eChapters

Introduction of Food Industry

India is one of the major food producers in the world. The food sector contributes to about 28% of India's GDP. India stands at 1st position in the world for production of cereals, milk, livestock, banana and Mango, 2nd in producing fruits and vegetables and ranks amongst top 5 in producing rice, wheat, groundnut, tea, coffee, tobacco, spices, sugar and oilseeds. India's share in global production of fruits is 10% and vegetables are 13.7%. The current consumption of fruits and vegetables is approx Rs.2 lakh crores at current prices with an estimated growth rate of 11% per annum. The growth rate is higher than cereals and milk and comparable to meet consumption

Status of Food Processing Industry

The food processing industry in India is still in a sorry state. The rural population comprising 70% including small cities, consume less than 10% of the processed foods and vegetables, whereas 60% of the processed food is consumed in four major metropolitan cities and 30% in the state capitals and big cities. Another fact is that 40% of the processed food and vegetables produced in the country in terms of value are bought by institutional buyers like Hotels, Restaurants and Defense etc. The highest growth in domestic market has been in fruit drinks, tomato ketch up and Jams.

There is another fact that India is the largest milk producer in the world, however, organized industry accounts for less than 15% of the milk produce in India. It is estimated that there may be a total production of 1100 million tons of production of food products mainly food grains, oilseeds, sugarcane and fruits/vegetables during 2011-12 and leaving marketable surplus of 870 million tons.

Sexual Propagation in Pineapple

Pineapple occupy a gametophytic self-incompatibility system so that commercial cultivated pineapple rarely produces very few seeds in the field (Coppens d’Eeckenbrugge et al. 1992). However, if two varieties are grown close together and flowering time is same, it is chance for insect-aided crosspollination to set seeds. The vectors for natural cross-pollination vary with the location. Where humming birds are present, they are likely to be a primary pollinator. Where these birds are absent, honeybees and ants would be the main pollinators. The small corolla tube and the fact that pollen is not shed rule out wind as a pollinator. Since seedy fruit is not acceptable for either fresh or processing, it is rare to find more than one cultivar on large plantations. If more than one cultivaris grown in a farm, spatial separation and careful management of time of forcing will prevent seed production. However, cross-pollination between cultivars is used by pineapple breeders to generate new hybrids like “MD-2” and “CO-2” (Williams and Fleisch 1993). Sexual propagation is important for the generation of new varieties and is successfully used in pineapple breeding programs (Reinhardt et al., 2018). Pineapple Seeds are placed in shallow trays on moistened sand beds under controlled environmental conditions for germination(Junghans et al., 2015).Seed germination come up mostly from two weeks after sowing and rates are high, usually 80% or more (Chang et al., 2003). The new growing seedlings have 6 to 8 leaves stage within about three months after sowing and are then transplanted to pots with agricultural substrate and are grown under greenhouse or screen house conditions. After an additional 9 to 15 months of growth stage, during which the seedlings height reach 25 cm, which is considered adequate for planting in the field, the plants are finally acclimatized in an open nursery.

1. Introduction Proso millet (Panicum miliaceum (L.) belongs to the grass family Paniceae. It is a perennial cropthat grows in summer each year as late-seeded summer crop (Figure 1). Its origin can be traced back to at least 2000 B.C. when it was said to be grown in the Central European regions. Proso millet plant thrives in dry areas such as Africa, Central Russia, Manchuria, Middle East and Northern India and North America’s Great Plains. Proso millet was introduced to Canada in the 17th century and used sparingly as a feed crop in the early 1900s (Rajasekaran and Francis, 2021). This is a low-demand crop and is utilised in organic farming systems across Europe and as an intercrop in the United States. Its shallow root system and resistance to atrazine residue make it a great intercrop between two crops that need a lot of water and pesticides. The last crop’s stubbles entrap more heat into the soil which promotes faster and earlier growth of millet. Hence, it can help to evade summer drought and achieve continual crop rotation (Kalinova and Moudry, 2006). It is an erect herbaceous annual crop with a lot of tillering. Its plant can reach a height of 45-100 centimetres. The stem is thin, with prominently enlarged nodes. The roots are thin and fibrous.

1.1 Introduction Among the C4 grasses known as panicoids (subfamily: panicoideae), which also includes nutrient-rich cereals like millets and sorghum as well as commercially valuable crops like switchgrass, napier grass, and guinea grass, are bioenergy feedstocks like sugarcane and miscanthus. Among all, millets overpowered others in terms of biotic/abiotic stress resilience, resource sustainability as well as nutritional benefits. Minor millets, often known as nutritional cereals, are a type of small-seeded grains that are members of the Poaceae family. Up to 35 kinds of grass from 20 genera are well-known for being minor millets. Finger millet, foxtail, proso millet, barnyard millet, kodo millet, and little millet are the most significant small millets that are grown worldwide. India is the leading producer and consumer of millet crops and their products. The total area of small millets in India is around 1.63 m ha, with a production of 1.82 m tones during the year 2016- 17 (Annual progress report 2018-19, ICAR-AICRP on small millets).

Like other sectors of the economy food processing sector also suffers from certain constraints. The challenges for the food conservation, distribution and processing sectors are diverse and demanding, which need to be addressed to leverage the growth of agriculture and food processing sector. Following are the major challenges and strategies are suggested to overcome the challenges (Sakina, 2019).

6.1. Domestic Constraints in the Development of Food Processing Industry in India

Despite the significant economic potential of the FPI in India, it still faces massive domestic challenges, which include low level of processing, fragmented structure of the industry, consumer perception and lack of skilled manpower. Firstly, low level of processing means that at industrial level, less food is processed, as compared to household level. Most of the traditional food items like jams, jellies, pickles etc. are prepared at small manufacturing units or by households (Agarwal & Neogi, 2017).

Secondly, consumer perception with regard to processed food in India is not very optimistic and they consider that packaged food is not fresh, thus, leading to low consumption of processed food. Thirdly, food processing sector is still highly fragmented and unorganised. This led to the inefficacies in the sector and has failed to achieve the economies of scale (Agarwal & Neogi, 2017).

7.1. Challenges in Milk Quality

Demand for milk and milk products in India is growing very rapidly, owing to urbanization, customer convenience, and the change from loose to packaged milk products. At present, the dairy sector is rising at about 10-12 per cent annually. Based on population growth projections and an increase in urbanization over the next four decades, India is projected to need approximately 600 million tonnes of milk per year to meet the demand for milk and milk products. This means that India’s milk production needs to grow at around 3.2 per cent CAGR for the next 40 years (FICCI, 2020).

Main reason of poor quantity of milk is due to unhygienic and poor condition of animal farms and dairies. Even due to high demand in foreign country we cannot export such poor quality of milk product. Many times, Indian milk products get rejected in foreign nations due to unhygienic milking milk contains high number of microbial counts. Reasons behind the quality affected in India are due to poor health of animal, polluted water and food and Unclean surrounding in farm. So, it is necessary to consider all this challenges in improving milk production. Currently most of the milking animals are not screened on regular interval of time. So, there is lots of chances that some diseases can transmitted to human beings. Farmers use antibiotics and chemical drugs to increase the production of milk this will also affect the quality of milk. These issues can be avoided by regular screening of animals in animal husbandry and also maintaining history records of health, feed etc. Quality of feed should be checked regularly. There must be pollution control in the feed and water used in cattle farms (Bhagyalaxmi, 2020).

Introduction

Protected cultivation or greenhouse cultivation is the most common technique to grow vegetable crops qualitatively and quantitatively, and has spread widely all over the world in recent decades. Greenhouse agriculture is also known as environmentally controlled planting. The technology involves the cultivation of vegetable crops in a regulated environment in which factors such as tem perature, soil, light, humidity, irrigation, fertilizers, etc. are controlled in order to achieve optimum production and ensure a steady supply even in off-season conditions. In India, the total area under protected cultivation or green house is currently approximately 25 000 ha whereas the protected vegetable area is approximately 2000 ha which has been challenged by land ownership limita tions, decreasing crop production, rapid urbanization, ever increasing popu lation and decreasing biodiversity. Food demand, especially vegetables, has increased growing of different crop varieties as protected crops, or greenhouse has opened up a new dimension to extra production within a limited crop area.

1. The protein is derived from Greek word “Proteins” which means
   1. Principal
   2. Prime
   3. Holding the first place
   4. All of the above
2. The name protein to the group of organic compounds that are utmost important to life is suggested by
   1. Mulder
   2. Berzelius
   3. Kulim
   4. Sanger

Introduction

Proteins are the most abundant organic compounds constituting major part of the body. Chemically, proteins are nitrogen containing macromolecules and polymers of L α-amino acids, which serve a wide range of structural and biological functions in animal body. For example, connective tissue made up of collagen, metabolicenzymes, neuro transmitters,signal in gmolecules, structural components of cell membranes and cell organelles, etc. all are chemically proteins.

Before goinginto the details of protein metabolism, first, we need to understand that there are majorly two sources of proteins in our body: dietary protein and body protein. Dietary protein is taken in diet, while body protein indicates the protein and amino acids synthesized in animal body to fulfill the requirements for growth and development. The digestion of proteins will not be discussed here as it has been described in detail in chapter 12. Dietary protein is digested in presence of several enzymes such as trypsin, pepsin, chymotrypsin, aminopeptidases and carboxypeptidases and is converted into mono-, di- and oligopeptides in stomach and small intestine; and finally converted into amino acids. These amino acids are transported to the systemthrough intestinal mucosa via active transport, from where they enter into the cells for further metabolism. Therefore, ‘metabolismof proteins’ is more appropriatelylearnt as ‘metabolism of amino acids’.

Proteins are large biological molecules, or macromolecules, consisting of one or more chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within living organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, replicating DNA, responding to stimuli, and transporting molecules from one location to another. Proteins differ from one another primarily in their sequence of amino acids, which is dictated by the nucleotide sequence of their genes, and which usually results in folding of the protein into a specific three-dimensional structure that determines its activity. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain derived from the condensation of amino acids. The individual amino acid residues are bonded together by peptide bonds and adjacent amino acid residues. The sequence of amino acid residues in a protein is defined by the sequence of a gene, which is encoded in the genetic code. In general, the genetic code specifies 20 standard amino acids; however, in certain organisms the genetic code can include selenocysteine and, in certain archaea-pyrrolysine. Shortly after or even during synthesis, the residues in a protein are often chemically modified by post translational modification, which alters the physical and chemical properties, folding, stability, activity, and ultimately, the function of the proteins. Sometimes proteins have non-peptide groups attached, which can be called prosthetic groups or cofactors. Proteins can also work together to achieve a particular function, and they often associate to form stable protein complexes.

Like other biological macromolecules such as pollysaccharides and nucleic acids, proteins are essential parts of organisms and participate in virtually every process within cells. Many proteins are enzymes that catalyse biochemical reactions and are vital to metabolism. Proteins also have structural or mechanical functions, such as actin and myosin in muscle and the proteins in the cytoskeleton, which form a system of scaffolding that maintains cell shape. Other proteins are important in cell signalling, immune responses, cell adhesion, and the cell cycle. Proteins are also necessary in animals’ diets, since animals cannot synthesize all the amino acids they need and must obtain essential amino acids from food. Through the process of digestion, animals break down ingested protein into free amino acids that are then used in metabolism.

1. INTRODUCTION

Proteins are polymers of amino acids. Twenty different types of amino acids occur naturally in proteins. Proteins differ from each other according to the type, number and sequence of amino acids that make up the polypeptide backbone. Proteins are the important constituents of foods for a number of reasons. They are a major source of energy, as well as containing essential amino-acids, like lysine, tryptophan, methionine, leucine, isoleucine and valine which are essential to human health, but which the body cannot synthesize. Proteins are also the major structural components of many natural foods, often determining their overall texture, e.g., tenderness of meat or fish products. Isolated proteins are often used in foods as ingredients because of their unique functional properties, i.e., their ability to provide desirable appearance, texture or stability.

Proteins are complex organic molecules made up of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. Most proteins also contain sulphur and phosphorus and also play an important role in food preparation. The final quality of many food products are influenced by how the proteins are treated while food is being prepared.

These days, the concept of psychological well-being has gained more impetus in the field of health and positive psychology. Ever since research has paid more attention to ‘quality of life,’ psychological well-being has become popular. However, less importance has been given to the conceptual development of its construct, thus creating confusion between terms which at first appear similar: psychological well-being, subjective well-being, quality of life, satisfaction in life, happiness, and mental health.

The concept of psychological well-being is related to mental, emotional, and social health. Ever since research has started in this area, psychologists have started paying more attention to ‘quality of life,’ and hence psychological well-being has acquired more importance. But less importance has been paid to the conceptual development of its construct. As mental health is related to psychological well-being, it is essential to study psychological well-being.

Psychological well-being includes general well-being, quality of life, satisfaction in life, happiness, and mental health. Quality of life and subjective life satisfaction are measures of an individual’s perceived level of psychological well-being and happiness. It is sometimes used as a synonym for subjective happiness and general well-being. Psychological well-being is also related to another variable, such as ‘self-concept’. Self-concept may be stated as the quality of perceptions that each person has of himself, and this self-identity or self-image plays an important role in the psychological functioning of human well-being.

Many attempts have been made in the past to measure positive mental and emotional health, only one of which is the measure of a subjective, general sense of psychological well-being. Attempts over the years have been made to find out more about its correlates.

5.1 Introduction

The medium used in various unit operations of food process engineering such as heating, cooling, drying, mixing and transport processes, is moist air, which is a mixture of two substances. One of these is dry air which itself is a mixture of number of gases and the other is water vapour which may exist in a saturated or superheated state. The properties of moist air are called psychrometric properties and the subject, which involves determination of thermodynamic properties of moist air, is known as psychrometry. Thus, psychrometry is that branch of engineering science, which deals with the study of moist air i.e. dry air mixed with water vapour or humidity. Knowledge of properties of moist air is imperative in design of systems such as air- conditioning equipment for storage of fresh produce, dryers for drying of cereal grains, and cooling towers in food processing plants. In this chapter, important thermodynamic properties used in psychrometric computations are defined. Psychrometric charts useful in determining such properties are presented. In addition, various psychrometric process used in food process engineering are discussed.

Abstract

Pulse combustors provide an advantageous superposition of unsteady gas flow and high intensity sound waves. Such a combination does not only accelerate drying rates because of increased heat and mass transfer but also allows processing of liquids, pastes and agglomerated solids in a dispersed state due to aerodynamic impact from the high intensity sound wave. Over last decades, applications of pulse combustion in drying have been exploited continuously and different pulse combustion dryers have been designed and fabricated. In pilot tests and technical reports on these dryers, short drying time, high energy efficiency and product quality are generally reported, which cause that pulse combustion drying is regarded as a technology of the future in convective drying.

This chapter attempt to introduce basic knowledge and state-of the art about this emerging technology and summarizes some recent studies in pulse combustion drying and equipment design. Following a concise description of pulse combustion and pulse combustor, the basic types of pulse-combustion dryers are presented, including spray dryers, fluidized bed dryers, impinging dryers, and dryers of special design. The existing commercial applications and pilot test projects are described and potential applications are identified.

1. Clean and wash the pulses, Mix the pulses with water, soak for 1 hour, 3 hours, 6hours, 9hours and overnight.
2. After soaking drain the water wash thoroughly and add fresh water keep it for boiling/cooking.
3. Study the effect of Acid and effect of Alkali on cooking time of pulses.

Abstract

Consumers increased response to new products with high sensory, organoleptic and nutritional potentials has impelled a search for new substitutes to processing methods. For several years, thermal processing was the main technology for producing safe products with long shelf lives, although in most cases losses of fresh flavors, vitamins, and some physicochemical characteristics were the price of safety and long-term stability. Pulsed electric field (PEF) processing as a non- thermal technique has been proven to inactivate microorganisms with minimal losses of flavor and food quality, possibly making it the answer to present-day consumer demands. In addition, the low processing temperatures used in this non- thermal technology allow the process to be nutrient preserving, energy efficient, which translates into lower costs and fewer environmental impacts. In this chapter, the the configuration of various PEF equipment, their electric configuration and recent application of this technique in processing of foods have been discussed in detail.

6.1 Introduction

Consumer demand, regulatory guidelines and economic power of the consumer as well as ascertained profitability stimulated the need of novel food processing techniques. The concept of “fresh”, “natural”, or “organic” food also led to the development of environmentally sound and resource efficient food processing technologies. Thermal processes have been used for food preservation since a long time. These are not very energy efficient and can change the phase of food from fresh to cooked as well as it can alter the nutritional and sensory qualities. Thus, the quest for energy conservation by the manufacturers to reduce carbon footprint of the processes involved in food processing and preservation as well as to fulfill consumers’ requirement for fresh-like quality food have given rise to the development of innovative non-thermal food processing technologies i.e. ionizing radiation, high-intensity light pulses, high isobaric pressure, electric or oscillating magnetic fields, as well as pulsed electric fields (PEF).

Application of electric energy in food processing started in the early 1900s. In the beginning, electrical pasteurization inactivated microorganisms by increasing the temperature of samples by means of an electrical resistance (ohmic heating). Milk was the first electrically pasteurized product. In the late 1940s, electric fields were used to increase the permeability of fruits to facilitate the subsequent extraction of juices. The PEF technology as a non-thermal process is very effective for inactivation of microorganisms, increasing the pressing efficiency, enhancing the juice extraction, and for intensification of the food dehydration and drying process. The main effect of PEF technology is based on the phenomena that biological membranes are punctured under the influence of external electrical impulses. This process is often referred as non-thermal, since the structural damage to membranes is implemented at very low temperature compared to the conventional heating process. The PEF process is considered to be energy efficient because the electric energy is released in short pulses, thus total energy requirement is much lower than other continuous preservation technologies. The microbial inactivation can be achieved at ambient or moderately elevated temperatures by the application of short-bursts of high intensity electric fields to liquid foods flowing between two electrodes or to semi-solid/ solid food between some specialized electrode and treatment systems. Due to chemical/physical properties and presence of electrical charge, the liquid foods (e.g. milk or fruit juices) had different conductivity, which results in variable flux of electrical current through the food systems.

1. Introduction

Thermal processing treatments are the conventional methods that have been broadly employed in the food industry to guarantee the microbiological safety of food materials at a minimal cost. However, these thermal treatments cause undesirable changes in flavor, nutritive value, texture, or color of the finished product that impact food quality (Pan et al., 2017). Growing the modern consumer’s demand towards the minimally processed and “fresh-like” taste foods has challenged the food industry to develop novel non-thermal preservation techniques as an alternative to thermal processing. 

INTRODUCTION

Pulses are edible fruits or seeds of food bearing plants belonging to the family of the leguminosae. The major pulses which find important place in our diet are redgram dhal, bengal gram dhal, black gram dhal, green gram dhal and masoor dhal. Some are used as whole grams cow pea, rajmah and dry peas also belong to leguminous family.

Legumes not only have dietary values but also play an important role in maintaining or even improving soil fertility through their ability to fix atomospheric nitrogen.

Introduction

Foods prepared by fermenting raw ingredients of plant or animal sources naturally or mixing it with the starter culture (s) containing functional micro flora is called fermented foods. The functional micro flora used in starter culture is responsible for biochemical and organoleptic alteration of the substrates into edible yields which are socially and culturally appropriate to consumers (Tamang et al., 2010a, Tamang et al., 2010b). Fermented food has its own characteristic microflora and this group of micro flora increases the nutritional value by increasing the levels of essential amino acids, vitamins, proteins, etc.

Fermented foods play a major role in meeting nutritional requirement and socio economic development of developing countries. They are important components of the diet as staples, adjuncts to staples, condiments and beverages. A wide variety of fermenting substrates are available such as cereals, pulses, soya beans, flowers, milk, fish, meat, etc. A wide majority of plants and their parts are often utilized in the preparation of starter culture (Deori et al., 2007, Deka and Sarma, 2010).

Q10 value: The number of times a reaction rate change with a 10oC change in temperature is called Q10 value. If reaction rate doubles with 10oC change in temperature, Q10 = 2. It is also called temperature quotient.

Q-enzyme: It is a branching enzyme responsible for formation of 1-6 bonds in amylopectin.

QHV process: It stands for Quality Has Value Process.

QO2 : It is a unit for measurement of respiration. Or It is the oxygen uptake in microlitres per milligram on dry weight per hour.

Quailing: In this practice the oranges are kept in the baskets in which they are harvested to allow the fruit to loose little moisture. It is done for a couple of hours before transport to packhouse. This practice would allow the fruit to lose a little moisture which is called quailing. This operation is done for oranges to prevent Oleocellosis.

Qualitative measurement: It is a subjective / objective measurement of the quality of the product for presence of certain compound. It gives the idea of the presence or absence of the particular compound. It deals with the nature of the substance and not its amount or quantity.

The raw material of foremost importance in bakery product is the wheat flour. Bakery units prefer the flour obtained by milling in roller flourmill with 70– 72 percent extraction. Flour quality may be defined as the ability of the flour to produce an attractive end product at competitive cost, under conditions imposed by the end product manufacturing unit. The concept of quality differs from producer and consumer point of view. However, in general, the term quality may refer to fitness of a raw material or a product for a particular process or consumer. For a consumer, the following parameters are important criteria of a product quality.

The art of confectionery manufacture date back to over 3000 years as per Egyptian records. Traditionally honey, boiled and concentrated sugar cane juices have been used in confectioneries. In modern times, alternative sweeteners from sources like corn and starches constitute an integral part of confectionery manufacture.

Owing to the huge variation in finished products as well as raw materials in food sector, Quality control has an extremely important role to play. Quality control aims at controlling variation to within a tolerable level by taking corrective actions. Statistical and non-statistical techniques are employed to measure, analyze and control variation in food products. Statistical process control, acceptance sampling and visual inspection are widely used in food and allied sectors.

Maintenance of quality and manufacture of a standard confectionery should involve a very close control of raw materials, instrumentation, and statistical analysis of finished product. Statistical evaluation with respect to finished product includes weight control, sensory evaluation and packaging tests. The quality standards are set by the quality control departments. Chemists may undertake preliminary analysis through visual inspection. Visual inspection is usually combined with sampling. This gives an idea of variation, cleanliness, infestation etc. in the sample.

India has emerged as the largest producer of milk in the World. This has boosted the confidence of producers, planners, dairy entrepreneurs and scientist alike. India has poised to play a major role in global dairy market in coming decade. The rapid growth of science and technology has positive impact on our life style and with strong trend of urbanization several demographic changes are likely to occur. There going to be ever increasing demand on the role of milk and milk products for human health. Accordingly, the demand for higher standards of milk products in terms of hygiene and safety of dairy products is to be followed. The competitiveness for the export of milk products among different dairy industry has increased in recent times due to GATT agreement. The biggest challenge before Indian dairy industry is the quality and safety of milk products indented for human consumption. Legal standards are made to have control over quality of food offered for sale and to safe guard the consumer form health hazards. It is therefore, imperative to determine different parameters that define product quality and safety. The purpose is to ensure production and distribution of products within well defined and accepted standards. This chapter deals with various parameters of product testing in order to maintain requisite prescribed standards.

Milk is a product of biological origin and is a suitable vehicle to accommodate any additive without apparent changes in its look. The quality of milk and its products depends upon quality of raw milk used in their manufacture, processing and handling conditions. It is therefore, necessary to check quality of raw milk to assess its suitability for processing, through various quick tests called “Platform Tests”

Raw milk quality assessment

(A) At collection center: - Milk from various suppliers is generally collected at dairy factory or privately owned collection centers located in marked area of milk sheds. The quantum of supply may vary from 2 – 100 Liters. As each supplier has to be paid in relation to quantity and quality of his produce, it is important to draw samples and ascertain its quality by performing quick tests for the purpose of acceptance or rejection.

Sampling procedures - The sampling procedure differs according to the nature of material and the purpose for which the sample is required. The sample collected for chemical analysis should be representative of the entire batch. Thorough mixing with proper instrument is essential to ensure representative sample. Samples for chemical analysis are to be delivered the same day for testing. If un-avoided, add small amount of preservative (Formaldehyde) to prevent deterioration and bear label to the effect.

Sample from single container – The procedure involved is thorough mixing of contents. If it is small container the contents should be poured from one vessel to another with swirling. In case of can the contents should be mixed with the help of plunger which should be moved up and down and sideways for about 10-15 times. The sample is then drawn with the help of dipper from different levels and collected in clean and dry sample bottles.

India has achieved a commendable position of being the highest milk producing country in the world. Nearly 110 million tons of milk per annum is contributed by small and marginal farmers having 2-3 milch animals which are scattered in lakhs of villages across the length and breath of India. The poor socio-economic conditions are serious constraints in producing raw milk of good quality. The quality of milk is further deteriorated during subsequent handling and transportation. Milk being a product of biological origin, is extremely vulnerable to attack by microbes. It is also a good vehicle for additives and adulterants without any apparent changes in its appearance. Thus, milk is susceptible to several post-secretion changes, some natural and some man-made.

Indian dairy industry faces a mammoth task to meet the world quality standards, particularly in the present context of globalization and increasing quality conscious consumers. In view of the highly perishable nature of milk soon after it is secreted, it is important to monitor its quality by having a firmly installed quality assurance programme along the entire production-to-supply chain. This can be possible with application of sensitive, accurate and rapid methodologies as a tool in quality assurance programmes.

Quality comprises of several attributes ranging from physical, chemical, technological and bacteriological through nutritional to aesthetic. All dairy plants have a quality assurance laboratory (Fig. 8.1) and usually follow chemical quality control with the intention of payments to contractors/producers, processing of milk and meeting mandatory requirements for end products. Quality is judged both by objective and subjective tests.

Introduction

Seafood undergoes rapid spoilage after capture or harvest due to their highly perishable nature. Spoilage refers to any change that renders seafood unacceptable for human consumption. Spoilage occurs as a consequence of various microbial, biochemical and chemical breakdown processes. Spoilage leads to quality changes in seafood. Quality change refers to any change that occur after harvest due to unpredictable catch, uncontrolled harvest, inadequate handling, processing and storage facilities. The initial quality loss is mainly due to the post-mortem autolytic activity (enzymatic process) and chemical degradation process (lipid oxidation); and later by microbial degradation. The quality problems occur as a result of poor-quality raw material, ice and water, microbiological contamination, presence of heavy metals and other storage aspects during processing.

Processing of fish means preparing raw fish into a marketable form. Pre processing is done prior to final processing. Pre-processing is often done on board fishing vessel or in a shore based plant. It includes operation such as washing, sorting, grading, butchering, etc of the harvested fish. The butchering involves removal of non-edible portions such as viscera, head, tails and fins from fish. The yield of fish meat varies from 30 to 70% depending on the butchering process. Butchering process includes beheading, gutting, filleting, peeling, deveining, shucking, etc. The discarded portion of fish meat are fish wastes, often used for animal feed or for conversion to bioactive functional foods. Final processing of fish includes processes such as heating, freezing, drying, salting, marinading, irradiation, or addition of chemicals. The processed seafood is categorized into five major groups – chilled, frozen, canned, cured and other value-added products in this chapter.

In this chapter, the importance of seafood in terms of their nutrition, and different methods of processing are dealt. Seafood quality and safety terminologies are explained briefly. The quality parameters affected by rigor mortis in raw, iced and cooked fish are given. Phenomenon of gaping described with reference to rigor mortis. Quality dimension of seafood is explained with intrinsic and extrinsic parameters. Various intrinsic factors affecting seafood quality such as f ish species, seasonal changes, parasite infestation and capture conditions are discussed in detail. The next part elucidates the sensory parameters affecting the seafood quality describing the objective and subjective method of quality assessments. Objective method covers both descriptive and discriminative tests. The final part mentions the Codex guidelines available for the conduction of seafood sensory assessment. At the end, the reader gains the knowledge on the basic information about seafood, role of rigor mortis in affecting seafood quality and the sensory quality assessment methods.

Objective

To learn the nutritional importance of seafood and their processing; rigor mortis and their role in seafood quality, intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting seafood quality and sensory quality assessment methods.

1.1. Importance of Seafood

Seafood has been traditionally a part of diet in many parts of the world. In some countries like India, it constitutes the main supply of animal protein among coastal population. Seafood is a low-calorie food and easily digestible compared to other protein-rich meat and poultry products and hence, it is a good choice for elderly persons to obtain their daily protein requirements. Seafood has high-quality quality enriched with all the essential amino acids required for human health. It provides about 1/3rd of the average recommended daily allowance (RDA) of protein.

1. INTRODUCTION

Quality, i.e. the degree of excellence or superiority, is a combination of attributes, properties, or characteristics that each commodity value in of human food. The relative importance of each quality component depends upon the commodity and its intended use (e.g. fresh or processed) and varies among producers, handlers, and consumers. Appearance of quality, firmness and shelf-life are important from the point of view of wholesale and retail marketers. Consumers judge quality of fresh fruits and vegetables on the basis of appearance and firmness, flavour (eating) quality of the product. Consumers are also concerned about the nutritional quality and safety of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Abstract

Determination of quality of wheat is very important because quality requirement of an individual product vary from one another. Flour quality can be defined as the ability of the flour to produce a uniformly good end product. Flour quality factors can be divided into two basic groups: those that are inherent in the wheat as a result of the genetic make up and the changes brought about by growing conditions; secondly those factors that might be altered during the process of converting wheat into flour Wheat flour constituents play an important role in determining the quality of flour. The flour quality for baking could be assessed by measuring the physical, chemical and rheological characteristics.

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the major cereal consumed globally in various form as food. The powder of wheat flour is prepared by grinding of wheat seeds. Soft wheat flour has low gluten content that causes its crumbly texture. However, hard wheat flour has high gluten content of about 12-14% and has elastic toughness due to which it has good shape once its baked. Wheat flour is a basic ingredient in India’s famous flatbreads, and it can also be a key ingredient in addressing major health concerns in India.

Fruits and vegetables are very important food commodities not only in developing country like India but all over the world. India, which is the most densely populated country in Asia continent, is still struggling to achieve self-sufficiency to feed about 135 crores people. For this purpose, fruits and vegetables have got their specific importance to provide a balance and healthy diet to the Indian people. Therefore, the reduction of post-harvest loss of fruit and vegetables is a complementary means for increasing production. It may not be necessary to considerably step up the production of fruits and vegetables with the growing demand if the post-harvest loss is reduced to a great extent. The cost of preventing losses after harvest in general is less than preventing a similar additional amount of fruit and vegetable crop of the same quality

Fruits are important source of Pro-vitamin A and vitamin C. In addition, vegetables also supply fair amount of carbohydrates, protein and energy and add colour, flavour and aroma to human diet. India is one of the largest producers of fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are an important supplement to the human balanced diet as they provide the essential minerals, vitamins and dietary fibre (roughage) for maintaining the tear and wear of the over body. Fresh fruit and vegetables have a short shelf life under ambient conditions of temperature and humidity due to their highly perishable nature. They soon lose their freshness and become subjected to mould and bacterial attack, and consequently decay and become useless as articles of human diet. Fresh fruits and vegetables are valued for their quick sources of available energy. Fresh fruits have high water content (70-96%), varying amount of carbohydrate (3-27%) and fibre (0.2-3.1%) and a low content of protein, fat and minerals. Ideal climatic conditions ensure round the year availability of broad range of fruit and vegetables in large quantities. The production of fruits and vegetables was 97.00 MT and 179.60 MT during the 2017-2018 in India

Maturity Standards and Harvesting Indices

Harvesting : Harvesting is detaching a commodity from the point of its origin. This point of origin may be an above ground plant part i.e. shoot eg. apple, tomato etc. or an underground plant part eg potato, carrot, etc. or in water i.e. harvesting of fish from a pond (not to be covered in this book).

Abstract

India has become not only self sufficient in food grains but has also emerged as net exporter of wheat and rice. Acute famines in India have practically been eliminated, thanks to increased food availability at the national level, improved early warning systems and expanding infrastructure for more rapid transport of food grains and other products to needy areas. However, the existing post management system, strategies and policies don’t seem to match new challenges. Despite government intervention in pricing and procurement of food grains, primarily wheat and paddy, India continues to suffer heavily on account of losses and wastages incurred during the post harvest stages, which are more manmade than natural. Some losses have already occurred before the arrival of food grains in the regulated and wholesale markets and continue till food grains reach their destination. What contribute to continuing losses and wastages are improper post harvest handling, government policies and their implementation, which even stifle growth and modernisation of grain markets and processors.

Introduction

Food grains have been the key component of the human diet for thousands of years and have played a vital role in framing human civilization. Rice, wheat, and maize, and to a lesser extent, coarse grains are major staples, crucial to the daily endurance of billions of people around the world. Cereal grains are consumed by more than 50% of world population to meet daily calorie requirements. Most grains undergo a milling process that ideally removes the outer bran (pericarp) and germ layers; catering to consumer market requirements. To a farmer, yield is the most prominent aspect. As the grain moves along the supply chain, and as the product reaches the market, quality becomes the key determinant of its sale-ability and economic value. Grain quality is defined by a range of physical and compositional properties where threshold necessities are set according to end consumer use requirements. Most industries and consumer markets have become habituated over the years to demand grain with specific attributes. Where consumers are close to the source of grain production (e.g. in local markets), their own preferences and the laws of supply and demand control the grain quality. However, where grain is traded over large distances, particularly internationally, consumers almost have no direct influence on quality, requiring regulatory standards to be established and imposed to protect consumer rights. Therefore in the grain supply chain, all points have effects with respect to grain quality.

Quality is an increasingly important factor in the production and marketing of biological products. Consumers are becoming more discerning as their affluence increases, and would be suppliers of products must meet these demands if they are to maintain or increase market share. The term ‘quality’ is one of the most defined terms in use in food industry today. Quality may be defined as ‘The totality of features and characteristics of a product that bear on its ability to satisfy a given need’. The first part, ‘The totality of features and characteristics of a product…..’ concerns objective factors related to the product.  The second part, ‘…… to satisfy a given need’, concerns subjective factors related to user or consumer of goods.

1. Introduction
Quality makes the product what it is. Quality is how well a product or service satisfies the needs of the customer. Quality can be interpreted in several ways, such as conformance to the standards, meeting customers’ preference/ satisfaction for desired quality attributes, degree of excellence, zero-defect products, etc.
The quality standard of fresh and processed fruit or vegetable products varies with their intended use. For marketing purposes, size, attractiveness, maturity, organoleptic quality and freedom from defects are to be kept in mind in fresh and processed fruit or vegetable products. During the processing of fruit or vegetables into value-added products, colour, flavour and texture also become important. Therefore, Quality is defined in different ways, such as:
i. Quality is a measure of the degree of excellence or degree of acceptability by the consumer.
ii. Quality is also defined as the combination of attributes or characteristics of the products that have significance in determining the degree of acceptability of the product to a user.

Food is a major determinant of health, nutritional status and productivity of the population. It is, therefore, essential that the food we consume is wholesome and safe. Unsafe food can lead to a large number of food-borne diseases. It is necessary that the food available is safe, hygienic, wholesome and its quality must be assured. Quality of foods can be defined as the ‘composite’ of those ‘characteristics’ that differentiate individuals units of a product and have significance in determining the degree of acceptability of that unit by the buyer. In general, the quality control is the maintenance of quality at levels and tolerance acceptable to the buyer, minimizing the cost for the vender. But, from the scientific angle the overall quality refer to technical, physical, chemical, microbiological, nutritional and sensory parameters to achieve the wholesome food. These quality factors depend on the specific attributes such as sensory properties, based on flavour, colour, aroma, taste, texture, quantitative properties viz. percentage of sugar, protein, fibre etc and hidden attributes like peroxide, free fatty acids, enzymes etc. Though quality attributes are many, not all need to be considered for a particular product. It is imported to determine how far relatively the factor is in relation to the total quality of the product.

Hence, the quality attributes of a particular is based on the composition of the product, expected deteriorate reaction, packaging used, shelf required and the type of the consumer i.e., deployed in terrain conditions or in peaceful situation. With the ultimate goal of protecting the consumer, quality standardization systems have come into force for regulating the gamut of operations in food manufacture. In a broader sense, food laws and Regulation cover the related acts affecting the marketing, production, labeling, food additives used, dietary supplements, enforcement of General Manufacturing Practice (GMP), Hazard analysis and critical Control Point (HACCP), federal laws and regulations, factory inspections and important-export inspections.

Introduction The onion (Allium cepa) is one of the world's oldest cultivated crops, with a history dating back over 5,000 years (Gorrepati et al., 2014). At present, India is one of the world's largest producers and exporters of onions. At the time, India ranked second in onion production with a yearly production of around 23262 TMT and an average yield of 18.10 MT/ha (Prajapati and Saini, 2019; Horticulture Statistics at a Glance, 2018; Tripathi and Lawande, 2016). Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Telangana are the major onion producing states in India. Maharashtra alone covers 55-60% of countries total production. Solapur, Satara, Dhule, Jalgoan, Osmanabad, Beed, Latur, Aurangabad are the major onion producing districts in Maharashtra (Tripathi et al., 2005). Unfortunately, India witnessed around 40-50% post-harvest losses of onions every year (Prajapati and Saini, 2019).

Abstract

Fertilizer inputs are increasing the cost of production in inputintensive crops, so nutrient efficientcultivar is need oftoday. More demands for food by increasing world populations further enhance the importance of nutrient efficient crop cultivars that are higher producers. Breedingtechniques havebeenimplemented significantlyto breed highnutrientefficient crop cultivars to achieve the targets. However, molecular mechanism of nutrient metabolism has been understood to some extent in many crops through quantitative genetic approaches. This minireview outlines an update on recent progress on the genetic approaches of QTL/candidate genes controlling nutrient metabolism pathways in the crop plants.

‘Prunes’ is prepared from peach.

Arrak” liquor is prepared from date palm.

Hayane” variety of date palm suitable for juice making.

Kanji” is made from black carrot.

Kirschwascer” a wine prepared from cherry.

Shahi” variety of Litchi suitable for canning.

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).

R - Enamel can: The acid resistant, gold coloured enamel treated can are called R enamel cans. It is used for canning of acidic food which have soluble colouring pigments.

R value: R value is a measure of resistance to the flow of heat through a given thickness of a material (insulation) with higher numbers indicating better insulating properties. R-Value is a measure of insulation’s ability to resist heat traveling through it. The higher the R-Value the better the thermal performance of the insulation.

Rabbitto and putridity: The surface taint of the milk caused by Pseudomonas putrefaciens is called rabbitto and putridity.

Racking: An important operation for the wine production in which wine is siphoned off and is transferred to a fresh vat with the help of a false bottom. Racking is repeated decanting to remove the slowly setting cloud of the freshly fermented young wine. It is also called clarification. It is synonym to siphoning.

1. Introduction

Food is processed for its preservation, hygienization or value addition. To date, the food preservation technologies such as canning, dehydration, freezing, pasteurization and controlled atmosphere and modified atmosphere packaging have been the main processes employed to preserve foods, with the use of antimicrobials and microwaves also being employed more recently. In future, however, technologies such as exposure to ionizing radiation, high pressure processing, ohmic heating and pulsed electric field processing, could potentially be the new alternatives to the above food preservation technologies.

Irradiation of food involves the exposing of food, either in prepacked form or as such to controlled doses of ionizing radiation being generated either by electrically driven machines such as electron beam accelerators, x-rays or gamma rays produced by radioactive isotopes such as CS-137,CO-60, to achieve certain desirable objectives. The process of exposing a range of food stuffs to specific doses of ionizing radiation is being used to extend the shelf life of food stuffs, to improve their overall safety and quality by eliminating pathogenic bacteria, by reducing number of food spoilage organisms, to reduce the bacterial load on herbs and spices and thereby making them safe to incorporate into food stuffs, to inhibit sprouting in stored tuber and bulb crops such as potatoes, onions and garlic, to disinfest grains, grain products and tropical fruits to prevent damage to the commodity and to meet the quarantine regulations(Arun Sharma, 2004, Farkas, 2006).

Need to Preserve Food

Food is vital for human existence. Conservation and preservation of food is a prerequisite for food security and it provides economic stability and self reliance to a nation. The need to preserve food has been felt by mankind since time immemorial. The seasonal nature of production, long distances between production and consumption centers and rising gap between demand and supply have made this need even more relevant today. The hot and humid climate of a country like India is quite favorable for the growth of numerous insects and microorganisms that destroy stored crops and cause spoilage of food every year. Spoilage can also occur due to chemical and physiological changes in stored foods. Sea-foods, meat and poultry may carry harmful microbes and parasitic organisms that cause illnesses associated with their consumption. As in other parts of the world, India has also practiced various methods of food preservation such as sun drying, pickling and fermentation which were supplemented with more energy consuming techniques such as refrigeration, freezing and canning. Each of these methods has its merits and limitations. Man has always been on the search for newer methods to preserve foods with least change in sensory qualities. Radiation processing of food is one of the latest methods developed for this purpose.

1. Introduction The chapter aims to bring out the potential benefits of radiation processing technology for value-addition of millets. How the radiation processing technology can be exploited for making millets as a popular staple food would be the central theme. The key focus is to establish if irradiation (the term generally used for radiation processing of any material) can be employed for making millets for different purposes relevant to farmers and consumers. In order to understand and prove, we would list out the challenges involved in developing the market for millets. The key points that need to be considered for this go-to-market strategy for millets are : a) Millet grains have a long shelf-life, much better than the popular grains e.g., rice and wheat, consumed worldwide, but millet flour shelf life is significantly much shorter.

1. Introduction

Foods are complex biologically and chemically active systems that require close monitoring of their manufacturing, distribution and storage conditions in order to maintain their nutritive value, safety and sensory qualities by suitable chemical. The determination of trace impurities in food system presents considerable difficulties owing to complexity as it contains thousands of major and minor compounds (Nilufer and Boyacio, 2002). The choice of the method of analysis depends on the sample, the analyte to be assayed, accuracy, limit of detection, cost and time to complete the analysis (Aboul- Eneim et al., 2000). The chemical methods employed for food analysis and quality control are generally time consuming and require tedious or destructive sample preparation. For development of the new detection method, emphasis should be on development of simplified, cost-effective and efficient procedures that complies with the legislative requirements (Stroka and Anklem, 2002; Enker, 2003).

The molecular spectroscopy is a fast, accurate, easy and non-destructive technique that can be used as a replacement of time-consuming methods. Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has proved to be a powerful analytical tool used in the agricultural, nutritional, petrochemical, textile and pharmaceutical industries (McGlone and others, 2002; Esteban-Diez and others, 2004). Infra red spectroscopy is based on the absorption of infra red light by the substance to be measured. This absorption excites molecular vibrations and rotations, which have frequencies that are the same as those in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum (Pande and Mishra, 2015). This application uses a fiber optic coupled FT-NIR system operating in the 10,000 – 4,000 cm^-1 region in reflectance mode. It involves the analysis and quantification of molecular responses to introduced signals of known energy or frequency. All molecules (e.g. water, glucose, protein) have a definite amount of energy. When alternate energy (e.g. infrared radiation) is introduced, an energy exchange occurs between the introduced energy and the energy contained within the molecule. This is expressed as absorbance (energy is absorbed resulting in a loss of introduced energy), attenuated (energy is scattered resulting in a loss of introduced energy) or emitted (energy is released resulting in a gain on the introduced energy). As individual molecules and molecular groups (e.g. alcohols, nucleic acids, proteins, sugars and fats) have definite energy, by applying external energy of a known amount/type, one can structurally identify, quantify and even determine the natural state of these molecules within complex samples and mixtures.

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

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.