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Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa

In the imperial Gazetteer of India 1878, Pusa was recorded as a government estate of about 1350 acres in Darbhanba. It was acquired by East India Company for running a stud farm to supply better breed of horses mainly for the army. Frequent incidence of glanders disease (swelling of glands), mostly affecting the valuable imported bloodstock made the civil veterinary department to shift the entire stock out of Pusa. A British tobacco concern Beg Sutherland & co. got the estate on lease but it also left in 1897 abandoning the government estate of Pusa. Lord Mayo, The Viceroy and Governor General, had been repeatedly trying to get through his proposal for setting up a directorate general of Agriculture that would take care of the soil and its productivity, formulate newer techniques of cultivation, improve the quality of seeds and livestock and also arrange for imparting agricultural education. The government of India had invited a British expert. Dr. J. A. Voelcker who had submitted as report on the development of Indian agriculture. As a follow-up action, three experts in different fields were appointed for the first time during 1885 to 1895 namely, agricultural chemist (Dr. J. W. Leafer), cryptogamic botanist (Dr. R. A. Butler) and entomologist (Dr. H. Maxwell Lefroy) with headquarters at Dehradun (U.P.) in the forest Research Institute complex. Surprisingly, until now Pusa, which was destined to become the centre of agricultural revolution in the country, was lying as before an abandoned government estate. In 1898. Lord Curzon took over as the viceroy. A widely traveled person and an administrator, he salvaged out the earlier proposal and got London’s approval for the appointment of the inspector General of Agriculture to which the first incumbent Mr. J. Mollison (Dy. Director of Agriculture, Bombay) joined in 1901 with headquarters at Nagpur The then government of Bengal had mooted in 1902 a proposal to the centre for setting up a model cattle farm for improving the dilapidated condition of the livestock at Pusa estate where plenty of land, water and feed would be available, and with Mr. Mollison’s support this was accepted in principle. Around Pusa, there were many British planters and also an indigo research centre Dalsing Sarai (near Pusa). Mr. Mollison’s visits to this mini British kingdom and his strong recommendations. In favour of Pusa as the most ideal place for the Bengal government project obviously caught the attention for the viceroy.

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20211
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Subject: Food and Nutrition × Author: AHUJA, RAKSHITA × End date: 2021 × Start date: 2021 × Type: Thesis ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF PRODUCTS BASED ON BANANA PEELS RICH IN ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES
    (DRPCAU, PUSA, 2021) AHUJA, RAKSHITA; Kumari, Sunita
    Dietary antioxidants are an essential and efficient way to neutralize the free radicals produced in human body, thereby reducing the risk of an array of chronic diseases. Banana peels are a rich source of such phytochemicals. To determine the extent of consumption of ripe banana peels, 40 respondents of Pusa block were surveyed, out of which 62.50 per cent were banana growers. A majority of the growers were small land holders and cultivated banana trees in their backyards with an area of below 50m2 (44%), 50-100m2 (28%), 150- 200m2 (20%) and above 200m2 (8%). Maximum growers reported an output of less than 5 bunches annually (60%), followed by 5-10 bunches (16%), 10-15 bunches (16%) and above 20 bunches (8%). Chiniya variety (64%) of bananas was widely grown in the area with other prominent varieties being Malbhog (36%), Battisa (28%) and Muthiya (20%). All the banana growers utilized their produce for self consumption. A majority of the respondents consumed ripe bananas on alternate days (42.5%), 12.5 per cent consumed daily, 27.5 per cent rarely and 17.5 per cent did not consume ripe bananas at all. 97.5 per cent respondents never consumed ripe banana peels. 67.5 per cent individuals were aware about the nutritional properties of ripe banana fruit with majority of them considering it as a source of minerals (74.07%), vitamins (37.03%) and dietary fiber (33.33%). Only 22.5 per cent of the respondents were aware about the nutritional properties of ripe banana peels, with majority considering them as a source of dietary fiber (66.66%) and others as vitamins (33.33%) and minerals (33.33%). 67.50 per cent people were not aware of the utility of ripe banana peels and 80 per cent of the people throw away the ripe banana peels collected in their households. Peels were also used for skin care (10%) and as cattle feed (47.50%). Only 5 per cent of the respondents used banana peels for development of food products rarely. To develop products based on ripe banana (Singapuri) peels, the peels were first processed to obtain flour using appropriate and efficient processing methods. A total of 500g of flour was developed and was divided into four portions, including 3 samples each weighing 60g for chemical analysis and remaining 320g for product development. Other locally available materials like whole wheat flour, semolina, sugar, milk etc. were used in combination for the preparation of products. Four products namely, biscuits (A), pasta (B), eggless cake (C) and tea (D) were prepared. The first three products were given three different treatments based on level of substitution with ripe banana peel flour viz. A1/B1/C1 (10%), A2/B2/C2 (20%) and A3/B3/C3 (30%). Whereas, tea was prepared with fresh ripe banana peels with three different combinations viz. lemon juice (D1), ginger extract (D2) and milk (D3). Among biscuit, pasta and eggless cake samples, level of 10 per cent substitution with ripe banana peel flour was widely accepted with overall acceptability scores of 7.700.84, 7.800.89 and 7.830.95 respectively, while the samples with 30 per cent substitution were less liked as visible by scores of 7.100.96, 6.000.51 and 6.700.32 respectively. For tea, test sample complemented with lemon juice was most liked (7.300.91), followed by test sample with ginger extract (7.000.95), while tea with milk was slightly liked with a score of 5.830.51. The primary and the secondary products thus prepared were analyzed in the laboratory to determine the proximate composition and antioxidant content. The moisture, fat, ash, fiber, protein and carbohydrate content for banana peel were found to be 85.680.050, 0.620.040, 1.230.041, 2.070.029, 0.970.020 and 9.430.073 per cent respectively. Ripe banana peel flour had moisture, fat, ash, fiber, protein and carbohydrate content of 11.040.039, 6.250.037, 11.250.038, 20.770.059, 5.870.028 and 44.820.068 per cent respectively. The total phenol and flavonoid content were expressed as 244.990.046 mg GAE/100g and 80.110.063 mg QE/100g respectively. Among the products, it was a general observation that the moisture, fat, ash and fiber content were directly proportional to the amount of ripe banana peel flour added to the samples under study. On the paradox, protein, carbohydrate content and energy values decreased with the addition of ripe banana peel flour, thus depicting a negative trend. For the antioxidant analysis, it was observed that total phenol and flavonoid content increased with an increase in the ripe banana peel flour content in the test samples i.e. samples with 30 per cent substitution exhibited maximum total phenolic and flavonoid content. For tea samples, maximum total phenols and flavonoids were observed for tea with ginger extract with values of 341.870.085 mg GAE/100ml and 201.980.080 mg QE/100ml respectively. Methanolic extracts of banana peel and banana peel flour were analyzed for Total Antioxidant Activity. The IC50 values obtained for peel and flour were 0.420.038 and 0.140.035 mg/ml respectively. A positive correlation was established between the amount of polyphenols in ripe banana peel flour and its Total Antioxidant Activity (r  0.91). For biscuit, pasta and eggless cake, samples with 10 per cent substitution were accepted by the consumers with scores of 4.540.18, 4.780.41 and 4.960.23 respectively. Tea with lemon juice was widely accepted with scores of 4.070.49.