eChapters

Principle: Addition of calcium chloride results in the precipitation of pectin as calcium pectate from an acid solution. Calcium pectate is washed with water to make free from chloride and is dried and weighed.

26.1. Aim

To determine the pH of food samples.

26.2. Theory

The hydrogen-ion concentration of a food is a controlling factor in many chemicals and microbiological reactions. Pure water has equal concentration of H+ and OH- ions, each having the value of 1×107g/litre at room temperature that is why water is regarded as neutral. The pH of pure water is 7.0, the solution having pH below 7.0 is regarded as acidic while solution with pH above 7.0 is alkaline. Most fruits and fruit products have pH below 4.0 while vegetable; milk and meat products have pH more than 4.0. The pH value of some fruits and fruit products is given in Table 6.1. Thus, with the increase in acidity in the solution, the pH value decrease and vice versa. However, presence of buffer salts helps in maintenance of pH. Estimation of pH of the food is important as the processing conditions for different food products are categorized on the basis of their pH.

Procedure: Standardize the pH meter with a buffer solution of pH. Take the sample solution in a 100 ml beaker. Put the electrodes in the solution and read on pH meter. After each observation, wipe the electrodes with a piece of cotton soaked in distilled water and rinse the electrodes with water with the help of a wash bottle and dry with filter paper.

Principle: The copper in the Fehling solution is reduced to red, insoluble cuprous oxide in the presence of invert sugars like glucose and fructose. The quantity of sugars solution liquids for complete neutralization of a known quantity of Fehling mixture is determined by titration using methylene blue as the indicator.

(Lane and Eynon Method)

Principle: A weighed sample is dried in an oven at 60-70⁰C up to a period of time when weighing made at 2 hour intervals do not differ by more than 2-3 mg.

23.1. Aim

To determine the total soluble solids in fresh and processed fruit and vegetable products.

23.2. Theory and principle

Total soluble solids (TSS) are determined by means of brix which measures the specific gravity or by using hand refractometer which measures refractive index. Brix is a measure of soluble solids only in case of pure sucrose solutions. Generally, the fruit juices contain more sugar than any other soluble constituent. Hence, brix provides a useful guide of soluble solids or sugar contents. Brix hydrometer is used to determine the percentage of brix in syrup while Abbe refractometer gives refractive index as well as degree brix. The Refractive index of the test solution is measured at 20°C using a refractometer and the soluble solid content is determined by the use of tables correlating refractive index with soluble solids. Generally, hand refractometer is used for determining TSS in food samples in fruit processing units (Table 3.1).

Purpose: The estimation of total soluble constituents gives the approximate amount of water soluble substance present in the sample. Among the various soluble substances the amount of sugar is 80-85 percent. The TSS value is roughly considered to be the amount of sugar and soluble minerals present in fruits and vegetables. The total soluble solid content can be determined by hand refrectometer.

Material and equipments: Hand refrectometer, juice, muslin cloth or tissue paper and glass rod.

1. Introduction

Jackfruit is a fruit crop that is under appreciated and neglected. The jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) is a member of the Moraceae family. India is the world’s greatest cultivator and producer of jackfruit, also known as the poor man’s fruit because it grows more in rural than metropolitan areas. It is a pretty huge tree that bears the world’s largest edible fruit. The jackfruit is a tropical fruit native to Southeast Asia. It is thought to have originated in India’s rainforests, in the Western Ghats, and is now widely farmed throughout the region’s lowlands. The leading jackfruit producers in the world include Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka. Jackfruit can be found in East Africa, Brazil, and Caribbean nations such as Jamaica. Bangladesh’s national fruits are the jackfruit, mango, and banana.

ABSTRACT

Owing to paucity of available genetic / molecular markers, onion breeding still relies heavily on phenotypic selection methods. DNA markers can provide plant breeders genetic information for indirect selection of plants. All the DNA based procedures require high quality plant genomic DNA. Abundance of polysaccharides and phenolics present in plant tissue often impede PCR amplification. The polysaccharide contaminants can also produce downstream problems by inhibiting many of the enzymes that are employed in subsequent analysis and cloning. RFLP based markers in Allium species pose certain problems due to relatively large size of the genome compared to most other herbaceous crops. As an alternative, RAPD would prove advantageous in genetic analysis of Allium. Here we present our results on optimization of DNA extraction in onion to get amplifiable quality of DNA for further RAPD analysis. Leaf samples were collected from the onion germplasm maintained at Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bangalore. Dried leaf protocol was suitably modified to obtain fair quality of DNA. After varying each of the ingredients of the extraction buffer we arrived at the optimal extraction buffer, which resulted in good quality DNA. Quality was analyzed by subjecting the DNA to agarose gel electrophoresis and restriction digestion. Extracted genomic DNA was quantified with ‘Hoefer’s Dynaquant’ (Pharmacia, USA). The DNA quantity ranged between 160-2400mg/gm of dried powder. The standardized 25ml PCR mixture contained template DNA (25ng), 5 pmol of primer (Operon Tech. Inc., Alameda), 2mM MgCl₂, I unit of Taq polymerase (Bangalore Genei), with 10x buffer along with 200 mM each of dNTPs. Amplifications were performed in thermal cycler (MJ Research, PTC 100) for 45 cycles after an initial denaturation of 95°C for 3 minutes. In each cycle denaturation for one minute at 95°C, annealing for one minute at 35°C and extension for two minute at 72°C was programmed with final extension step at 72°C for 5 minutes. This fine tuned protocol resulted in clear, informative RAPD profile.

Development of fungicide resistance in a fungal disease pathogen is a major concern for some of the important diseases in their management. This can be overcome by designing of fungicide use strategies to manage the threat of fungicide resistance.

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most important vegetable crops cultivated in the world. It is used as raw in salads and also used as cooked vegetable in the preparation of curries. Processed items such as tomato puree, ketchup, pickle, chutney, whole peeled tomatoes and tomato powder are also consumed considerably. It is a rich source of Vitamins A & C. Lycopene and other flavonoids in tomato serve as good source of antioxidants. Tomato occupies 5 million hectares with a productivity of 34t/ha. in the world. In India it is cultivated in an area of 0.88 million hectares with productivity of 21 t/ha.

ABSTRACT

Cassava has developed importance mainly as an industrial crop due to its ability to store large quantities of starch (74% to 85% of dry weight) within secondary root structures. Cassava starch is exploited as a source of human food, feed for livestock and as raw material for the food processing and chemical industries. Research accomplishments during the last four decades helped India to have the top position among cassava growing countries with an average yield of 24 t ha-1. However several traits like starch quality, high protein , post harvest deterioration etc can be altered only through the development of transgenics. The present study summarizes the results of the experiments undertaken to optimize the protocol for the development of transgenic cassava through Agrobacterium mediated gene transfer. Friable Embryogenic Callus (FEC) was developed in the cassava var. TMS 60444 us ing Murashige and Skoog (MS) media with picloram (50μM). Experiments were conducted to study the efficiency of different Agrobacterium stains viz, AGL 8, GV3101, C58C1, LBA 4404 and EH105 in transforming FEC. The strains differed in their growth rate. The strains EH105 and AGL were slower in growth as compared to other strains and the protocol was modified accordingly. Among all the strains, EH105 resulted in maximum recovery of transgenic tissues. The paper also summarizes the present status of development of transgenic cassava along with future thrusts.

Morphological characteristics

Abroma is a shrub or small tree that grows to a height of around 3-5 metres. The plant has horizontal and velvety branches that are 10-30 cm long, 6-18 cm wide, oblong or lanceolate, more or less cordate, delicately acuminate, membranous, whole, and three to five lobed with a petiole that is 1-12 cm long. The dorsal surface of the leaves is glabrous, while the ventral surface is hairy.

Floral characteristics

The plant has beautiful and intricate scarlet like flowers (5 cm in diameter) bearing purple colour. The inflorescence is a cyme. The sepals are persistent and lanceolate, measuring about 2.5 cm long. The petals are imbricate and will shortly fall off. Stamens are situated on a short staminal tube, and there are five staminodes. Each cell in the ovary is five lobed and pyramidal, with numerous ovules. The apex, the capsules are obpyramidal, membranous, finely pubescent, and truncate at the apex. Behind each carpel is a triangular wing. December and January are the fowering and fruiting months.

ABSTRACT

Diabetes is a chronic endocrinologic disorder characterized by high blood levels of glucose due to insufficient secretion of insulin by the pancreas or improper utilization of insulin by target cells. More than 120 million people from all over the globe are estimated to suffer from this malady. Many plants and their constituents have become chief ingredients of a number of pharmaceutical preparations used against diabetes. An intensive survey undertaken for over 4 years in the tribal belts of Orissa to identify the plants used in folk medicine and the methodologies employed by the herbal healers have revealed that 35 species are being employed to cure diabetes. Out of 313 patients (185 males and 128 females) interviewed, 211 (67.5%) use Gymnema sylvestre, Momordica charantia, Trigonella foenum-graecum, Tinospora cordifolia, Pterocarpus marsupium, Andrographis paniculata and Rauwolfia serpentina in one form or the other regularly. Multi-plant preparations gave 80% results whereas single plant administration gave less than 50% results. Polyherbal treatment is advocated as multi-pronged attack to achieve desired results.

Introduction

Fiber is that part of plant food which is not digested when eaten. Since it is not absorbed into the body, dietary fiber is not a nutrient. Nevertheless, fiber is a very important component of a healthy diet. Fiber, also called “roughage” helps prevent constipation, hemorrhoids and diverticular disease. Some types of fiber have a cholesterol-lowering effect, which could lead to reduced risk of heart disease.

Dietary fiber has been defined as plant cell wall material resistant to the intestinal secretions of the host. This definition gives the appearance of precision and allows gravimetric and chemical measurements. However, a proportion of other non-fibre dietary constituents (e.g, retrograded starch, protein, and fat) pass along the gut, without absorption or metabolism, to the caecum. Chemical analysis or quantitative measurements of the fibre content of specific diets do not allow prediction of their biological action. The physiological effects of dietary fibre depend predominantly on physical properties unrelated in any simple or direct way to chemical composition. Quantitative measurement of dietary fibre does not allow for diverse effects on nutrient absorption, sterol metabolism, fermentation in the colon, and stool weight. We still do not know whether to restrict the definition of “dietary fibre” to non-starch polysaccharides or to include related materials such as resistant starch, lignin, and the complex assemblies typical of plant tissues, where polysaccharides occur in close association with other molecules. An alternative to defining fibre in terms of chemical composition would be to develop measurements of physical properties relevant to physiological action in the intestine. This approach could be extended to other polymeric constituents, in particular proteins (ingested and secreted) and mucous glycoproteins.

Polysaccharides are the main constituents of dietary fibre and show a wide spectrum of physical, properties that reflect the nature and extent of intermolecular association. Dietary fibre can be likened to a water-laden hydrated mass passing along the gut. Physical properties that influence function are a combination of the rheological and colligative properties of the water-soluble fibre components, the surface characteristics of the water-insoluble components, and the network properties of the swollen hydrated components. Such features include viscosity, water holding, cation exchange, organic acid adsorption, gel filtration, and particle size distribution.

1. Introduction

Among three major functions identification, classification and nomenclature of taxonomy (Fig. 1), identification is a core activity and one of the major objectives of taxonomy, which determines whether other two elements are the same or different. Classification and nomenclature are two separate methods in taxonomy, however, both are totally dependent on the correct identification of the objects. The identification of an unidentified plant with a correctly identified specimen also involves classification. So, both identification and classification, involve comparison and judgment of similarities and differences. Therefore, the identification is a primary function in classification involving nomenclature which performs an essential role as a means of communication. According to Blackwelder (1967) “identification enables us to retrieve the appropriate facts from the system (classification) to be associated with some specimen at hand” and is “better described as the recovery side of taxonomy.” The identification of plants is very important for proper assessment and characterization of biodiversity on which the whole life of human beings is dependent starting from birth to death. The use of biodiversity for various purposes like food, nutrition, pharmacognosy etc. requires accurate and reliable identification and naming of plants (Nesbitt et al. 2010).

Digital technologies are transforming horticultural production by enabling data-driven crop management and precise decision-making. This chapter introduces agricultural informatics, sensors, Internet of Things, remote sensing, drones, artificial intelligence, machine learning, geographic information systems, robotics, and precision technologies. These tools can support crop monitoring, disease detection, irrigation scheduling, nutrient management, yield prediction, phenotyping, and resource optimization. AI-based image analysis can identify symptoms and assist in early crop diagnosis, while sensors provide continuous information about soil and plant conditions. The chapter emphasizes the integration of digital data with practical horticultural knowledge to improve productivity, profitability, sustainability, and resilience while reducing unnecessary inputs and improving decision-making.

25.1. Origin and distribution

• Native to Western and South Western Europe, Western and Central Asia and Erstwhile USSR countries.

25.2. Economic importance

• Dried leaves constitute the drug, digitoxin and gitoxin.

• Used to treat congestive heart failure and heart rhythm problems.

• Increase blood flow throughout the body and reduce swelling in hands and ankles.

25.3. Varieties

• Strain E.C. 115996 - Higher foliage yield with high glycoside content

25.4. Climate

• Requires a cool and mild climate (20-30°C)

• Well in hill slopes at elevation of above 1250 m above msl

25.5. Soil

• Well drained sandy soil rich in organic matter and slightly acidic (pH 5.5-6.5)

Introduction
Dill seed/sowa belong to the genus Anethum and it is derivative of Greek word ‘aneeson or aneeton’, meaning thereby strong smell. The botanical name of dill seed is Anethum graveolens L. It is the only species falling in the genus Anethum, and known as East Indian dill or Sowa (Anethum graveolens var. sowa Roxb. ex, Flem.) in India. It is cultivated as a foliage crop in rabi season stretched in the Indian subcontinent.
Origin
It seems to be originated in South-east Europe or South-west Asia and also native to Central Asia, Mediterranean and southern USSR. It belongs to India, as it is found growing in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, A.P., M.P. and Rajasthan.
Uses
• Used as in abdominal discomfort, colic and promoting digestion.
• Cures ‘vata’, ‘kapha’, ulcers, eye diseases and uterine pains.
• Paste of dill seed with milk is used for external use in rheumatic and swellings of joints.
• Attributed to tonic, rejuvenating and intellect promoting properties.
• Used as condiment.
• Seeds are used as carminative, aromatic, galactogogue, mildly diuretic, stomachic and stimulant.

English name : Dill
Botanical name : Anethum graveolens L.
Family : Apiaceae
Chromosome number : 2n = 22
Centre of origin : Mediterranean region
The genus Anethum includes two cultivated species: the European dill (A. graveolens L.) and the Indian dill (A. sowa Roxb.). The seed compositions of these two dill types are as follows:
Indian dill composition
• Moisture: 4.5-7.5%
• Volatile oil: 1.5-4.0%
• Mineral matter: 5.89-11.54%
• Acid-insoluble ash: 0.55-2.71%
• Extraneous matter: 3.16-12.93%