Thumbnail Image

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.

Browse

20211
Reset filters
Subject: Food and Nutrition × Author: Chatterjee, Lipika × Type: Thesis × Thesis Type: Ph.D ×
Reset filters

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Process standardization and shelf- life evaluation of instant rice based meal
    (2021) Chatterjee, Lipika; Bhattacharyya, Ruma
    The present study entitled “Process standardization and shelf life evaluation of Instant rice based meal” was carried out with the objective to standardize the processing conditions of the ingredients of the developed instant rice based meal, to develop for the improvement of the formulation using different levels of the developed meal ingredients, to assess the reconstitution and organoleptic property of the best selected instant rice based meal and to evaluate the shelf life of the selected formulation using different packaging materials. The study was carried out in the Food Science laboratory of the Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Post Harvest Technology Laboratory of the Department of Horticulture, Nanotechnology Laboratory in the Department of Plant Pathology, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat during 2016-2019. The raw materials were procured from the local market of Jorhat district and Horticulture farm, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat. To develop the instant rice based meal formulations, precooked dehydrated ingredients were used. Initially a base meal (35% rice, 25% pulses, 20% vegetables, 5% RBO, 12% spices and condiments) was prepared by combining cereal, pulses, vegetables, spices and condiments and from the Base meal three formulations were developed and standardized viz., Formulation I (30% rice, 28% pulses, 24% vegetables, 5% RBO, 11% spices and condiments), Formulation II (30% rice, 29% pulses, 23% vegetables, 5% RBO, 11% spices and condiments) and Formulation III (30% rice, 30% pulses, 22% vegetables, 5% RBO, 11% spices and condiments) by changing the proportion of ingredients used in base meal and by incorporating other new ingredients. All the ingredients were individually processed by microwave cooking + blanching (MCB) and pressure cooking + blanching (PCB) and then dried at different temperatures. Nutrient analysis was done following the standard methods and acceptability trial was conducted using 9 point hedonic scale by semi-trained panelist. Process standardization for all the ingredients used in the formulation of instant rice based meal was done by trial and error method following the standard procedures. According to the acceptability score, it was found that Formulation III (PCB) had scored the highest score in terms of flavour (7.90±0.13), taste (8.00±0.07), texture (8.01±0.10) and overall acceptability (8.15±0.12) by the base meal (PCB) i.e., 7.78±0.12, 7.78±0.15, 7.70±0.11 and 7.90±0.09 for flavour, taste, texture and overall acceptability respectively. Formulation I (PCB) was judged with the score of 8.10±0.15 followed by Formulation II (PCB) i.e., 7.95±0.18 in terms of overall acceptability. Among the formulations processed by microwave cooking + blanching, Formulation III was judged best with the highest overall acceptability score of 8.26±0.20, followed by Formulation I (8.10±0.17), Base meal (8.05±0.19), and Formulation II (7.90±0.18). The results showed that highest acceptability was in Formulation III (MCB), whereas lowest acceptability was recorded in Formulation II (MCB). The instant meal prepared from pressure cooked + blanched (PCB) ingredients showed that the moisture content of Base meal, Formulation I, Formulation II and Formulation III and were not statistically different (p<0.05) from each other. The results of the protein content of the instant rice based meal formulations prepared by using microwave cooked + blanched (MCB) and pressure cooked + blanched (PCB) ingredients were found to be in the range of 22.63±0.23g/100g (Base meal) to 26.77±0.17g/100g (Formulation III) and 21.54±0.21g/100g (Base meal) to 25.19±0.16g/100g (Formulation III) respectively and were significantly different at p<0.05. The total mineral, crude fibre and carbohydrate content of the instant rice based meal formulations prepared by using microwave cooked + blanched (MCB) were found to be significantly higher (p<0.05) as compared to the instant formulations prepared from pressure cooked + blanched (PCB) ingredients. But the mineral content did not vary significantly (p<0.05) between the instant rice based meal formulations prepared by using microwave cooked + blanched (MCB) and pressure cooked + blanched (PCB) ingredients and this may be because of the fact that minerals like iron, calcium and phosphorus are heat stable therefore cooking method and temperature do not appear to reduce the quantity or availability of this mineral but they were found to differ significantly (p<0.05) within the formulations The best selected formulation on the basis of sensory scores and nutrient composition i.e., Formulation III was then vacuum packed in two packaging material i.e., aluminium laminated pouch and HDPE pouch of 200 gauge and was further subjected to storage studies i.e., sensory evaluation, nutrient composition, peroxide vale, free fatty acid value and total microbial count at a regular interval of 2 months for a period of 6 months. With the advancement in storage period, nutrient content, peroxide value, free fatty acid value and total microbial count increased significantly (p<0.05) and was however within the permissible limit indicating acceptability of the formulations upto a period of 6 months. Highest peroxide value of Formulation III was observed in HDPE pouch starting from 0 day till 6 months i.e., from 1.81±0.26 meq O2/kg (0 day) to 4.42±0.12 meq O2/kg (6months) in MCB and from 1.87±0.27 meq O2/kg (0 day) which gradually increased to 4.84±0.32 meq O2/kg after 6months of storage.. The free fatty acid (FFA) content of Formulation III (MCB) stored in the aluminium laminated pouch was in the range of 0.18±0.04mg/100g at 0 day to 3.45±0.12mg/100g after 6 months of storage and that stored in HDPE pouch showed a gradual increase from 0.18±0.04g/100g at 0 day and finally to 3.79±0.14g/100g at 6 month across storage. The FFA content of Formulation III (PCB) stored in the aluminium laminated pouch increased from an initial value of 0.18±0.03mg/100g at 0 day to a final value of 3.40±0.12mg/100g at 6 month while the Formulation III stored in HDPE pouch increased significantly (p<0.05) from 0.18±0.04mg/100g in 0 day to 3.82±0.26 mg/100g in 6 months. Statistically, it was observed that a significant decrease (p<0.05) in the FFA content was observed in the Formulation III packed and stored in aluminium laminated pouch when compared to the Formulation III stored in HDPE pouch. The total microbial count of the formulations significantly increased (p<0.05) with the increase in the period of storage. The results of total microbial count of Formulation III (MCB) stored in the aluminium laminated pouch and HDPE pouch increased significantly (p<0.05) from 1.72×103cfu/g (2 months) to 4.02×103cfu/g (6 months) and 1.90×103cfu/g to 5.14×103cfu/g respectively. The total microbial count of the Formulation III (PCB) stored in aluminium laminated pouch and HDPE pouch increased significantly (p<0.05) with the advancement of storage days from 1.84×103cfu/g at 2 months to 4.21×103cfu/g at 6months and 2.12×103cfu/g at 2months to 5.38×103cfu/g at 6months of storage respectively. Thus, it can be concluded that microwave processed Formulation III packed and stored in aluminium laminated pouch is the best packaging material for storing instant rice based meal due to its barrier function against the migration of moisture, oxygen and other gases.