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Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat

Assam Agricultural University is the first institution of its kind in the whole of North-Eastern Region of India. The main goal of this institution is to produce globally competitive human resources in farm sectorand to carry out research in both conventional and frontier areas for production optimization as well as to disseminate the generated technologies as public good for benefitting the food growers/produces and traders involved in the sector while emphasizing on sustainability, equity and overall food security at household level. Genesis of AAU - The embryo of the agricultural research in the state of Assam was formed as early as 1897 with the establishment of the Upper Shillong Experimental Farm (now in Meghalaya) just after about a decade of creation of the agricultural department in 1882. However, the seeds of agricultural research in today’s Assam were sown in the dawn of the twentieth century with the establishment of two Rice Experimental Stations, one at Karimganj in Barak valley in 1913 and the other at Titabor in Brahmaputra valley in 1923. Subsequent to these research stations, a number of research stations were established to conduct research on important crops, more specifically, jute, pulses, oilseeds etc. The Assam Agricultural University was established on April 1, 1969 under The Assam Agricultural University Act, 1968’ with the mandate of imparting farm education, conduct research in agriculture and allied sciences and to effectively disseminate technologies so generated. Before establishment of the University, there were altogether 17 research schemes/projects in the state under the Department of Agriculture. By July 1973, all the research projects and 10 experimental farms were transferred by the Government of Assam to the AAU which already inherited the College of Agriculture and its farm at Barbheta, Jorhat and College of Veterinary Sciences at Khanapara, Guwahati. Subsequently, College of Community Science at Jorhat (1969), College of Fisheries at Raha (1988), Biswanath College of Agriculture at Biswanath Chariali (1988) and Lakhimpur College of Veterinary Science at Joyhing, North Lakhimpur (1988) were established. Presently, the University has three more colleges under its jurisdiction, viz., Sarat Chandra Singha College of Agriculture, Chapar, College of Horticulture, Nalbari & College of Sericulture, Titabar. Similarly, few more regional research stations at Shillongani, Diphu, Gossaigaon, Lakhimpur; and commodity research stations at Kahikuchi, Buralikson, Tinsukia, Kharua, Burnihat and Mandira were added to generate location and crop specific agricultural production packages.

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20221
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Subject: Animal Biochemistry × End date: 2022 × Start date: 2022 × Type: Thesis ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Development of a chitosan based packaging film incorporated with zinc oxide nanoparticles and green tea extract : its effect on shelf life of meat and meat product (chicken)
    (College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara Campus, 2022-09) Upadhyay, Santosh; Nath, Rita
    The present work was aimed at developing an active biopolymeric packaging film based on chitosan with antioxidant and antimicrobial activity and to assess its effect on shelf life of meat and meat product. Zinc oxide nanoparticle (ZnO NP) at a concentration of 2%w/w of chitosan and green tea extract (GTE) at 0.2% w/w of chitosan film was used after determining the antimicrobial activity of ZnO nanoparticles using agar well diffusion assay and antioxidant activity of GTE using DPPH inhibition assay. Four different combinations of films were prepared- F1 (Chitosan alone), F2 (Chitosan+ZnONPs), F3 (Chitosan+GTE) and F4 (Chitosan+ZnONPs+GTE) and compared with commonly used LDPE (control) packaging film for their physicochemical, mechanical, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. The SEM of the films at resolution of 5000x revealed uniformity of the film in all four different types of combinations confirming the proper dissolution of the added zinc oxide nanoparticles and green tea extract in the film. All the four combinations of films were transparent and of desired thickness. The films F2 and F4 were found to have tensile strength but low elongation at break % as compared to LDPE. The films F2 and F4 showed potent antimicrobial property as compared to other films while F3 and F4 showed potent antioxidant activity. The film F4 possesses both strong antioxidant and antimicrobial activity with good tensile strength and was found to be the best among all the four film combinations. The developed films were then used for wrapping of fresh meat and meat loaf (chicken) and to assess their effect on shelf life at both ambient and refrigeration temperature. Samples without film were used as negative control. The fresh meat wrapped with F4 could maintaining the quality attributes in terms of physicochemical properties like TBARS, pH, colour and microbiological qualities like standard plate count and coliform count below the threshold level up to 12 hours at ambient temperature and up to 9 days of storage at refrigeration temperature. The meat loaf wrapped with F4 could be kept up to 15 hours of storage at ambient temperature and up to 15 days of storage at refrigeration temperature maintaining the quality attributes in terms of pH, TBARS, SPC, colour and textural properties. Sensory panel evaluation also suggested that the meat loaf wrapped with F4 remained acceptable up to 15 days at refrigeration temperature with good sensory scores. A significant difference (p<.01) in crude protein and ether extract contents were observed in the fresh meat and meat loaf without film and those wrapped with F1, F2 and F3. However, minimum decline was observed in samples wrapped with F4. Migration studies on zinc oxide nanoparticles revealed no significant migration of zinc oxide nanoparticles from the film to the food matrix.