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  • ThesisItemOpen Access
    Development of Neera Powder using spray drying process
    (Department of Processing and Food Engineering, KCAET,Tavanur, 2019) Anjali, A V; KAU; Santhi Mary, Mathew
    The Coconut Palm (Cocos nucifera) is one of the most important crops grown in humid tropics, cultivated for its multiple utilities, belongs to Arecaceae family. Since most of the components of coconut palm is getting transformed to useful products, it is referred to as “Tree of life”. Neera is a delicious health drink collected from the immature unopened inflorescence of coconut palm. It is a nector like liquid having slightly alkaline pH and translucent in color. Neera is a rich source of natural sugars, minerals and vitamins and it contains substantial amounts of iron, phosphorus and ascorbic acid. The major difficulty associated with neera production is its natural fermentation. The product undergoes fermentation within 2-3 hours under ambient temperature. Thus the shelf life of the sap is identified as a major issue in the long distance transport of neera. The only solution is the development of neera powder by spray drying technology, so that it will arrest the fermentation by reducing the available water. This study mainly concentrated on development of a process protocol for spray dried neera powder, standardization of the spray drying parameters and quality analysis of neera powder. The neera used in the study was collected from two different sources, CPCRI (Kalparasa) and KAU (Keramrutham). The optimum parameters obtained for Kalparasa powder was 3.53% MD+0.353% GA as feed material combination, an inlet air temperature of 168ºC and 4.25 rpm feed flow rate. Whereas for the Keramrutham powder the obtained optimum condition is 7.58% MD+0.758% GA as feed material combination and 171.89ºC inlet air temperature with 4.82 rpm feed flow rate. The blower speed of 1200 rpm and air pressure 2kg/cm2 were kept constant for developing the products. The physico chemical characteristics such as pH, TSS, Colour, moisture content, and reconstitution properties were determined. The optimally produced products were packed, stored in retort pouches and the quality characteristics such as pH, moisture content, vitamine C, antioxidant activity and phenolic content were also analysed up to 5 months. Both powders showed good acceptance in the sensory evaluation. The cost analysis of the product was done and cost of one kilogram was estimated as Rs 2168.6/-.
  • ThesisItemOpen Access
    Develpment and evaluation of protein enriched RTE extruded food products
    (Department of Processing and Food Engineering, KCAET, Tavanur, 2019) Athira, K; KAU; Rajesh, G K
    Malnutrition causes major health problems due to qualitative and quantitative insufficiency of dietary protein and calories intake. Protein energy malnutrition is a serious threat especially in children in developing countries. Fortification or combination of two or more food ingredients can make a solution for this nutritional insufficiency to a certain extend. Food products with improved nutritional profile can be produced by blending legumes. Ready to eat food products are plays a major role in modern consumer’s diets. Extrusion cooking is a novel technology adopted by food industries as it is a rapid, continuous and cost-effective process. Therefore, an investigation has been taken up to develop a protein enriched ready to eat food products from rice, ragi, Bengal gram, ground nut and soybean using extrusion cooking. The feed composition selected for the extrusion were 60% rice, 10% ragi, 10% Bengal gram, 10% soybean and 10% groundnut flour and the physico chemical analysis of the feed mix was conducted and recorded. The process variables used in the study were temperature (120,130 and 140°C), moisture content (12, 14 and 16%) and screw speed (300, 350 and 400 rpm). The optimisation of process parameters was analysed using RSM based on the quality characteristics of the extrudates. The optimum operating conditions of extrusion process namely, barrel temperature, moisture content and screw speed was found to be 140°C, 12.20% and 383.96 (384) rpm respectively. The storage studies of optimally produced extrudates were conducted by using different packaging materials (LDPE and laminated aluminum) and packaging technologies (Active and passive MAP). The extrudates packed in laminated aluminum with active MAP had good overall acceptability after three months of storage and they were microbiologically safe. The total production cost of 1kg of extruded RTE product was found to be Rs. 113.29/-.