eChapters

India has an enormous wealth of cattle, which is crucial to the development of the socioeconomic status of millions of rural households as well as the country’s economy. In addition to giving millions of people access to lowcost nutritious food, this industry plays a significant role in boosting family incomes and creating gainful employment in rural areas, notably among landless laborers, small and marginal farmers, and women.

The world’s largest population of milch cattle lives in India. In 2020, there were almost 906 million tones of milk produced worldwide, with India being the top producer with a 22 percent share. Annual Growth Rate of milk production in 2019-20 in India was 5.69 per cent. Highest growth rate in milk production was found to be 14.31 per cent in Karnataka. In 2021, the Indian dairy market had a value of INR 13,174 billion.

The cradle-to-grave dairy supply chain includes a number of operations that result in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to milk production. These activities broadly include the use of agricultural inputs like fertilizers, fossil fuel for the production of animal feed and fodder, processing concentrates in cattle feed plants, enteric fermentation, manure management, and post farm gate activities like processing milk at dairy cooperative societies, milk unions, its conversion into different milk products, and their distribution through retail supply chains.

Operation Flood and dairy cooperatives became India’s greatest rural employment programme, enabling the modernization of the dairy industry to a point from where it may take off to fulfill the need for milk and milk products within the nation as well as chances on the international market. An unorganized sector handles 80% of the milk a rural producer produces, and an organized sector handles the remaining 20%. It has been discovered that dairy cooperatives significantly contribute to reducing rural poverty by increasing rural milk production and marketing.

Letting the cow to release its milk so the dairy farmer can extract it for personal use or to sell is the procedure of milking. Consequently, it is not totally a natural process. The natural process must be manipulated by the dairy farmer to his advantage. Therefore, in order to control the natural process, one must first understand it. The process of producing milk from blood-derived basic materials by alveolar cells and storing it in the alveolar cavity is known as milk secretion. Only when the alveolar cavity is full and the pressure on the alveolar cells prevents further secretion does this continuous process come to an end.

Animals need to function efficiently during reproduction in order for a dairy production system to be sustainable. This is necessary to produce milk, the primary product of interest, as well as to supply replacement animals. From the perspective of reproduction, delayed puberty, lengthy calving intervals, limited productive lives, and high calf mortality are the key variables that cause economic losses. Reproductive management’s proportionate contribution to the effectiveness of dairy production systems varies greatly.

Dairy farmers hope to have better milking cows than those in their current herds. A solid foundation is necessary for every farming operation. Undoubtedly, the dairy farm documentation system is among the most important facets of farm management. Tracking each cow’s productivity within a herd and assisting breed development generally are the major objectives of a dairy farm tracking system. This information could be referred to as production data.

By minimizing the harsh climate effects like heat, cold and rain, it is crucial to offer the proper circumstances for raising dairy cows in the tropics. Stress can be reduced through the design of the farm and the dwelling. Controlling the environment lowers the risk of stress and disease, improves management, and increases milk production.

Dietary fat, which is not degraded in upper part of digestive tract (rumen) of animal, but gets digested in lower alimentary tract is known as bypass fat. Rumen protected fat is another name for this bypass fat. Immediately following calving, dairy animals lose a significant amount of energy through milk, although their feed intake is decreased. Animals continue to have negative energy balances as a result.

For the purpose of passing into the lower gastrointestinal tract and supplying the cow with vital amino acids, dairy bypass protein (UDP – undegraded protein) is a type of animal or plant-based protein that resists breakdown in the rumen. More metabolizable protein is made available by avoiding the rumen, assisting the cow in meeting her needs for amino acids for milk production and its constituent parts.

In terms of their contribution to human nutrition, the dairy industry is very important. Since dairy farming has the ability to offer meaningful selfemployment and stable income, it is a dependable source of subsistence for the rural poor. Additionally, it requires less labour and cash to maintain. Dairy cattle feeding directly affect the animals’ ability to reproduce and produce. Therefore, the addition of a mineral mixture is necessary to maximize the animal’s productivity and milk output.

The proper supply of feed and fodder is a requirement for the growth and development of the animals. Over the past few decades, there has been a considerable growth in milk production, with India now producing the most milk in the world (187.7 million tones in 2018–19). The main causes of India’s low milk yield are extrinsic (poor nutrition/feed management) as well as intrinsic (low genetic potential).

Herd management practices in the handling, nutrition, milking techniques, sanitation, and housing of dairy animals play key roles in predisposing the individual animal as well as herds to diseases. The key factor influencing the reduction of health issues are the decisions made by herd managers or animal owners.In order to maximize output and profitability through disease control, herd management approaches in conjunction with a veterinarian programme can be most beneficial.

Dairy farmers are faced with a number of fundamental inquiries. The first inquires as to what dairy animal he needs to keep. Is the breed with the best production performance the one that has adapted to the local environment the most? What animal is the best, asks the second? Is it the one with a showwinning conformation or the one with a strong ancestry? Is the ideal dairy cow one that produces the most milk, has the best feet, legs, and udder support, or combines the performance of these characteristics in the best possible way?

India is home to an enormous number of buffalo. According to the 20th Livestock Census, more than 109 million buffaloes, or more than 56% of the world’s population, are living in India. With 20 recognized breeds, it also has a very diverse collection of buffalo genetics. One of the most well-known buffalo breeds in the world, the Murrah, is also found in India. The buffalo is a versatile animal that can be used for milk, meat, and draught. India is the world leader in this industry, producing 76% of the world’s buffalo milk.

Abstract

Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field which plays a major role in various disciplines including drug discovery, pharmacogenomics, proteomics, comparative genomics, microbial genome applications in biotechnology. Food plays a vital role in various processes in body and also helps in controlling various chronic diseases. Food safety and food processing are very crucial factor for human lives. Bioinformatics has been successfully applied in food industry for improving various factors of food such as flavor, taste, allergenicity, probiotics, optimizing the quantitative and compositional parameters for food processing and assessing the food safety. In this chapter, we have given an overview about the role of bioinformatics in food industry.

Abstract

Fermentation in food processing is the process of converting carbohydrates to alcohol or organic acids using microorganisms; yeasts or bacteria under anaerobic conditions. Fermentation usually defines the desirable action of microorganism to enhance food safety by inhibition of pathogens, modify their sensory properties, improve their nutritional value by removing anti-nutritive compounds and by enhancing bioavailability of components. Pulses and Legumes are the major source of dietary nutrients all over the world. Fermentation can be the most simple and economical way of improving their nutritional value, sensory properties and functional qualities. Pulses and legume based fermented food products offer opportunities to include probiotics, prebiotics and fibers in the human diet. In the Indian subcontinent, making use of fermented food and beverages using local food crops and other biological resources is very common, although the nature of the products and the base material varies in different regions. This chapter focuses on some of the indigenous fermented foods produced in the country that have not received the scientific attention they deserve in the last decades. Products produced from different pulses and legumes substrates fermented by lactic acid bacteria, yeast and/or fungi are included.

Abstract

The waste utilization as derivative from different food processing sector has been emerged as the main challengeable problem around the world due to the generation of by-products at large quantities consisting seeds, peels, rags, unused flesh, bran, husk, germ, stalk etc. during various processing chain steps. Though these food by-products are potentially rich source of natural compounds which finds its wide utilization in different industries as affordable, cost-effective, novel ingredient comprising dietary fiber, phytochemicals, antioxidants, pectin, enzymes, organic acids, food additives, essential oils etc. subsequently after extractions, purified fractionation and fermentations methods. These food byproducts also have pharmaceutical and nutraceutical activity. A nutraceutical is like a medicine or food grade product, which not only provides physical benefits and nutritional supplements but also protects against various chronic diseases. This food processing waste utilization should be a topic of interest, by means of two ways, i.e., through waste quantity reduction and increased value-added food products production and also as renewable energy source. The purpose of this study is to highlight the opportunities to utilize food by-products from various food processing industries and to encourage the vital exploitation of the by-products containing large number of bio-active compounds having nutraceutical potential.

Abstract

Water is very essential nutrient and total of only 3% pure water is present on earth. Some natural, anthropogenic and human activities discharge wastes, containing heavy metals into the different water resources and ultimately destroying the ecosystem. Numbers of methods are used for water purification like conventional (includes physical and chemical) and biological. Conventional methods are expensive, generate large quantities of sludge and inefficient at low concentrations of metal. Biological method includes biosorption and bioaccumulation, are ecofriendly and economic and have advantages over conventional methods. Biosorbent material includes microbial biomass, agro-wastes, and industrial by-products are used to treat heavy metal from liquid samples. Actually these biosorbent have number of functional groups on their surfaces which help in binding of metal from aqueous solution. In this article, biosorption of zinc, arsenic and copper are described through lactic acid bacteria that are not harmful, nonsporulating, fastidious, fermentative and generally regarded as safe. Many of these species are probiotic and producing exopolysaccharides and biofilms. It has great resistance to survive in gut environment and efficiency to biosorb metal from gut. It has some significant characteristics that represent a useful tool for decontamination of food and beverages from heavy metals. Biosorption mechanism and factors behind the process make these strains competent of removing these heavy metals.

Abstract

Fruits like orange (citrus sinensis), mango (mangifera indica), banana (musa paradisiaca), guava (psidium guajava) and pomegranate (punica granatum) contain numerous vitamins, minerals, fibre. These fruits also contain phytochemicals, antioxidant and bioactive compounds including alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponin, terpenoids, which enhance the nutritional value and reduce the free radicals and oxidative stress in human body. These fruits also show the anti-cancer, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic, anti-obesity, anti- diabetic, anti-proliferative, anti-hypertensive properties and are very effective against the pathogenic bacteria, which causes the harmful disease in human body. The chapter provides the production data of these fruits in different countries, their bioactive compounds and their utilization in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries.