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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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  • ThesisItemOpen Access
    Interaction studies of microbial enzymes and phytochemicals of Bael (Aegle marmelos) in flavour enhancement cow's milk ghee
    (College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara Campus, 2022) Saikia, Rashmi Rekha; Borpuzari, Trishna
    A study was conducted to develop flavour and colour enhanced cow’s milk ghee using starter cultures as a source of microbial enzymes and phytochemicals of bael (Aegle marmelos) fruit pulp extract. The experiment was conducted in the laboratories of the Department of Livestock Products Technology, the All India Coordinated Research Project on Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology, the Department of Livestock Production and Management, the Department of Veterinary Biochemistry, College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara, Guwahati–781 022; and the Central Analytical Instrumentation Facility, Guwahati Biotech Park Incubation Centre of the Indian Institute of Technology, Amingaon, Kamrup, Guwahati-781 031 during the period from August 2020 to April 2022. Lactococcus lactis ssp. lactis var. diacetylactis and yoghurt cultures of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus were used @ 3% (v/v) in the study. Bael pulp extract was added @ 1% (v/v) to the treatment groups. Cow’s milk ghee was prepared by the heat clarification method. The flavour and colour qualities, FFA contents, antioxidant compounds, sensory attributes, proximate composition and shelf-life of the cow’s milk ghee thus prepared were studied. The ghee was stored at ambient temperature to study the shelf-life. A total of 34 flavour compounds were detected in the samples of the treatment groups as well as the reference sample by GC-MS studies. Identical numbers of FFA were also detected in the ghee samples. The flavour of the ghee was attributed by the FFA along with the other flavouring compounds like the alcohol, hydrocarbons, ketones, terpenoids, organic acids and 9 other compounds identified in the ghee samples. Ascorbic acid, thymol, phytol and β-sitosterol were the four antioxidant compounds detected by GC-MS. The maximum radical scavenging activity (60.160±0.541%) was observed in the sample of T4. Bael pulp extract added ghee samples had higher DPPH inhibition activity as compared to the other groups and the reference sample. Colour component b* was found in higher values in bael pulp extract added ghee samples. Highly significant positive correlation was found between the sensory evaluation scores for colour and the colorimetric assessment of the colour components (b* value). Higher panel ratings for flavour and colour of the samples of T4 group indicated that bael pulp extract indeed had a positive effect on the flavour and the colour characteristics of cow’s milk ghee. The moisture and ash contents of the ghee were highly significantly influenced by the starter cultures and addition of bael pulp extract while only significant difference could be found in their protein content. Shelf-life study was done based on the FFA and peroxide values. Correlation studies revealed a highly significant difference between FFA and PV while a negative correlation existed between the FFA x antioxidant activity and PV. A gradual increase in FFA and PV along with the increase during the storage period was found in all the treatment groups. Even after 6mon of storage, FFA and PV were found to be much lower than those recommended by the FSSAI (2016). From the study it was found that the starter culture Lc. lactis ssp. lactis biovar diacetylactis used in the study in combination with the bael pulp extract produced cow’s milk ghee with improved flavour and colour attributes and had an extended shelf-life at room temperature.
  • ThesisItemOpen Access
    Detection and deactivation of antimicrobial residues in pork
    (College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara Campus, 2022-09) Debbarma, Param; Laskar, S K
    The present study aims to detect antimicrobial residues in collected pork samples, isolation and in-vitro study of the resistance pattern of meat-borne pathogens (Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus aureus) against 12 commonly used antimicrobials in pig husbandry and effect of different cooking methods (viz, boiling, roasting and microwaving) on deactivation/inactivation of antimicrobial residues. The preliminary screening of 261 pork samples by microbial inhibition assay using endospores of Bacillus subtilis MTCC 441 as test organism revealed that none of the samples were positive for antimicrobial residues except 3 (three) which were doubtful to have traces of antimicrobial residues. A total of 80 pork samples were further screened by Ultra-Fast Liquid Chromatography system (Model: Shimadzu Prominence LC-20AD, Detector-SPD-20AUV/ Vis; C18 Column: BDS Premium, 250 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 m) to detect OTC, TTC, CIP and GEN residues. OTC and CIP residues were detected in 2.5% and 1.25% of the samples, while none of the samples detected TTC and GEN residues. The overall recovery rate of Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus aureus from the pork samples were 28.75%, 9.09% and 31.25%, respectively. All the isolates showed variable ranges of resistance against the tested antimicrobials. Highest resistance was recorded against ampicillin (75-100%), followed by trimethoprim (37.5-100%), cefepime (25-75%), nalidixic acid (12.5-62.5%), sulfafurazole (0-37.5%), ciprofloxacin (0-37.5%), chloramphenicol (0-37.5%), ceftriaxone (0-25%) and amoxiclav (0-12.5%). All the isolates however, recorded 100% sensitivity against amikacin, gentamicin and tetracycline. The effect of cooking viz. boiling, roasting and microwaving revealed significant reduction (p˂0.001) in the residual concentration of antimicrobials (OTC, TTC, CIP and GEN). Cooking by microwaving recorded highest reduction (44.48-91.06%) followed by roasting (32.11-85.92%) and boiling (22.02-73.33%). Thus, cooking temperature and time can have a significant effect on the losses of antimicrobial residues and provides an additional safety margin to the consumers.
  • ThesisItemOpen Access
    Effects of different methods of smoking and levels of fat on certain quality characteristics of buffalo meat sausages
    (College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara Campus, 2022) Mali, Anindita; Laskar, S K
    Buffalo meat sausages were developed employing different methods of smoking and levels of fat to obtain a healthy product with good shelf-life properties and economic feasibility. Three primary treatment groups were prepared, namely- T1 (20% fat), T2 (10% fat + 10% inulin), T3 (7.5% fat + 12.5% inulin), which were subjected to three subgroup A (Conventional smoking), B (3% Liquid smoke), C (7% Liquid smoke). The control was prepared with 20% fat without any sub-treatments. 5 batches of buffalo meat sausages were prepared and evaluated for various important qualitative parameters on the 1st, 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th day of refrigerated storage, including estimation of PAH and cost of production. The ES and CY were seen to significantly increase with the replacement of fat with inulin and the highest was observed in the treatment group T3. The pH value decreased significantly (P<0.05) in all the treatments in comparison to the control, the lowest of them being T2A (5.69 ± 0.09). With higher inclusion of inulin, the aw, and WHC significantly (P<0.05) increased in the treatment. The TBARS values were significantly (P<0.05) lower in the treatment group T3, ranging (from 0.30 ± 0.02 to 0.34 ± 0.03). The tyrosine value did not vary significantly among the control and treatments. However, T3B (10.14 ± 0.38) and T3C (10.10 ± 0.44) were significantly lower. The proximate analysis depicted treatment T3C to have the highest moisture content of 68.62 ± 0.45. The protein content did not vary significantly between the control and treatment and ranged from 19.05 to 19.72%. The fat content reduced from 19.12± 0.46 to 8.08± 0.33 when inulin was substituted for fat. The highest fat per cent was observed in T1A (19.12 ± 0.46) and the lowest inT3C (8.08 ± 0.33). The ash content increased from 1.04 ± 0.07(control) to 2.63 ± 0.06 (T3C) with the addition of inulin at higher percentages. The lowest calorific value was obtained in T3C (155.79 ± 1.42), corresponding to the lowest level of added fat. The mean log10 cfu for total plate count showed significant (P<0.05) differences between the control and other treatments, without any significant difference among the treatments. The buffalo meat sausages were not detected for E. coli, yeast and mould, Salmonella and Staphylococcus. The TPA results showed that with higher inclusion of inulin as a fat replacer, the hardness, springiness, chewiness and resilience significantly increased. However, cohesiveness was not significantly affected. The colour profile study depicted a significant increase in the L* value, with higher inclusion of inulin (54.95 ± 0.22) in T3B; however, the a* values were inversely co-related to L*. The b* did not vary between treatments and control, except for treatment T3C. The estimation of PAH depicted that the potent carcinogen Benzo(a)pyrene was absent in control and all the treated samples. However, the PAH compounds, Fluoranthene and Chrysene, were observed in the samples in both conventionally smoked and liquid smoke added products. The concentration of Fluoranthene differed significantly and was found to be the lowest in T1B (15.10 ± 0.00) and the highest in T2C (53.47 ± 9.04), while Chrysene content did not vary significantly and ranged from (32.27 ± 0.97 to 38.37 ± 1.77). Considering the above parameters, T2 was found to be better than other treatment groups, and therefore the sausage samples of T2, along with the control, were subjected to the organoleptic evaluation. The subjective evaluation revealed that the conventional smoking treatment T2A had the highest scores for appearance, colour, flavour, texture and overall acceptability.The developed buffalo meat sausages were found to be stable for up to 21 days under vacuum packaging at a refrigeration temperature (4 ± 10C), after which the microbial counts exceeded the FSSAI standards. The cost of production was calculated based on the market prices of the raw materials. The highest was observed for T3C (Rs. 763.45/kg), while the lowest was for control (Rs. 518.00/kg). Based on the findings of the present study, treatment group T2, in particular, T2A, was the best among all the treatments.