eChapters

T A Spoilage : The spoilage of low and medium acid canned foods by Clostridium thermosacharolyticum which breaks sugars and form acid and gas (moisture of H₂ and CO₂) resulted in swelling and in severe cases even bursting of can may occur and the spoiled food usually has a sour odour.

Fº value: It is used to express F-value when z =10ºC / 18ºF and the temperature is 121.1ºC. It is the number of minutes at a specific temperature (250ºC) required to destroy or kill a stated number of microorganisms and has specific z-value. It is also called reference value. 

Abstract

Refractance Window (RW) drying is a relatively new drying technology. This method is carried out by spreading a thin film of food slurry on a conveyor belt made up of a transparent polyester material. The slurry is thermally heated as it moves along the conveyor belt, resulting in rapid drying of the product. RW drying is similar to Drum Drying, but conducted at lower temperatures (95–97^ºC) and without direct contact with the heat source. RW drying offers low operating costs with excellent retention of color, flavor and nutrients.

Abstract

Most dryers operate at low thermal efficiency. The development of models and control systems offers an opportunity to improve dryer operation and efficiency. Dryer control is very important and with deeper understanding of the drying concept, new “smart” dryers can be made more reliable and more cost-effective than classical dryers. This chapter will provide an overview of necessity of control and safety measure in food drying system, and terminology related with drying control system. Different control strategy includes conventional and advanced techniques implemented in drying operation are reviewed  here and simple outline of intelligence control system in drying technology are briefly described in succeeding section. Various hazards in drying process and risk and safety management will also be discussed.

Drying is the oldest known method of preserving food. Drying or dehydration is removal of majority of water contained in fruit or vegetable. Although preservation is the primary reason for dehydration, it also lowers cost of packaging, storing and transportation by reducing both weight and volume of final product. In addition, dried foods add variety to our diets. In the process of drying, sufficient moisture is removed to protect product  from  spoilage. Processing should be done in such a way that food value, natural flavour and characteristic cooking quality of fresh material are retained after drying.

Introduction

The term probiotic is derived from Greek and means ‘for life’ as opposed to antibiotics which means ‘against life’. The history of probiotics began with the consumption of fermented foods which was first observed in ancient Greeks and Romans [1]. The term, probiotic, as is used today was first used by Parker in 1974. Parker defined ‘probiotic’ as substances and organisms which contribute to intestinal microbial balance. In 1989, the term was modified further by Fuller. Thus, probiotic is a live microbial supplement which affects the host’s health positively by improving its intestinal microbial balance. This definition was broadened to include mono or mixed culture of live microorganisms which benefits animals or man by improving the properties of the indigenous microflora [2]. Some authors have interpreted probiotics as microbial cell preparations or components of microbial cells that have a beneficial effect on the health and well-being of the host.

Introduction
 
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the functional foods because they can provide physiological benefits additional to nutritional and energetic, as for instance, antihypertensive, antioxidant or anti-inflammatory [1]. A functional food can be defined as a food that produces a beneficial effect in one or more physiological functions, increases the welfare and/or decreases the risk of suffering a particular disease. Furthermore, new types of products, derived from food, called nutraceuticals have recently been developed. These products, usually employed as food supplements, are marketed as tablets and pills, and can provide important health benefits.

1. Introduction

The development of food products using composite flour has increased and is attracting much attention from researchers, especially in the production of bakery products and pastries. This article focuses on the use of composite flour to produce food products, namely bread, biscuits, and pasta, with looks at on its impact, following some improvements made, on the sensory quality, rheology characteristics, and nutritional values as well as its overall acceptance. The blending of wheat flour with various sources of tubers, legumes, cereals and fruit flour in different percentages to produce variety of food products are also reported. The positive effects of the use of composite flour can be seen in the final product related to the functional and physicochemical properties and health benefits of raw blended flour along with percentage blending. Overall, composite flour is a good new approach to utilizing uncommon food products as the application of composite flour produced products with different characteristics and quality, depending on the types and percentage of wheat flour used in the formulation.

Bread has been the staple food worldwide and habit of bread is derived in part due to the convenience and wholesomeness. Wheat is a commonly used cereal for making bread as it gives the desired texture due to the presence of gluten forming proteins like gliadins and glutenins (Decock & Cappelle, 2005). In earlier times idea of composite flour in developing countries originated in order to cut down on import of wheat (as it was not grown in many countries) but in recent past refined wheat flour consumption has lead to health issues and thus in order to improve nutritional and functional properties composite flour has been the norm. Composite flour is the one obtained by mixing wheat flour with cereal and legume flours for making bread and biscuits (Dendy, 1992). However, mixing of non-wheat flours, roots and tubers, legumes or other raw materials can also be regarded as composite flour.

1. Introduction

Now a days, foods are not intended to only satisfy hunger and to provide necessary nutrients but also to prevent nutrition-related diseases and improve physical and mental well-being of the consumers (Menrad, 2003). In this regard, functional foods play an important role. The concept of functional foods which has evolved as the role of food in the maintenance of health and well-being and in the prevention of disease, has received increased scientific and commercial interest is recent past. Growth of functional foods markets include increased consumer health awareness, increased popularity of healthy foods, search for food-based drug substitutes, self-medication approach promoted by busy lifestyles and rapidly developing health conscious markets. Functional foods can be defined as foods “that can beneficially affect one or more target functions in the body, beyond adequate nutritional effect, in a way relevant to an improved state of health and wellbeing and/or reduction of risk of disease” (Stanton et al., 2005).

1. Introduction

A confection is sweet tasting delicacies developed using sugar and other carbohydrates with optionally selected chocolate, nuts, fruits, vegetables or gums. Depending on the formulation, the confection may vary from sugar boiled hard lozenges to gum based soft gummy toffees, from chewing gums to mouth melting chocolates. The versatile and broad variation in the product created by differentiating flavours, ingredients and processing has greatly influenced the market demand of these products. Although confection is non-essential commodity but still relished by people of all economic strata and hence creating a great market space and scope of new products.

In confectionery research and development area, current popular sector is functional confections. The sector has been on the trends radar globally, accounting for 8% of the global confectionery market, and most accepted and successful in Japan.

Importance of Traditional Foods

Traditional convenience food, or tertiary processed food, is commercially prepared food designed for ease of consumption. Products designated as convenience foods are often prepared food stuffs that can be sold as hot, ready-to-eat dishes; as room-temperature, shelf-stable products; or as refrigerated or frozen products that require minimal preparation (typically just heating).

These products are often sold in portion controlled, single serve packaging designed for portability for “on-the-go” eating. Convenience food can include products such as candy; beverages such as soft drinks, juices and milk; fast food; nuts, fruits and vegetables in fresh or preserved states; processed meats and cheeses; and canned products such as soups and pasta dishes.

Traditional Foods

Preparation of Vadagam and Appalam

Vadagam is a traditional product mostly prepared from rice flour and also sago. It is an deep fat fried product and consumed as a side dish in the meals. Papad also known as appalam or papadam in South India, is essentially a thin wafer like product, usually circular in shape rolled from a dough made out of pulse, cereals, edible vegetable oil, alkaline and mucilaginous additives. It is normally consumed in toasted or fried form. In India, papad has been associated and deeply entwined with social customs/ rituals and has been developed into culinary art.

1    Biological Hazards
    1.1    Bacterial hazards
    
2.     Fungal Hazards
    
3.    Viral Hazards
    3.1     Hepatitis A virus
    3.2       Norwalk virus
    
4.    Parasitic Hazards
    4.1     Parasitic worms
    4.2    Protozoan parasites
    
5.    Aquatic Biotoxins
    5.1    Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP)
    5.2    Diarrheic shellfish poisoning (DSP)
    5.3    Amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP)
    5.4    Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP)
    5.5     Puffer fish (Tetrodotoxic) poisoning (PFP)
    
6.    Pathogen Survival Through Cooking
    
References

12.1    Shelf Life
    
12.2    Pre-Treatments Vs. Shelf Life/Storage (Hot Water, Fungicides, Coatings and other Chemicals)
    
12.3    Surface Coatings
    
12.4    1-MCP Gas Exposure
    
12.5    Use of Botanicals
    
12.6    Other Chemicals/Methods
    
12.7    Evaporative Cool Storage
    
12.8    Modified Atmosphere Storage (MAS)
    
12.9    Controlled Atmosphere Storage (CAS)
    
12.10    Vacuum Packaging
    
12.11    Hypobaric Storage
    
12.12    Irradiation
    
12.13    Chilling Injury (CI)

15.1    Banana Chips/Crisps
    
15.2    Banana Puree/Pulp
    
15.3    Banana Flour
    
15.4    Banana Powder
    
15.5    Banana Flakes
    
15.6    Banana Figs or Dehydrated Banana
    
15.7    Banana Jam
    
15.8    Ready-To-Serve (Rts) Beverage
    
15.9    Banana Beer and Wine
    
15.10    Banana Vinegar
    
15.11    Banana Catsup
    
15.12    Banana Inflorescence Relish
    
15.13    Candied Banana
    
15.14    Other Banana Based Products

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.

Abstract

Issues regarding intellectual property rights and their protection are heralded nowadays in the scientific arena both in developed and developing countries. IPR is being given greater attention and importance due to the projected idea that it is a dependable means through which greater skills and knowledge can be utilised to serve as a reliable resource for the upliftment of the economy as well as knowledge dissemination. In context of microorganisms, India does not allow patenting of microbes whichalready exists in nature assuch but genetically modified version of the same microorganism with enhanced and improved efficacy can be patented. The deposition of microorganisms in a culture collection recognized as an international depository authority (IDA) is necessary if intellectual property rights regarding these microbes are to be claimed. An action plan for developing countries towards creating IDAs and preserving the natural gene pool has been evolved. It is likely that IDAs will transform into ‘biological resource centres’ and further into‘global common genetic resources’, with an internationally agreed legal basis for benefit sharing. This chapter is an effort to highlight the genesis of patenting and legalities of patenting microorganism in India.

1.    The organic molecules which increase the rate of metabolic reactions are referred as

(a) Coenzymes

(b) Enzymes

(c) Reactants

(d) Apoenzymes

2.    Enzymes are

(a) Organic compounds produced by living organism

(b) Inorganic compounds

(c) Both (a) & (b)

(d) None of these

1.    The outer layer of cereals is called

(a) Pericarp

(b) Germ

(c) Seed coat

(d) Endosperm

2.    The grain or edible seed of a cereal is known botanically as a

(a) Testa

(b) Caryopsis

(c) Seed coat

(d) Endocarp

1.    HACCP was developed by

(a) Pillsbury and NASA

(b) FDA (Food and Drug Administration)

(c) USDA (United States Department of Agriculture)

(d) FSIS (Food Service Inspection Service)

2.    Which is not one of the hazards in HACCP?

(a) Biological

(b) Physical

(c) Bodily

(d) Chemical

3.    Which is not a physical hazard?

(a) Staples

(b) Fingernails

(c) Bandages

(d) Parasites

3.1 Introduction

The production of food grains in India is around 200 million tonnes and most of the grains are converted to primary products after primary processing such as threshing, dehulling, de-branning. Some of the grains are converted to secondary products such as flour or grits. The yields of primary and secondary products range between 65-80% indicating a wastage of 20-35%. These wastes lead to unclean surroundings and air pollution due to fine dust. Hence, proper waste management/utilization of food grain processing industries has become a societal need for a clean environment.

The term ‘waste’ has different meanings to different people. It can be retractions from the main process or less utilizable by-products or undesirable waste material depending on the commodity. All food-processing industries generate wastes and create problems for its management. The best way the food processing industry can treat its waste is to avoid producing it. Much of the waste now being produced or generated in some food processing plants can become a managed resource for producing economic credits. In fact, waste utilization is one of the world’s prominent industries and its activities cut across the normal divisions into which industries are placed. Similarly, there will be wastes from agriculture, animal and meat industries, textile, rubber etc. Even the local governmental activities that collect and dispose the household wastes become apparent in terms of the huge size of it.

Abstract

Upcoming era of functional foods has led food scientists and food processors to deeply understand the role of phytochemicals in promoting human health. Phytochemicals are the secondary metabolites produced by plants and are commonly found in our daily food. Natural food products seem to be good substitute for pharmaceutical supplements to improve health status of people. Therefore, consumer's interest is growing in the food items naturally containing phytochemicals, each having there own functional and health aspects. Most discussed phytochemicals in the present paper are carotenoids such as lycopene, beta-carotene, lutein and, polyphenols such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, anthocyanins and isoflavones. Major dietary source for carotenoids include orange and yellow fruits and vegetables as well as green leafy vegetables whereas polyphenols are found abundantly in green tea, wine, berries, cocoa, broccoli. Carotenoids can also be used as colorants in foods during processing. The role of polyphenols as an antioxidant is well characterized because of there ability to scavenge free radicals or bind pro-oxidant metal ions by means of their hydroxyl group. Carotenoids also play an important role in protection against photooxidative processes by acting as singlet molecular oxygen as well as peroxyl radical scavengers, thus acting as potent antioxidant. Apart from antioxidative properties multitude of health benefits are associated with carotenoids and polyphenols such as reduced risk of age-related macular degeneration, certain cancers such as prostate, lung and colon, prevention of cardiovascular disease and enhancing immunity towards infection. Hence, continuous developments are being made to combine phytochemicals to avoid improper combinations that may nullify the effect of supplements and cause lower absorbance.

Microbiology is a branch of science dealing with the study of organisms which are too small to be seen clearly by unaided eye. Roughly the organisms with a diameter of 0.1mm or less, which can not be seen by the human eyes unaided, come under the domain of microorganisms.

Thus, the laboratory work dealing with the microorganisms needs special care to avoid infection and infusion for maintaining good health. In fact all microorganisms should be treated as potential pathogens. Thus, for working with microorganisms aseptic techniques must be followed by students as well as by the laboratory assistants and teachers.

Abstract

Drying is a widely used method of food preservation. It leads to some structural changes in the dried material resulting in poor quality and rehydration. Freeze drying, though a costly process, reduces water activity without exposing the food material to high temperatures, eventually retains the original quality to a great deal. Moisture in the foods is frozen to ice which is sublimated under low pressure. Low pressure helps to vaporise the ice without transforming it to liquid, hence leaving the food structure porous in nature. The food is claimed to preserve the nutritional, sensory and re-constitutional qualities.

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Most food materials are composed of a very high percentage of water, which can be as high as 95%, and this makes them susceptible to microbial activity. Microbial activity spoils the products, leaving them useless for human consumption. It not only changes their taste and color but it may also develop toxins, thus making them unsafe. There are various methods for preserving food but in order to make them shelf stable, removing water from foods helps keep them from spoiling for a longer period of time.

Abstract

Drying is one of the most important industrial operations for preservation of food material. Due to the major limitations posed by convective drying methods, there is always a need for novel drying techniques which are technically, economically and environmentally sustainable. Based on the principle of moisture diffusion due to vapor pressure gradient, atmospheric freeze drying (AFD) offers a promising alternative to conventional drying systems. A cold gas with low water vapor pressure is used as drying medium to sublimate moisture directly from the frozen material at atmospheric pressure conditions. As a result the product gets dried at much lower temperature unlike convective drying. Thus, products dried with AFD retain better nutrition, texture and color and the process is also considerably cost effective. Major limitation of the AFD process is longer drying time, which can however be accelerated by using heat pump drying or new ultrasound technology. This chapter focuses on mechanism, benefits, limitations and comparative study of AFD with other drying methods such as hot air drying and vacuum freeze drying. It provides an insight regarding effect of AFD on properties of food material based on various studies reported in literature.

Abstract

Increasing global demand for ‘fresh-like’ processed food products has forced food industries to investigate into various minimal processing techniques. Food processing in general has been associated with thermal processing, alone or in various combination with chemical and mechanical preservation and processing methods. However, thermal processing methods are energy intensive in nature and tend to reduce product quality and freshness at the cost of shelf-life gain. Advance technique such as microwave, radio-frequency and freeze drying do maintain the product quality but their implementation at industrial scale involves high operational and maintenance cost. An ideal processing method therefore would be one that can process food products without losing its quality, is energy efficient and is easily scalable. In this chapter, we discuss about ‘Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) Drying’, which is can be classified as a minimal processing technique. The heat and mass transfer principles involved in EHD drying have been extensively discussed and so has been the key consideration for designing an EHD drying system.

Abstract

Probiosis has emerged in the early 20^th century after Ellie Metchnikoff proposed his hypothesis that organisms were reponsible for longivity of ethnic people of Balkan region of Russia and ever since it has grow into a major scientific field which has its applications extending into farming, aquaculture and prophylactics in humans. Vast research was carried out on this topic and Lactobacillus sp. and Bifidobacterium sp, are the two important genus that are highly studied and widely recognized universally as conventional probiotics. Apart from these two genus there exists many other bacterial species which have shown promising probiotic potential. Such non conventional probiotics are widely used in some parts of world as commercial food products with health beneficial effects, pharmaceutical products or being tested for their safe utilization in human beings. The present chapter tries to covers some genera and their potential and application in prophylactics.

Introduction

Packaging helps to maintain the benefits of food processing and enables safe transportation of foods from their point of origin to point of consumption without compromising the wholesomeness of processed food in terms of its physico chemical and microbiological quality. However, packaging technology must balance protection effects with environmental issues, material and energy costs and should comply regulations on municipal solid waste disposal and release of pollutants. These regulations are different in jurisdictions around the world.

Safety implications of food packaging raise concern in recent times due to advances in technology leading to variety of packaging materials and additives. Also there is an alarming situation of damages to environment and natural resources of the planet, due to indiscriminate use and disposal of packaging materials.

However, food packaging as a means to protect and preserve food integrity, to enhance its shelf life and improve consumer appeal cannot be overlooked.The applications of food packaging and its primary role to protect and preserve food has remained the central focus of packaging innovations.Packaging materials are available in variety of forms and are made up of variety of ingredients.While paper. While paper, plastic, petroleum based materials have been in use for many years, the recent approach is towards environment friendly options from agricultural produce such as plant fibres sugars and starches. Advances in packaging has led to development of newer materials and combinations with specific economic and functional benefits.Food packaging ,in general , provides the ability to withstand thermal processing and acts as a barrier against light, moisture,oxygen and other sources of contamination.

Introduction

For human beings, the three most important necessities for their survival are food, clothing and shelter. among all of these food is the top most priority. Food safety and Standards defines food into 8 categories (Nutraceutical, Heath Supplements/Dietary Supplements, Food for special medical Purpose, food for Special Dietary Use, Novel Food, and Functional food) in regulation, 2016. A growing trend of health products, concept of food as medicine, associated public interest and consumers demand leads to a progressive research interest in functional foods and nutraceuticals development. Abnormal lifestyle, food habits (consumption of junk food) and low physical activity creates an exponential growth in a number of chronic diseases; obesity, cardio-vascular syndromes, osteoporosis, arthritis and cancer (Das et al., 2012) among the developing and developed countries. While nutraceuticals and functional foods are becoming an alternative affordable system to reduce the risk of disease through prevention in spite of high tech therapies and costly medicines.

The current survey showed that worldwide revenue of functional foods is projected to increase from about 300 billion U.S. dollars in 2017 to over 440 billion dollars in 2022. Also according to the International Food Information Council (IFIC), health benefits achieved from functional food components may provide benefits far beyond than basic nutrition. Products like dietary supplements containing vitamins, functional foods such as sports drinks or products fortified with probiotic play a major role in the market rise (www.statista.com).Indian and Chinese traditional foods, recipes, spices and diversified ingredient market is well known around the world from centuries. Hence, a double-digit growth rate is also experienced in Asian nutraceutical and functional food market. Another reason for the growing trend in consuming functional foods is education and proper health awareness. Furthermore, people are more concern about the optimization of health-promoting capabilities in their diet using dietary supplement and fortified foods. While, food product based industries are marketing health supplements using scientific facts and the relationship between diet and health. Government, non-government organizations (NGOs) and web-based online information also play a key role in promoting and trending food based health products.

Introduction

Military personnel’s are deployed for operation in adverse climatic conditions like desert, cold (arctic) and high altitude regions. Stressful and challenging living conditions have affected the outcome of many battles, campaigns and wars. Acclimatization to the environmental condition is a very essential stage of deployment. The time for acclimatization is restricted/limited for the effective operation towards the purpose of deployment. The performance of the military personnel in various deployed regions depends on the nutrition provided by the food consumed. The operational rations are designed to provide the essential nutrition to enhance their performance during training and/or operational situations.

Nutrition requirement of military personnel is different from that of the civilians. The nutrition requirement also varies with the kind (sedentary or continuous work) and region (plain, desert or high altitude) of deployment. The environmental stress caused by extreme heat, cold, etc. also influences the nutrient requirement/ intake. The insufficient dietary nutrient intake affects the immune function, pace of recovery from illness and injury and also the physical performance (Tharion et al., 2005).

The operational ration is also designed in such a way that it provides to the military personnel the required nutrition from the build in nutrition reserves during certain operational situations. Considering the vital criteria for nutritional requirement, the menu for the military personnel is designed. The chapter discusses the past, present and future of the army operational ration (AOR) in various countries of the world and the influence of advances in food processing methods in AOR menu.

Much of the post-harvest losses of fruits and vegetables in developing countries is due to the lack of proper storage facilities. While refrigerated cool stores are the best method of preserving fruits and vegetables they are expensive to buy and run. Consequently, in developing countries there is an interest in simple low-cost alternatives, many of which depend on evaporative cooling which is simple and does not require any external power supply. India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world after Brazil and China respectively. Storage of fresh horticultural produce after harvest is one of the most pressing problems of a tropical country like India. India’s total fruits and vegetables production is lost during harvest, storage, grading, transport, packaging and distribution in a year which reduces the growers share. Due to their highly perishable nature, about 20-40% of total fruit and vegetable production go waste during various steps of the post-harvest chain, smooth transport and insufficient cool storage space/ facility at farmer’s level and high cost of refrigerated storage so further enhances loss of fruits and vegetables. Temperature and humidity play major role in storage of fruits and vegetables Temperature can be controlled by using energy consuming methods such as air-cooling, hydro-cooling, vacuum-cooling, chilling, ice cooling, freezing, etc.

Introduction

Since the last century, nutritional science has made a remarkable contribution to the biological sciences through identification of diverse nutrients and their sources, functions, requirement, deficiency symptoms and their remedial measures etc. The advent of high-throughput sequencing technologies together with bioinformatic tools identified the presence of 100 trillion of microorganism belonging to all forms of life in the gastrointestinal tract. In fact, the whole gut microbial consortia are considered as a virtual organ in human and animals and is responsible for the development and functioning of series of essential physiological activities including digestion, absorption, metabolism, immunity, homeostasis, brain and gut development, resistance against disease etc. According to the modern scientific dogma, the human being is in fact a “Superorganism”, carrying consortium of numerous symbiotic Eukarya, Bacteria, Archaea and Viruses. The gut microflora has been co-evolved with human and presumed to maintain an intricate balance among different microbial communities. Upon introspection about the functionality of the gut microflora, it is amply clear that a few of these microorganisms have the ability to make healthy state; while other members are responsible for health-related problems including food poisoning, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, indigestion, inflammatory bowel disease, predisposition to colon cancer, compromising immunity, allergy etc.

ABSTRACT

Malting is the process accompanied by restricted sprouting of cereals in humid atmosphere along with controlled set of conditions. It is a process of soaking, germination and drying that causes changes to the microstructure of grains. Malting causes changes in functional and nutritive value of grains. Malting results in increase in protein content, mineral availability, in vitro protein digestibility, oil absorption capacity, water absorption capacity, water solubility index and fall in level of antinutritional factors, viscosity and bulk density. The malting conditions are significantly affected by varietal difference, maturity of grains and structural composition. Therefore, optimum malting conditions should be determined for grains in order to avail the health and nutrition benefits.

Sugar also acts as preservative at high concentration 70% or more in food products (fruit and vegetable products). High concentration of sugar in food materials create unfavourable conditions for microbial survival and prevent spoilage. Based on this principle of preservation, sugar based products are prepared from fruits and vegetables so that they can be preserved for long time. This method of preservation with high sugar concentration is principally based on the reduction in moisture content to arrest or stop microbial spoilage. Preparation of sugar based products is one of the most important aspects of home scale as well as industrial level processing of fruits and vegetables. Sugar based value added products include.

1. INTRODUCTION

Food fermentation is the oldest method of food preservation and have originated several million years ago. It plays an important role in ensuring the food security of millions of people around the world particularly marginalized and vulnerable groups. It is relatively efficient, low energy consuming process which needs no refrigeration or other energy intensive food preservation technologies but increases the shelf-life of foods. Fermentation ensures not only increased shelf-life and microbiological safety of food but may also make some foods more digestible and lower or eliminate the toxicity of substrate like cassava.

The food fermentation technology utilizes the ability of growth of microorganisms on various substrates for the production of a variety of fermented foods, beverages and pickles like bread, beer, cheese, idli, tempeh, miso, sauerkraut, fermented sausages, etc. Fermented foods are popular throughout the world since antiquity and in some regions these are the major component of the diet of millions of individuals. Indigenous fermented foods such as bread, cheese and wine have been prepared and consumed since ages and have occupied important place in culture, religion and tradition of people all over the world.

1. INTRODUCTION

Wild fruits are highly nutritious and contain vitamins, carbohydrates, protein and minerals in higher quantity than majority of other common cultivated fruits. They are also a rich source of several bioactive substances, compared to the cultivated fruits. In India,these wild fruit trees grow abundantly across an altitudinal gradient of Himalaya and the majority of them bear fruits during summer. Fruit varieties are consumed by the local inhabitants of the region. At the same time, there are numerous under exploited species of wild fruits having high potential for exploitation viz., Bael (Aegle marmelos CL.), Berberis asiatica DC, Seabuckthorn (Hippophae sp.,) Rubus sp., Prunus armeniaca L., Karonda (Carissa carandas L.) Bitter Almond (Prunus amygdalus Batsch Smith), Feijoa sp. Among the wild fruits, Hippophae sp.was found to be economically efficient, followed by Aegle marmelos, Rubus ellipticus Smith, respectively. Wild apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.), a semi-domesticated and less utilized fruit of the higher Himalaya, provides better economic returns on an annual basis. Attempts have been made to utilize these wild fruits as a source of income, particularly for poor rural inhabitants and unemployed youths of the region by making a variety of edible products such as jam, jelly, juice, squash, sauce, wine etc. Here in this article, production of wine, vermouth and brandy from wild fruits would be focused. But before discussing preparation of wine and brandy in detail, we shall be describing the general process of wine and brandy making first, then the products from the specific wild fruits.

Abstract

The natural color of foods is due primarily to carotenoids, anthocyanins, betanin and chlorophylls, either as inherent food constituents or as food or feed additives. These compounds have drawn considerable attention in recent years, not because of their coloring properties, but due to their potential health-promoting effects. Their occurrence and levels in foods, along with the factors that influence the composition, have been widely investigated. Processing effects have been actively studied. In spite of the intense search for plant and microbial sources and efforts to increase yield, few natural food color additives have reached the market. Developing new colors for the food industry is challenging, as colorants need to be compatible with a food flavors, safety, and nutritional value, and which ultimately have a minimal impact on the price of the product. In addition, food colorants should preferably be natural rather than synthetic compounds. Micro-organisms already produce industrially useful natural colorants such as carotenoids and anthocyanins. Microbial food colorants can be produced at scale at relatively low costs. This chapter highlights the significance of color in the food industry, why there is a need to shift to natural food colors compared to synthetic ones and how using microbial pigments as food colorants, instead of colors from other natural sources, is a preferable option.

Safe Food means

• It is not injurious to health
• It does not contain any filthy, rotten, decomposed or diseased animal
• substance or vegetable substance
• It is produced undermost hygienic conditions to produce/manufacture it, inferior or cheaper ingredients/raw materials are not used
• Food additives/processing aids used are permitted and are within prescribed limits.
• It is not misbranded

8.1. Introduction

Food packaging’s essential functions is to protect the food from hazardous compounds, and contaminant. In order to improve the shelf life of food commodity, smart packaging like active and intelligent packaging has been developed which can monitor freshness, display information of quality, and improve food safety. More precisely, smart packaging was defined by Smart Packaging Journal as “the use of features of high added value that enhance the functionality of a product, notably mechanical, electronic and chemical features that improve safety and efficiency”. The major concerns with traditional packaging are not only shelf life of packaged food, but also the inability of packaging material to convey the important information about quality changes to both customer and manufacturer. 

Introduction Papaya fruit is listed under the family Caricaceae. This family has total four genera all over the world. There are about four species found in India under the Carica L. genus. Carica papaya L. is one of the species among them and it is most widely cultivated and very well-known species in India (Kumar and Devi, 2017). It has a thin, little shiny, and green-colored peel which turns into orange colored after ripening. The size of the fruit varies from 5.5 to 5.9 cm in terms of diameter. Papaya has several industrial applications in food processing, pharmaceutical as well as cosmetic industries. According to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2013), India, Indonesia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Nigeria, and Mexico are the countries that produce the largest number of papayas in the world, India being the largest producer (4457.1 tonnes) followed by Brazil (1859.3 tonnes) in the year 2011.

Introduction Consumer demands for convenience and mildly processed meals with long shelf lives have led to unique and current developments in food packaging solutions (Dobrucka and Cierpiszewski, 2014). Additionally, the development of unique and creative packaging solutions that do not compromise food safety or quality is being fueled by the current retail trend and changing lifestyles (Dainelli et al., 2008). The widespread use of packaged meals has raised consumer demand for prepared foods like microwaveable dinners, and the growing popularity of smaller food packages all help to fuel the food industry's explosive growth in creative packaging (Restuccia et al., 2010). The rise in food-borne microbial outbreaks, which calls for the usage of packaging that possesses antimicrobial qualities while retaining food quality, is another major driver of new food packaging (Appendini and Hotchtkiss, 2002). The initial advancements in packaging were electrically powered packing equipment, flexible packaging, metallic cans, aseptic packaging, aluminium foils, and flexographic printing. A considerable movement away from metal, paperboard, and glass packaging in favour of plastic and flexible packaging was also brought about by the discovery of various materials such as polyester, polypropylene, and ethylene vinyl alcohol polymers.

Introduction

Irrigated agriculture plays a predominant role in the state’s food grain production. Erratic trend of rainfall, it has been realized that the availability of water will become very less in forthcoming days as a result cultivation of crops will face water crisis. Development of new water resources needs excessive money investment with high level of expertise and technical knowhow. The ground water is also falling down to greater and greater depth due to overdraft causing for the restriction of the construction of tube wells. Further the efficiency of traditional irrigation system in India is now varying from 30% to 40% against 62 to 65% during the project plan periodbecause of wastage of this valuable water resource due to mismanagement. To meet the increasing demand for additional food grain production, the demand for water in the irrigation sector will increase substantially. In such a situation conservation of water and its proper management is necessary for developing a sustainable agricultural system avoiding the degradation of the land quality, water and other natural resources in an irrigated area.

Introduction

In the ancient era, adulteration was practiced as economical fraud like the addition of water to milk and stone to grains and pulses but nowadays it has become a global concern due to adverse health effects of adulterants on a human being. Words like substitution and admixture can help define adulteration. In general, adulteration is defined as either removal of valuable constituents from food or intentionally/ unintentionally addition of substandard quality material to degrade food quality. Food adulteration not only negatively affects the quality of food products but also results in numerous adverse health effects along with significant economic problems (Cheng et al., 2015).

Introduction

The act of substituting food or drink with low grade quality ingredients thereby the f inal product will fail to the meet the regulation or standards and in most cases even unfit for human consumption (Augustin et al., 2009). With demand for profit based manufacturing market, there will be increase in points of adulteration with cheaper alternatives or inferior grade ingredients in the production of food or drink (Banti, 2020)]. Adulteration is highly prevails in developing countries such as India, where about 70% of milk supply is adulterated on day to day basis (Bittar et al., 2017). It is every nation and each individual’s responsibility to provide safe and nutritious food to the consumers.

Introduction

Spices are botanical products of tropical and subtropical plants, mainly fruits, seeds, f lowers, roots, stems, leaves, bark, or whole plant (Golob & Nations, 1999). The dominant spices of trade including cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and pepper (A. Osman et al., 2019)including aroma, flavor, and color, to foods and beverages in an effort to enhance their palatability. Herbs and spices exhibit a plethora of medicinal properties including antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Spices serve as natural preservatives to delay food spoilage and extend shelf life.

Introduction

Food fraud is not new it can be traced back to ancient Rome and Athens, where regulations prohibiting the adulteration of beverages with flavours and colours were in place. It exists since the food trade has been started. Food fraud affects all food supply chains, thus the entire food sector. Due to globalisation and the increasing complexity of supply lines, food supply chains are becoming more vulnerable to food fraud (Robson et al., 2021a). A fraud is “any act or omission relating to the use or presentation of false, incorrect, or incomplete statements or documents, or non disclosure of information in violation of a specific obligation, and any other illegal activity affecting the financial interests” (EU No. 2017/1371).

Introduction

The food processing industry ranks fifth in size in the country and employs 16 lakh workers which is 19% of the country’s industrial labour. It accounts for 14% of the total industrial output with 18% of industrial GDP and 6.3% of countries GDP. So, food processing plays a vital role in India’s prosperity. The Food Processing Industry sector in India is one of the largest sector in terms of production, consumption, export and growth prospects. Food processing industry broadly comprises primary processing category and the other categories embracing the secondary, tertiary and further stages of downstream processing. Primary food processing is a major industry with lakhs of rice-mills/ hullers, flour mills, pulse mills and oil-seed mills. There are several thousands of bakeries, traditional food units and fruit/vegetable/spice processing units in the unorganized sector. In the organized sector, there are over 820 flour mills, 418 fish processing units, 6600 fruit/vegetable processing units and 171 meat processing units. Indian processing industries has installed capacity of 21 lakh tones; however these industries actually processed 9.8 lakh tones of the produce. So the total capacity utilization of industries is <30%. There are 70% units in home/cottage/ small scale sector and 30% units in large scale sector with capacity of 250 tonnes per annum and 30 tonnes/hr, respectively. Large scale contributes 70% of the production. The principal crops and commodities which constitute the primary base for the food processing industry and considered important sub-sectors in food processing industries are illustrated in Fig. 1.

Introduction

The health and wellness of human being is largely dictated by the consumption of nutritious foods. Understanding the role of foods in maintaining health and cure of diseases has its roots in the ancient Hippocratic and Vedic texts as well as in the canons of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Sharma et al., 2012). Presently, the transition from a traditional to modern lifestyle, consumption of diets rich in fat and calories combined with a high level of mental stress has been the major cause of lifestyle related diseases like coronary heart disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer and hypertension (Moczara et al., 2012; Sharma et al., 2018). Various studies have linked foods as helpful in combating a number of such degenerative diseases (Sharma, 2015).Therefore, the tenet "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food", quoted by Hippocrates about 2,500 years ago is receiving overwhelming interest. There are number of scientific reports emphasizing the importance of consuming biologically active ingredients present in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes to reduce the risk of chronic diseases (Hasler 2002; Das et al., 2011; Sharma and Sharma 2016). Such biologically active ingredients are now popularly known as neutraceuticals. Whereas, the functional foods are the foods that resemble traditional foods but possess demonstrated physiological benefits. In some countries, however, functional foods and nutraceuticals are used interchangeably. Regardless, the main focus of such products is to improve health and reduce disease risk through prevention. The main difference of this category with pharmaceuticals is that they are multi-targeted mixtures and present at low concentration while pharmaceuticals are uni-targeted pure compounds with high dose use. Hence, an overview on the concept of nutraceutical and functional foods, their classification, development and regulations is summarized in this article.

3.1. General Introduction

Value addition refers to the conversion of a raw commodity or commodities into a processed product through the use of raw materials, labour, time and technology, all mixed in a way that ensures increased economic return. Even if the amount of processing in a product is much less, for example, any canned fruit can be considered as a processed product. Value added processing of horticultural food crops, mainly involves actions which changes fresh fruits and vegetables to create a greater value-added product for human consumption, which mostly includes canned products, juices, soups, sauces and dehydrated fruits and vegetables (Sharan, 2018). It results in diversification of agricultural activities, improves value addition opportunities and creates surplus for export of processed agro products. Processing often goes with perishable products like meat, milk, poultry, fruits and vegetables, often termed as High Value Products (HVPs), are in greater demand of processing (Sanal & Krishna, 2017). The demands for processed products are particularly strong in developing countries like China and India; mainly due to increasing industrialization and rapid urbanization, followed by elevated income levels, greater diversity in diets, and affinity towards premium-branded products (Sharan, 2018).

A. Construction, Use and Care of Light Microscope
Introduction
Microorganism are invisible to naked eyes, hence their detailed study requires a microscope. A microscope can be defined as an optical instrument consisting of a lens or a combination of lenses for getting enlarged or magnified images of minute objects. A simple microscope is essentially an ordinary magnifying lens held on an adjustable stand. Usually it gives magnification up to 20 times the size of the object. A compound microscope consists of two separate lens system – the objective and the eye piece. It gives much greater magnification (100-1500 times) than a simple microscope and is, therefore useful for viewing and examining very minute objects like protozoa, bacteria, yeast, mold and algae which cannot be seen with naked eyes.
The objective of this exercise is to familiarize the students with construction and the use of compound light microscope.
1. Construction of Microscope
A microscope contrite various parts in which principle parts are described below:
i) Frame work: All microscopes have a basic frame structure which includes the arm and base. All other parts are attached to this framework and the base support the microscope.
ii) Stage: It is a horizontal platform that supports the microscopic slide. It has a mechanical stage, which is used for holding and moving the slide around on the stage.