available antihaemoprotozoan drugs is being depleted by a combination of two factors viz. emergence of drug resistance and the failure to replace old drugs (de Koning, 2017). Drug resistance against parasites is one of the emerging problems affecting veterinary health sector. Since last few decades, development of drug resistance in haemoprotozoan parasites to several drugs has been reported (Tuvshintulga et al., 2019; Ali et al., 2022). Though, understanding of drug resistance in parasitic protozoa is progressing steadily but possibly not as rapidly as parasites are becoming resistant to drugs. The genetic changes in the target sites, the reduced uptake and increased efflux of drugs, and metabolic regulations are the possible mechanism for the cause of drug resistance (Fairlamb et al., 2016). Anti-protozoan drug resistance has been reported in many economically important protozoa to isometamedium, diminazene aceturate, quinapyramine, suramin, melarsomine dihydrochloride, buparvaquone. The resistance initially evolves at genetic level of parasite with genetic traits that allow them to survive exposure to a drug, which is transferred to the subsequent generation thereby potentially increasing the percentage of resistant parasite that can survive subsequent exposure to the chemical. The emergence of drugresistant parasites has serious implications for treating clinical cases, leading to increased morbidity and mortality among the animals and control of the diseases.

The dry matter content of feed samples and other materials is expressed on three aspects as fed, partially dry, and dry.

As fed refers to the feed as it is consumed by the animal, the term as collected is used for materials which are not usually fed to the animal, that is, urine, faeces, etc. If the analysis on a sample is affected by partial drying the analyses are made on the as fed or as collected sample. Similar terms: Air dry, that is hay: as received: fresh; green and wet.

Partially dry, reports to a sample of “as fed” or “as collected” material that has been dried in an oven (usually with forced air) at a temperature usually about 60ºC of freeze-dried and has been equilibrated with the air; the sample after these processes would usually contain more than 88 percent dry matter (12 percent moisture); some materials are prepared in the way so that they may be sampled, chemically analysed and stored. This analysis is referred to as “partial dry matter” percent of “as fed” or “as collected” sample. The partially dry sample must be analysed for dry matter (determined in an oven at 105ºC) to correct subsequent chemical analyses of the samples to a “dry” basis. This analysis is referred to as “dry , percent of partial dry sample similar term - “Air dry” is also used.

Dry matter is generally defined as the constant  weight a sample  attains when heated at 100ºC (occasionally 150ºC). This definition , suitable for inert materials such as sand, has three main lacunae when applied to biological materials.

    1.    In these materials, water is present in various states ranging from extraneous moisture  as rain or dew, through water present in cell sap, water present in various physico-chemical and chemical combinations.

    2.    Biological materials contain active respiratory enzymic systems which continue to function during the early stages of drying; in fact, as the material heats up, activity will be enhanced until it is stopped either  by denaturation of the enzymes or by desiccation. Besides altering the chemical composition of the material, such activity will  lead to loss of dry matter.

    3.    Most biological materials contain organic  compounds which are volatile at 100ºC and which are, therefore, lost on drying. This leads to an under-estimation of dry matter content, for example, in the case of faeces, silage and molasses.

Abstract

Cocoa and coffee are highly sought after commodity crops in the market owing to the distinct flavor and aroma characteristics. Cocoa beans are mostly used in the manufacturing of chocolates and various types of confectioneries while coffee is mainly consumed in the form of beverages. Both cocoa and coffee need to be dried and roasted in order to produce the flavor precursors which further develop into the desired flavor and aroma in the finished products. This chapter aims to provide an overview of cocoa and coffee processing with particular emphasis on drying and roasting aspects and its impact on product quality.

Introduction

While experimenting with chemicals, sometimes we need to dry the chemical/ solution (solid, liquid or gas) using a process like evaporation or distillation, mainly to remove water or different solvents. Drying is the process of evaporation or distillation to remove water/solvent from a solution, solid or even from gas. Generally, a drying agent (usually an anhydrous inorganic salt) is used for this process, which reacts with the water (present in the chemical/ solvent to be dried) to form a hydrate. For example, anhydrous MgSO4 is one of the drying agents. The drying agents are recognized by their capacity (the rate at which they absorb water) and their intensity (the amount of water left behind in the solvent at equilibrium). No chemical reaction or change in phase occurs during the drying process.

Type of Solvents

Apart from water (a universal solvent), there are three families of organic solvents used in laboratories.

1) Oxygenated solvents: Alcohols, Ketones, Glycol ethers, Glycol esters, etc.

2) Hydrocarbon solvents: Aliphatic and Aromatic hydrocarbons.

3) Halogenated solvents: Chlorinated hydrocarbons.

The method of preserving various food stuffs by drying them, and thereby depriving microorganisms of the water necessary for their growth, has been known for centuries. According to Marco Polo’s accounts of his travel in Asia in 13^th century, soldiers of Kublai Khan carried dried milk on excursions. Before it was used, water was added to a portion of dried material. Mixing was accomplished by movement of the horse during riding on the trip. The recombined product was then consumed at the mealtime. The belief is that part of the fat was removed from the milk before drying and dehydration was accomplished by solar heating.

Drying is defined as the removal of the liquid, usually water, from a product by evaporation, leaving the solids in an essentially dry state. Today the production of dried milk and milk products has become important segment of dairy industry. Dry milk provides a means of preserving the excess milk supply during the flush season for use during the lean season. The value added dried dairy products like malted milk foods, infant food and infant formulae and dairy whiteners are convenient ready to use products having wide acceptance. The water content of milk powder ranges between 2.5 and 5%, and no microbial growth occurs at such low water content. Drying extends the shelf life of milk, simultaneously reducing its weight and volume. The main purpose of drying milk are: a) to improve the storage life of the product due to low moisture content, b) to reduce cost for storage and transportation of product due to reduced bulk, and c) to provide convenient product for utilization in many dairy and food preparations.

The production of dried milks to a great extent is now being governed by the market requirement and to some specialized use of such products. Considerable quantities of dried skim milk powders are being used extensively in the preparation of ‘Reconstituted and Recombined milks”. Milk powders are also used extensively in the manufacture of ice cream, bakery products, confectionary products, cottage cheese and in other cheese varieties. The greatest proportion of milk powder is utilized in confectioneries, such as milk chocolate, caramels, soft sweets, coatings, biscuits and cakes. In these products, milk powder has a special effect on the quality of particular products: it improves consistency, flavour as well as nutritional value and shelf life.

Abstract

Food proteins are among the commonly used ingredients by food manufacturers to produce different products with desired characteristics. Due to several nutritional and functional properties, proteins have different functions in various food products in addition to their role in metabolic system of the human body. Dilute or concentrated solutions of pure proteins or unprocessed food products which are rich in protein are very sensitive to deterioration or degradation by microorganisms and thus have short shelf life at ambient temperatures due to their highly moist structure and high protein content. Drying is one of the best methods that can guarantee preservation, a longer shelf life, chemical or thermal stabilization and resistance against other stresses. A full understanding of stresses encountered during drying is needed to choose an appropriate drying process and to optimize this process for maximum product quality. A number of methods have been used by various researchers to dry protein-containing foods. Among these methods, freeze drying and spray drying are the most common techniques. Sun drying, convective hot air drying, vacuum drying, heat pump drying, radio frequency drying as well as combined or hybrid drying methods with two or more of the drying methods have also been developed.

Introduction

Earthquakes are the most destructive among all the natural hazards. Most of the time, they occur without any warning, which makes them most feared and unpredictable natural phenomena. Globally, on an average two earthquakes of magnitude 8 are known to occur every year. Some of the countries like Japan, China and United States have suffered several damaging earthquakes in the past. India has also experienced a number of high intensity earthquakes in the recent past and more than 650 earthquakes of magnitude >5.0 have been reported in India since 1890. Sixty-nine earthquakes in Delaware (U.S.A.) have been documented or suspected since 1871. Refer to Baxter (2000) for more details about the DGS Seismic Network and for documentation of earthquakes. In the 1930s Charles Richter developed a magnitude scale (Richter scale) which was an objective way of discriminating between large and small shocks using the seismic wave amplitude recorded by seismographs (Richter, 1958).

A Eco/green job, also called a green-collar job is, according to the United Nations Environment Program “work in agricultural, manufacturing, research and development (R&D), administrative, and service activities that contribute(s) substantially to preserving or restoring environmental quality. Specifically, but not exclusively, this includes jobs that help to protect ecosystems and biodiversity; reduce energy, materials, and water consumption through high efficiency strategies; de-carbonize the economy; and minimize or altogether avoid generation of all forms of waste and pollution.

• Livestock play a vital role in rural economy. The combination of livestock and crop farming enables complementarity through productive utilisation of farm by-products and conservation of soil fertility, thus increasing rural farm income. Apart from providing food products like milk, egg and meat, livestock sector generates productive employment and valuable supplementary income to the vast majority of rural households, majority of whom are small and marginal farmers and landless labourers. Growing human population, increasing urbanisation, rising domestic incomes and changing lifestyles in the country have led to increasing demand for livestock products. Livestock like cattle (bulls and cows), buffaloes, sheep and goat are an integral part of India’s socio economic life. Animal husbandry is a part of agricultural economy. It directly supports about five per cent (20 million) of our population. India has two per cent of the geographical area and accounts for 15 per cent of livestock population (400 million). Cows and buffaloes comprise 56.5 per cent of world population.India ranks first, second, third and f ifth in buffalo, cattle and goat, sheep and poultry population in the world, respectively. (Economic Survey, 2008-09). The total livestock population of Tamil Nadu stood at 249.42 lakhs which comprises 4.94, 1.69, 9.10, 6.58 and17.7 per cent of the cattle, buffalos, sheep, goat and poultry population of the country (17th livestock census All India Summary Report, 2004).

Introduction

Reservoirs constitute the prime inland fishery resource in the country by virtue of their numerous production potential. These man-made ecosystems offer enough scope for stock manipulation through ecological maneuvering, paving the way for production hikes at a relatively low-capital investment. Unlike the aquaculture systems, where the development is capital intensive, a reservoir fishery development is labour productive and ensures employment for some of the weakest sections of our society.

Approaches to study subject matter of economics
There are two approaches to study subject matter of economics-
1. Traditional Approach
2. Modern Approach
Economics studies human economic activities, which involve the creation, use, exchange, and distribution of wealth.
1. Traditional Approach
This approach splits economic activities into four interconnected areas:
Consumption, Production, Exchange, and Distribution (CPED).
1. Consumption – Using Goods & Services
Consumption refers to the utilization of goods and services to satisfy human needs and wants. It involves the destruction of utility, meaning that once a good or service is consumed, it cannot be reused in its original form i.e. once used, their original form is gone (utility destroyed) Economics studies the nature of human wants, their characteristics, and how individuals make consumption decisions.

Environment: Environment means “surrounding”. First definition of environment was given by “Ernst Haeckel”. According to this - The relation between all organic and inorganic atmosphere of any animal is called environment.

Introduction
An ecosystem is any unit that consists of all the creatures, or communities, in a certain area that interact with the physical environment to produce a trophic structure, biodiversity, and material cycle within the system. Various biosphere ecosystem types are
1) Natural ecosystems
2) Man-made ecosystems
Natural Ecosystems
Under natural conditions, these ecosystems function independently with little to no significant human intervention. These are further separated as follows based on the specific type of habitat:
• Terrestrial: grasslands, deserts, and forests
• Aquatic (open to the water), which is further subdivided into

Introduction
• Biosphere: Living things and the non-living systems that support them in their surroundings are intricately linked and mutually influence one another. Living things inhabit a comparatively small sphere that spans the surface of the globe, measuring less than 20 km in thickness and spanning roughly 8 km above and 10 km below sea level. The biosphere is the thin layer of soil, water, and land that covers the surface of the world. The land (lithosphere), the water (hydrosphere), and the air (atmosphere) are its three non-living constituents.
• Lithosphere: The solid portion of the earth is made up of the rocks and soil found both underneath and on the surface. About 4.6 billion years ago, a hot ball of substance gave rise to the earth and the lithosphere. Just eight of the 92 elements that make up the lithosphere are frequently found in crystal rocks. Of these components, 47% are oxygen, 28% are silicon, 8% are aluminum, and 5% are iron. The other ingredients are calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium, each making up 4%. When rocks break down, they create soil, which is what humans need for agriculture.
• Hydrosphere: The hydrosphere is the area of the earth that is covered in water. It encompasses 0.7 of the planet’s area. Only a minorportion  of the hydrosphere is made up of fresh water; the majority of the hydrosphere is made up of the marine ecosystem

Introduction

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report (IPCC, 2013) emphasized that warming of the climatic system is unequivocal and that anthropogenic warming will continue for centuries to come due to timescales associated with climate processes and feedbacks. While stresses caused by climate change are likely to negatively impact the agricultural and livestock sector and escalate existing small-scale farming challenges; agricultural and livestock productivity and sustainability have to improve to meet the needs of the growing human population (DEA, 2013; Zamykal and Everingham, 2009). Climate change is seen as a major threat to the survival of many species, ecosystems and the sustainability of poultry production systems in many parts of the world. Nevertheless, global demand for poultry products is expected to increase, as a result of the growing human population, and its growing af?uence. The extreme climatic conditions impose various stresses on poultry birds which adversely affect their growth, production and reproduction.

While climate change is a global phenomenon, its negative impacts are more severely felt by poor people in developing countries who rely mostly on the natural resource base for their livelihoods. Moreover, rural poor communities rely greatly for their survival on agriculture and poultry which belong to the most climate-sensitive economic sectors. Climate change is expected to intensify existing problems and create new combinations of risks and shift hazard zones. The incidences of draughts, snow-storms and blizzard like events have risen. The situation is made worst due to factors such as widespread poverty, inequitable land distribution, limited access to capital and technology inadequate infrastructure, long term weather forecasts and inadequate research and extension. Intensive poultry production has much less impact on global warming than organic or free-range production (Van der Sluis, 2007). Seo and Mendelsohn (2006) reported that small farms of poultry are better able to adapt to warming. However, organic egg production needs more energy than non-organic and increases most environmental burdens. The most disadvantageous, from environmental point of view, is litter-free breeding of birds which causes great amounts of liquid manure.

The establishment and the longevity of the organisms from one to complex multiple cells are controlled both by climate and weather in a region. Climate(macro level physical factor) of a region permits a particular organism to initiate its establishment, while the prevailing weather (micro level of the climate factor) which is known to occur within that climate controls the growth and multiplication of the selected organisms and thus proving the immense need of both climate and weather to living organisms. Within this science, when the weather is favorable for a particular organism throughout the year in a region, which cause disease to higher organisms then that region is termed as endemic region to a particular disease, where the management is focused towards strategical(long term) and tactical(short term) approaches. When in a year, from few weeks to few months the weather may be highly favorable for the outbreak of a particular disease, then that region is named as epidemic region for that disease and by establishing scientific link between weather and disease causing organism, it is possible to forecast / predict disease initiation in time and practice tactical management. Among the weather factors, temperature(both maximum and minimum), rainfall (amount and its distribution), relative humidity(both maximum and minimum) wind speed, dew, fog and mist would influence the organisms causing disease in livestock both in positive and negative terms. This is the new emerging area in the field of animal climatology and an attempt has been made to integrate animal diseases with climate and weather factors based on the available literature. Scope for research is vast in this new area and is discussed in a sub-head of the conclusion.

Abstract

Egg is a nutrient dense food, containing high quality proteins and a wide range of vitamins, minerals, trace elements, PUFA, MUFA etc. Whole egg slices were prepared by boiling in water technique for a predetermined time i.e. 15 min. The egg slices were prepared with spice extract at different levels of 2%, 5%, 7% and 10%, out of which 5% was found acceptable by sensory evaluation. The egg slices with 5% spice extract were then subjected to frying in different oils such as mustard oil, rice bran oil, sunflower oil and soya bean oil. Among all of the fried egg slices and control (without any spice extract and frying), on sensory evaluation, fried egg slices with mustard oil was most preferred. Texture analysis results shows that hardness was increased on frying and highest in fried egg slices with rice bran oil. Also the values for other TPA component viz. adhesiveness, cohesiveness, gumminess and chewiness were increased on frying as compared with control. Among the fried egg slices, highest values for adhesiveness, cohesiveness, gumminess was observed in egg slices with rice bran oil. However, chewiness of fried egg slices with sunflower oil was highest. It can be concluded from present study that the egg slices fried in mustard oil was organoleptically acceptable with good textural properties.

Investigation of the effect of Various Hormones on Fat Synthesis from 14C Labelled Acetate in Chicken Adipose Tissue

(Method of OMea and Leveille, 1968, Folch, Less and Solane Stanley, 1957 and Vaughan, 1961)

Reagents
    1.    Krebs-Ringer calcium-free bicarbonate buffer 7.4
        100 parts 0.154M NaCI (0.9001 g in 100ml)
        4 parts 0.154M KCI (0.0459 g in 4 ml)
        1 part 0.154M  MgSO₄ (0.0380 g in 1 ml)
        (3 parts 0.110M CaCI₂)
        21 parts 0.100M NaHCO3 buffered to 7.41 by bubbling through CO₂