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Subject: Processing and Food Engineering ×

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Now showing 1 - 9 of 24
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Technology refinement and food safety management system assessment of food processing enterprises facilitated through agri-business incubators
    (Department of Processing and Food Engineering,KCAET,Tavanur, 2021) Binuja Thomas; KAU; Sudheer, K P
    The performance analysis of the food processing enterprises facilitated through the fully functional six ABIs in Kerala was carried out to adjudge the agripreneurial ecosystem in the State in general and the incubation facilities in particular. The performance of the selected food processing enterprises in terms of technology adaptability, upgradation, value addition, product diversification and FSMS implementation was analysed. The majority (86.67%) of the enterprises succeeded in value addition and 76.67 % enterprises succeeded in product diversification. The composite score for FSMS implementation in the enterprises was found to be ‘High’ with an index value of 82.6. Vacuum impregnation an emerging tool to enrich fruit matrix with desirable solutes was introduced for the development of IMF, as part of the refinement of technologies of KAU-ABI. Vacuum impregnated pineapple with improved sensory and functional properties was developed. The quality parameters namely water activity, yellowness index, TSS, firmness, moisture content, solid gain were analysed. The optimised process parameters were process temperature (55ºC), vacuum pressure (23 kPa), solution concentration (55ºBrix) and impregnation time (20 min). The standardisation of the process protocol for the development of protein enriched RTC pasta was undertaken as the second technology refinement in the study. The basic pasta formulation was modified with different levels of protein supplements in each category: mushroom powder (5%, 10% and 15%), defatted coconut flour (10%, 15% and 20%), and defatted soya flour (20%, 25% and 30%). The sensory evaluation using fuzzy logic model was carried out and based on the cooking qualities and nutritive value, the feed composition was standardised. The best treatment of each category was 5% MP, 10% DFC, 25% DSF. The assessment of FSMS implementation in the selected enterprises supported by KAU-ABI gave an insight to the technological and managerial activities to control the potential hazards. HACCP plan for each product based on the CCPs was developed to ensure food safety and total quality management. In addition, an information support system on ABIs was developed to facilitate technology enterprise linkage.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Development and evaluation of a pneumatic extruder for production of fortified rice noodles (idiyappam)
    (Department of Processing and Food Engineering, KCAET, Tavanur, 2021) Dilsha, Suresh; KAU; Prince, M V
    The traditional food products of various regions are now developing into food processing business. Marketing of these kind of culinary products will enhance the more income, jobs as well as minimizes post-harvest. Traditionally rice noodles or idiyappam is prepared by pressing the rice flour water mix through the die with holes of required diameter manually. It is a time consuming and energy intensive laborious process. There are motorized idiyappam machines are available. But such motorized extruders are complicated in design, energy intensive and lacking in precision with more moving parts and associated gear mechanisms. Pneumatic engineering is based on the compressed air or compressed inert gas. In this study a pneumatic extruder was developed for the production of fortified rice noodles, which composed of frame assembly, pneumatic cylinder, compressor, air filter regulator, double solenoid valve, pneumatic pipes/tubes, pneumatic fittings, timer, flow control valve, extruder die, dough cylinder , noodle collecting plate, plate holding section and DC motor. In order to evaluate the developed system towards extrusion fortified rice noodles, the effect of process parameters which would influence the capacity, energy and rate of extrusion such as pneumatic pressure of 600, 700 and 800 kPa, speed of the piston 0.05,0.06 and 0.07 m/s, jackfruit seed flour proportion in the blend of 5, 8 and 11% were studied. Physical properties, cooking properties, nutritional profile and sensory scores were analysed. The optimised operating condition of pneumatic pressure, speed of the piston and jackfruit seed flour proportion in the blend were found to be of 800 kPa, 0.07 m/s, 5 % respectively. From this study, it may be derived that the jackfruit seed flour fortified rice idiyappam prepared through the pneumatic extruder developed under this study at optimised operating condition of 800 kPa of pneumatic pressure, speed of the piston 0.07 m/s and 5% fortification of jackfruit seed flour in the rice powder resulted in production of higher capacity of noodles at lower energy level and higher rate of extrusion. These noodles were found to be on par with cooking and physico-chemical qualities, nutritionally rich and organoleptically superior with that of traditionally prepared rice idiyappam.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Effect of combined treatments of ultrasound and ultraviolet radiation for preservation of pineapple juice
    (Department of Processing and Food Engineering, KCAET, Tavanur, 2021) Anjaly, M G; KAU; Prince, M V
    Ultraviolet (UV) treatment is an alternative tool for food preservation. UV radiation inactivates microorganisms by DNA denaturation and is widely used for disinfect water and liquid food products. The application of UV radiation is limited due to its low penetration depth. Ultrasound (US) is another promising technique which can be employed for preservation of fruit food products. The microbial inactivation in US is mainly due to cavitation. Cavitation leads to destruction of cells, production of free radicals, formation of shock waves and denaturation of enzymes.US preserve the organoleptic and nutritional qualities of food products. Even though UV radiation and US treatment has their own potential as a preservative method, but application of any single treatment would not be competent enough to kill all microorganism. Therefore, a new concept has been extensively evaluated to combine ultraviolet and ultrasound. This combined treatment would optimize the strength of each individual treatment and reduce each of their individual weaknesses. This present study envisages development of US assisted UV radiation treatment system for pineapple juice and evaluation of developed system in retaining the quality characteristics and microbial safety. The system consists of ultrasonic bath with chiller (Sonicator), storage tank, ultraviolet treatment system and recirculation system. The treatments were carried out with three different US time intervals 10 min, 20 min and 30 min and three different UV dosages 1000 mJ/cm2 , 1300 mJ/cm2 , and 1600 mJ/cm2 . Combined US and UV treatments with US exposure 20 min and UV dosage 1600 mJcm-2 were found to be superior based on physicochemical, microbiological and organoleptical characteristics.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Technology refinement and food safety management system assessment of food processing enterprises facilitated through agri-business incubators
    (Department of Processing and Food Engineering, KCAET, Tavanur, 2021) Binuja Thomas; KAU; Sudheer, K P
    The performance analysis of the food processing enterprises facilitated through the fully functional six ABIs in Kerala was carried out to adjudge the agripreneurial ecosystem in the State in general and the incubation facilities in particular. The performance of the selected food processing enterprises in terms of technology adaptability, upgradation, value addition, product diversification and FSMS implementation was analysed. The majority (86.67%) of the enterprises succeeded in value addition and 76.67 % enterprises succeeded in product diversification. The composite score for FSMS implementation in the enterprises was found to be ‘High’ with an index value of 82.6. Vacuum impregnation an emerging tool to enrich fruit matrix with desirable solutes was introduced for the development of IMF, as part of the refinement of technologies of KAU-ABI. Vacuum impregnated pineapple with improved sensory and functional properties was developed. The quality parameters namely water activity, yellowness index, TSS, firmness, moisture content, solid gain were analysed. The optimised process parameters were process temperature (55ºC), vacuum pressure (23 kPa), solution concentration (55ºBrix) and impregnation time (20 min). The standardisation of the process protocol for the development of protein enriched RTC pasta was undertaken as the second technology refinement in the study. The basic pasta formulation was modified with different levels of protein supplements in each category: mushroom powder (5%, 10% and 15%), defatted coconut flour (10%, 15% and 20%), and defatted soya flour (20%, 25% and 30%). The sensory evaluation using fuzzy logic model was carried out and based on the cooking qualities and nutritive value, the feed composition was standardised. The best treatment of each category was 5% MP, 10% DFC, 25% DSF. The assessment of FSMS implementation in the selected enterprises supported by KAU-ABI gave an insight to the technological and managerial activities to control the potential hazards. HACCP plan for each product based on the CCPs was developed to ensure food safety and total quality management. In addition, an information support system on ABIs was developed to facilitate technology enterprise linkage.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Development of small scale parboiling cum drying unit for paddy processing
    (Department of Processing and Food Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2021) Ann Annie, Shaju; KAU; Sudheer, K P
    Parboiling is an optional unit operation in paddy processing, which results in enhanced milling efficiency with improved nutritional quality of the rice. It is accomplished through the process of soaking, steaming and drying, to gelatinize the starch. Technological advancement in the industrial parboiling has resulted in extensive improvisation of process controls in large-scale industrial parboiling units. But enormous initial investments required for infrastructure, along with the time, labour and energy involved in paddy parboiling made it uneconomical for small scale milling and processing units to undertake parboiling. In this scenario, a small scale parboiling cum drying unit with reduced drudgery and less human interventions was fabricated in this present study for paddy processing and its evaluation was done. The unit mainly consists of two soaking cum steaming chambers (100 kg/tank), LSU dryer, bucket elevator, steam boiler and heat furnace. Soaking and steaming was carried out in the same chamber and drying was carried out in the LSU dryer. The paddy crop variety Jyothi was parboiled at different soaking and steaming times (20, 25 and 30 min) and drying temperatures (50, 60 and 70 ° C) in both hot soaking and cold soaking methods. The performance evaluation of the developed unit was done by analysing the milling and cooking qualities of the parboiled paddy. The treatments were optimised using the Response Surface Methodology (Box Behnken) method. An increase in steaming time exerted a significant effect on milling and cooking qualities of parboiled paddy. The increase in drying time decreased the milling efficiency, head rice yield and hardness of the parboiled milled rice. After optimisation, for hot soaking, milling efficiency of 65.43% and head rice yield of 87.78% were obtained with a soaking time of 7 h, steaming time of 26.07 min and drying temperature of 52 ° C. In case of cold soaking, milling efficiency of 62.15% and head rice yield of 81.93% were obtained with a soaking time of 60 h, steaming time of 27 min and drying temperature of 52 ° C. The processing cost of parboiling one-kilogram paddy in the developed unit were Rs. 2.55/-. The benefit cost ratio for the parboiling process was found to be 1.33:1, which revealed that the developed unit was economically feasible.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Standardization and near infrared reflectance spectroscopy based quality evaluation of thermally processed tender jackfruit (Artrocarpus heteophyllus L.)
    (Department of Processing and Food Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2020) Pritty S, Babu; KAU; Sudheer, K P
    The present study examined thermal processing in tin free steel cans (TFS) and near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) techniques for preservation and rapid characterization of tender jackfruit, respectively. In the thermal processing study, the effect of 16 treatments with different time-temperature combinations on physicochemical and microbiological attributes of canned tender jackfruit were examined. Accordingly, pasteurization at 90oC for 19 min (F = 60 min) and sterilization at 121oC for 8 min (F0 = 3 min) were identified as the best treatments. During 7 months of storage, these treatments yielded microbiologically safe tender jackfruit with no significant (p < 0.05) change in titrable acidity, total soluble solids, carbohydrate and crude fibre contents. In both pasteurization and sterilization treatments with/without preservatives, quality and sensory attributes of canned tender jackfruit were comparable. Hence, the study endorse the use of any of the standardized thermal processing treatments even without preservatives for safe storage of tender jackfruit. The NIRS study was the primary attempt to characterize tender jackfruit (fresh and thermal processed) using its spectral reflectance (R*) within 400-2500 nm wavelength range by means of partial least square regression (PLSR) algorithm. Based on crossvalidation of PLSR models, the study have identified a) second derivative of R* in 7012450 nm as the best pre-processing and wavelength combination for the estimation of quality attributes of fresh tender jackfruit, b) spectral measurement of intact tender jackfruit samples outperform grated counterparts, c) dry spectra of thermal processed tender jackfruit yield superior results than wet spectra, d) DLP NIRscan Nano for cost effective characterization of inter component (skin, tendril and core) variability of fresh tender jackfruit with regard to total flavonoid and phenol contents. The overall results of the analyses advocates the use of NIRS for a rapid, reliable, non-destructive and noninvasive quality assessment of tender jackfruit.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Studies on combined technologies of pulsed electric field and microwave assisted process for extraction of pectin from Jackfruit rind and core
    (Department of processing and food engineering, Kelappaji college of Agricultural engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2020) Nandhu Lal, A M; KAU; Prince, M V
    Value addition of inedible parts of Jackfruit such as rind and core using efficient and environment friendly methods would reduce wastage, and its disposal problem and also fetch additional profit to farmers. Pectin, a secondary food ingredient used as gelling, stabilizing and emulsifying agent in food products is such a valuable by-product having nutritional as well as health benefits. Conventional extraction method includes direct boiling using acidified water, which is time consuming and degrades quality pectin. Application of combined novel technologies might help in conquering the inadequacies of conventional methods. In this study, a pulsed electric field and microwave assisted extraction system for extracting pectin from Jackfruit rind and core was developed. To evaluate the developed system towards pectin extraction, the effect of process parameters influencing pectin yield and energy consumption such as PEF strength (5, 10 and 15 kV/cm); PEF treatment time (2, 4 and 6 min); microwave power density (450, 550 and 650 W/g) and time of exposure (5, 10 and 15 min) were studied. The physicochemical and quality parameters of extracted pectin such as moisture content, ash content, protein content, viscosity, solubility, colour, equivalent weight, methoxyl percentage, galacturonic acid and degree of esterification of the pectin were analyzed and compared with that obtained through conventional extraction. A PEF strength of 11.98 kV/cm, PEF treatment time of 5.46 min, microwave power density of 647.55 W/g and time of exposure of 5 min were found to be the optimized process variables of the combined treatment. High methoxyl pectin of good quality was obtained through the combined process. The moisture content, viscosity, ash content, protein content, equivalent weight, methoxyl percentage, galacturonic acid and degree of esterification of the combined PEF and microwave treated samples were 8.95 %, 39.78 cP, 6.78 %, 3.283 %, 557.473 g/mol, 8.37 %, 69.44 % and 68.43 % respectively with light brown colour whereas that of conventional extracted pectin were respectively 10.04 %, 38.14 cP, 7.27 %, 9.98 % 466.905 g/mol, 9.376 %, 67.85 % and 78.45 % with dark drown colour pectin. Scanning Electron Micrographs of jackfruit powder samples before and after combined treatment and conventional extraction revealed an increase in rupture and severing of parenchymal cells of the combined treated samples indicating better extraction efficiency. It was concluded that combined pulsed electric field and microwave treatment resulted in increased extraction of high quality pectin from Jackfruit rind and core.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Consumer packaging of selected vegetables
    (Department of Processing Technology, College of Horticulture,Vellanikkara, 1994) Sunil Kumar, G; KAU; Raju, V K
    The present study on “Consumer packaging of selected vegetables” was conducted in the Department of Processing Technology, Kerala Agricultural University, Vellanikkara during June 1992 to October 1993. The study on standardization of precooling treatments to improve the postharvest life of the vegetables viz., amaranth, brinjal, chilli, cowpea, okra and tomato revealed that precooling the vegetables immediately after harvest reduced the physiological loss in weight (PLW) and enhanced the marketability both under ambient and refrigerated storage environments. The effect of precooling treatments was more pronounced when precooling was immediately followed by refrigerated storage. Among precooling treatments, contact icing and cold water treatments were found superior to tap water treatment in most of the cases. The study on precooling and packaging treatments on amaranth, brinjal, chilli, cowpea, okra and tomato revealed that precooling followed by immediate packaging of the vegetables in 100 or 200 gauge polyethylene or polypropylene bags reduced the PLW considerably. Moreover, packaged vegetables had better consumer acceptability and has remained marketable for longer periods both under ambient and refrigerated storage conditions. In most of the cases, contact icing and cold water treatments gave better results among precooling treatments. With respect to packaging, under ambient temperature storage, 100 or 200 gauge polyethylene or polypropylene bags with 0.5 per cent ventilation was found to be ideal except in okra where unventilated polybags was the best. In refrigerated storage for brinjal, chilli and tomato, polybags with 0.5 per cent ventilation was found to be ideal. For amaranth, cowpea and okra polybags without ventilation was found to be more efficient. Refrigerated storage enhanced the shelf life of packaged vegetables 3-4 times as compared to packaged vegetables kept under ambient temperature storage. The storage study on precooled portioned vegetables viz., ashgourd, elephant foot yam, oriental pickling melon, pumpkin and snakegourd packaged in polymeric films revealed that portion packaged vegetables had lower PLW and remained marketable for longer periods both under ambient and refrigerated storage environments. Wilting, shrinkage, shriveling, discolouration and microbial rotting were the common types of spoilage in packaged vegetables. Cost- wise, among precooling treatments, tap water treatment was the cheapest followed by cold water and contact icing. Among polybags polypropylene was cheaper compared to polyethylene.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Evaluation of sapota (Manilkara achrar (Mill) Forberg) for postharvest qualities
    (Department of Processing Technology, College of Horticulture,Vellanikkara, 1999) Maya, T; KAU; Jacob John, P
    A study on the screening of post-harvest qualities of five varieties of sapota grown In the college orchard was conducted at the Department of Processing Technology, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara during 1998-99. On screening varieties like 'Cricket Ball', 'Co-I', 'Co-2', 'PKM l' and 'Oval' for physical, chemical and sensory parameters, 'Co-2', 'PKM l ' and 'Oval' were rated best for table purpose, while 'Co-2' for distant marketing and 'Co-I' for processing qualities. Individually wrapping the fruits with cling film, or packaging fruits with 30 per cent moistened saw dust was evolved as the best storage technique to extend the shelf-life of sapota at ambient temperature. Saw dust being cheap, and less labour intensive can be suggested as an appropriate storage technique at field level without the involvement of any chemical, electricity or civil structure, while cling wrap can be aimed for retail marketing. Osmotic dehydration of sapota slices of thickness 0.5 to 1 cm using dry sugar containing 1500 ppm S02 and 0.3 per cent citric acid in a ratio of 1: 1 for eight hours followed by oven drying took only 16 hours to accomplish the drying unlike the reported 33 hours of osmo-air drying. Thus the technique developed can improve the quality of the product many fold and can reduce the energy consumption considerably.