Loading...
Thesis
Browse
7 results
Search Results
ThesisItem Open Access Enhancing carbohydrate and starch accumulation in microalgae for bioethanol production(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2019) Amanpreet Kaur; Taggar, Monica SachdevaThe present study was carried out to optimize the culture conditions for enhancing carbohydrate and starch accumulation in Chlorella sorokiniana for the bioethanol production. The growth and biomass of microalgae was studied with the sparging of carbon dioxide into the culture medium. The mean growth (0.70), fresh biomass (7983.33 mg l-1), dry biomass (1516.67 mg l-1) and biomass productivity (163.33 mg l-1 day-1) of microalgae was higher with the sparging of carbon dioxide into the culture medium. The effect of different concentrations of potassium nitrate, i.e. 4, 2 and 1 g l-1 in the culture medium revealed high growth (0.98), fresh (8053.33 mg l-1) and dry biomass (1556.67 mg l-1) of microalgae at 4 g l-1 potassium nitrate in the culture medium. The maximum accumulation of total carbohydrate (50.28%) and starch (34.06%) in the microalgae was observed at 1 g l-1 potassium nitrate concentration in the culture medium at 2 days after culturing (DAC) while the total soluble protein content (18.24%) was observed to be maximum at 4 g l-1 potassium nitrate concentration in the culture medium at 8 DAC. The maximum chlorophyll a, b and total chlorophyll content of 403.22 μg g-1 fw, 346.66 μg g-1 fw and 749.88 μg g-1 fw of microalgae was observed at 4 g l-1 potassium nitrate level in the culture medium, respectively. Morphological characterization of C. sorokiniana revealed dense starch granules in the cells under nitrogen limiting conditions. Chitosan, at a concentration of 200 ppm, showed maximum flocculation (90.94%) of microalgal suspension after 60 min. Pre-treatment of microalgal biomass with 1 N sulphuric acid revealed maximum production of total (487.41 mg g-1) and reducing sugars (277.56 mg g-1). The fermentation of microalgal hydrolysate by Saccharomyces cerevisiae resulted in maximum ethanol content and yield of 0.52 g and 0.052 g g-1 biomass at 96 h of fermentation.ThesisItem Open Access Role of Product Appearance in Consumer Choice of Packaged Food Products for Children(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2016) Amanpreet Kaur; Kathuria, Lalit MohanThe study was conducted to analyze the perceptions of consumers towards product appearance, and to explore the influence of product appearance on purchase intention of consumers. A sample of 280 respondents was selected using convenience sampling. Data was collected with the help of a structured and non-disguised questionnaire. Data analysis was undertaken using statistical tools like mean-square, chi-square test, analysis of variance, correlation and factor analysis. The study revealed that a large majority of the respondents was aware of packaged food products and were attracted by product appearance. The respondents reported that their children were attracted by product appearance attributes such as flavour, packaging, product ingredient/ fruit content display, cartoon character, shape, color and design. Organised retail outlets and nearby convenience stores were found to be prefered store types for purchase of packaged food products. In- store presentations, friends and relatives and T.V. advertisements were found to be important sources of information. The study highlighted that correlation existed between color, jingle, logo, packaging, cartoon character, and shape. Principle component analysis generated factors such as product shape, packaged design and product ingredient display as different factors influencing the purchase of packaged food products.ThesisItem Open Access Collection, identification and domestication of wild edible Agaricales from Punjab(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2019) Amanpreet Kaur; Sodhi, H.S.Wild edible Agaricales were surveyed and collected during the month of July-September in the years 2015-2018 from five agro-climatic zones of Punjab. Total 127 mushrooms were collected; 34 mushrooms were collected from sub-mountain undulating zone, 19 wild mushrooms were collected from undulating plain zone, 36 mushrooms were collected from central plain zone, 17 from western plain zone, 21 from western zone. The mushrooms collected belong to genera Agaricus, Lepiota/ Macrolepiota, Pleurotus, Poadaxis, Clitocybe. Tissue culture of 92 wild mushrooms were obtained and total cellulases, cellobiase, endo-β-1,4-glucanase, endoxylanase and laccasse were estimated from pure cultures. Total cellulases ranged between 0.01 to 4.36 U/ml, cellobiase between 0.01 to 8.34 U/ml, endo-β-1,4-glucanase between 0.009 to 6.97 U/ml, endoxylanase between 0.28 to 16.18U/ml and laccasse was 0.02-3.74 U/ml. Based on enzyme producing capability, 18 cultures were identified to study linear growth (mm) on complete yeast agar medium (CYM) and potato dextrose agar (PDA) media, different pH range (5-8), temperature range (25°C-28°C). CYM was proved to be the best medium for AMN 05, AMN 71, AMN 132 and PDA was found good for AMN 14 and AMN 60. The pH 7 was proved as best pH for most of the cultures. AMN 14, AMN 39, AMN 52, AMN 54 and AMN 170 showed maximum growth at 30°C. AMN 39 and AMN 202 were successfully domesticated on wheat straw as substrate. These two cultures were subjected to molecular characterization through 18S rRNA sequencing. AMN 39 showed 100% homology with Pleurotus sapidus and AMN 202 showed the same with Pleurotus floridanus. Yield of Pleurotus sapidus (AMN 39) and Pleurotus floridanus (AMN 202) were compared with Pleurotus sajor-caju and Pleurotus florida and found that yield of Pleurotus sapidus (40 kg/q of dry substrate) and Pleurotus floridanus (47 kg/q of dry substrate) was lower than Pleurotus sajor-caju (52 kg/q of dry substrate) and Pleurotus florida (60 kg/q of dry substrate). It was observed through scanning electron microscope that hyphae of Pleurotus florida was seen to be more tightly packed as compared to Pleurotus sapidus (AMN 39) and Pleurotus floridanus (AMN 202). SDS PAGE was performed to know the heterogeneity among the mushroom proteins. AMN 39 had protein with molecular weight of 16.16 KDa and AMN 202 shown to have two proteins with molecular weight of 17.47 KDa and 42.8 KDa.ThesisItem Restricted Computational Fluid Dynamics of Solar Air Heater Duct Roughened with Multiple Arc Rib having Gap and Staggered Rib Piece(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2018) Amanpreet Kaur; Hans, V.S.Artificial roughening of solar air heater duct wall is the effective method which leads to significant enhancement in heat transfer as well comparable rise in friction losses. The different investigations have been performed by various authors to study the heat transfer rate and friction factor characteristics. In this present study, a numerical investigation is carried out using Computational Fluid Dynamics software ANSYS Academic Research CFD 15.0 to determine the heat transfer rate and thermo-hydraulic performance of rectangular solar air heater duct roughened with multiple arc rib having gap and staggered rib piece. The parameters considered were relative roughness pitch of 8, relative roughness height of 0.043, relative roughness width of 5, relative gap width of 1, arc angle of 60° and relative staggered rib size of 4. The investigation encompassed for the Reynolds number and relative staggered rib pitch range from 2000 to 18000 and 0.2 to 0.8 (4values) respectively. The maximum enhancement in Nusselt number and friction factor was observed to be 3.38 and 6.2 times as compared to smooth duct at relative staggered rib pitch of 0.4. The maximum thermo-hydraulic performance found to be 1.83 for relative staggered rib pitch of 0.4 at Reynolds number of 12000.ThesisItem Open Access Solitary Waves in four component Dusty Plasma using Kappa Distribution of Electrons and Ions(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2017) Amanpreet Kaur; Parveen BalaDusty plasma plays important role in space, astrophysical and laboratory environment. The presence of charged dust particles along with other particles in plasma creates solitary waves. An unmagnetized dusty plasma consisting of positively charged dust, negatively charged dust, kappa distributed electrons and ions is considered. The K-dV equation for solitary waves in such plasma system is derived using reductive perturbation method. This K-dV equation describes the solitary waves in dusty plasma and gives the nonlinearity and dispersion effects in such dusty plasma system. The soliton solution is found for the K-dV equation which is of the sech2 form. Both compressive and rarefactive solutions are found in fast and slow modes. The effects of the dusty plasma parameters and kappa parameters on the dynamics of these solitons in both modes are discussed numerically. The kappa distribution has only a quantitative, not a qualitative effect on the existence of solitary waves. The results which, have been obtained from this investigation, would be useful in understanding the properties of nonlinear solitary waves in laboratory and in space dusty plasmas.ThesisItem Open Access Cumulative effect of neem powder, Azotobacter and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) growth hormone on yield potential of Agaricus bisporus (Lange) Sing(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2017) Amanpreet Kaur; Sodhi, H.S.A. bisporus is the most popular cultivar among the artificially grown fungi in the world. The mushroom cultivation using agricultural crop lignocellulosic residues has been standardized but the supplementation accurately equilibrates the nitrogen content and the C/N ratio. Neem powder, Azotobacter and Indole-3-acetic acid were used as supplements at different stages of Agaricus bisporus U3 and S11strains. The neem powder was supplemented @ 0.5% to 2.0% in ready compost and spawned at @ 0.7%. The yield potential of Agaricus bisporus U3 was significantly increased upto 29.47% when neem powder was supplemented @ 0.5% and 1.0% at the time of spawning. Azotobacter was added in casing soil @50ml (107-108cfu/ml) in 5kg casing mixture along with neem powder. Use of Azotobacter in the casing had shown 16.0% increase with respect to control I (No addition) a further increase upto 19.41% in yield was recorded, when Azotobacter was applied on bags filled with compost supplemented with 0.5% and 1.0% neem powder respectively. IAA spray at the time of pinhead formation and at the time of 1st flush and 2nd flush showed no significant increase in yield with respect to control I (No addition). However, use of IAA on bags supplemented with 0.5% and 1.0% neem powder and Azotobacter at the time of pinhead formation indicated maximum yield potential of Agaricus bisporus U3. The observations made on quality parameters indicated 2.8 to 3.2 cm stipe length, 3.8 to 4.3cm pileus diameter, color 52.11 to 89.67 L-value and 5125to 11143 hardness was observed in Agaricus bisporus U3. In Agaricus bisporus S11 showed 56.23% increase in yield when neem powder was supplemented @1.0% at the time of spawning. Use of Azotobacter in the casing had shown 31.00% increase with respect to control I (No addition) a further increase of 17.46% in yield was recorded, when Azotobacter was applied on bags filled with compost supplemented with 1.0% neem powder. IAA spray at the time of pinhead formation and at the time of 1st flush and 2nd flush showed no significant increase in yield with respect to control I (No addition). However, use of IAA on bags supplemented with 0.5% and 1.0% neem powder, Azotobacter at the time of 1st flush and 2nd flush indicated maximum yield potential of A. bisporus S11. While in Agaricus bisporus S11 the observations made on stipe length, pileus diameter, color and hardness indicated 2.8 to 3.2cm stipe length, 2.9 to 4.3cm pileus diameter, color 48.3 to 75.9 L-value and 4120 to10364 hardness was observed.ThesisItem Open Access Changing interaction patterns among Dalits and Jat Sikhs in Doaba region of Punjab(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2016) Amanpreet Kaur; Sharma, ShaliniRural population of Punjab mainly comprised of Jat Sikhs and Dalits. The land owning Jat Sikhs were locally dominant and Dalits were dependent upon them. Off late with benefits from affirmative action program of government, NRI remittances and political mobilization, Dalits had improved their socio-economic status. This had impacted the interaction patterns amongst Dalits and Jat Sikhs of the region. The present study was conducted with specific objectives: to study the socio-economic status of the respondents; to analyze the changing socio-economic and political interaction patterns among Dalits and Jat Sikhs; to identify the conflict between both castes, if any, and the reasons thereof and to investigate state intervention in conflict resolution as perceived by Dalits and Jat Sikhs. The study was based on primary data collected from 320 respondents (160 Dalits and 160 Jat Sikhs) from Doaba. Study found that almost half of Jat Sikhs (49.3%) and Dalits (43.7%) had medium socio-economic status. Three fourth of the Jat Sikhs (74.3%) and Dalits (80.0%) were from 31-50 years of age. More than one third of the respondents were educated up to higher secondary level and 42.4 per cent of Dalits were doing semi-skilled and skilled jobs whereas almost three fourth of Jat Sikhs (73.2%) were engaged in farming. It was reported that 5.6 per cent of high status Dalits had moved to the village locality inhabited by Jat Sikhs without any resistance. A significant majority of Dalits (96.2%) reported no restriction on their entry into Jat Sikh kitchen and 58.7 per cent of them attended the social ceremonies of Jat Sikhs as guests. Economic dependence on Jat Sikh patrons was reported by 19.3 per cent Dalits. In 87.5 per cent of villages there was separate Dalit gurudwaras. It was Dalit sarpanch in forty three per cent of the villages. A significant majority of Jat Sikhs were apprehensive (88.7%) of Dalit dominance while Dalits were conscious and assertive (65.6%) of their newly acquired identity. Religious issues were found most responsible behind subtle form of conflict among both castes. Two third of the respondents felt that police personnel favoured their caste group while resolving the dispute. Socially mobile, economically influential and subaltern Dalits carry the movement of a separate Dalit identity and Jat Sikhs need to understand it and act accordingly to avoid any conflict.