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Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur

The history of agricultural education in Kerala can be traced back to the year 1896 when a scheme was evolved in the erstwhile Travancore State to train a few young men in scientific agriculture at the Demonstration Farm, Karamana, Thiruvananthapuram, presently, the Cropping Systems Research Centre under Kerala Agricultural University. Agriculture was introduced as an optional subject in the middle school classes in the State in 1922 when an Agricultural Middle School was started at Aluva, Ernakulam District. The popularity and usefulness of this school led to the starting of similar institutions at Kottarakkara and Konni in 1928 and 1931 respectively. Agriculture was later introduced as an optional subject for Intermediate Course in 1953. In 1955, the erstwhile Government of Travancore-Cochin started the Agricultural College and Research Institute at Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram and the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at Mannuthy, Thrissur for imparting higher education in agricultural and veterinary sciences, respectively. These institutions were brought under the direct administrative control of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Animal Husbandry, respectively. With the formation of Kerala State in 1956, these two colleges were affiliated to the University of Kerala. The post-graduate programmes leading to M.Sc. (Ag), M.V.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees were started in 1961, 1962 and 1965 respectively. On the recommendation of the Second National Education Commission (1964-66) headed by Dr. D.S. Kothari, the then Chairman of the University Grants Commission, one Agricultural University in each State was established. The State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) were established in India as an integral part of the National Agricultural Research System to give the much needed impetus to Agriculture Education and Research in the Country. As a result the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) was established on 24th February 1971 by virtue of the Act 33 of 1971 and started functioning on 1st February 1972. The Kerala Agricultural University is the 15th in the series of the SAUs. In accordance with the provisions of KAU Act of 1971, the Agricultural College and Research Institute at Vellayani, and the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, were brought under the Kerala Agricultural University. In addition, twenty one agricultural and animal husbandry research stations were also transferred to the KAU for taking up research and extension programmes on various crops, animals, birds, etc. During 2011, Kerala Agricultural University was trifurcated into Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU), Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) and Kerala Agricultural University (KAU). Now the University has seven colleges (four Agriculture, one Agricultural Engineering, one Forestry, one Co-operation Banking & Management), six RARSs, seven KVKs, 15 Research Stations and 16 Research and Extension Units under the faculties of Agriculture, Agricultural Engineering and Forestry. In addition, one Academy on Climate Change Adaptation and one Institute of Agricultural Technology offering M.Sc. (Integrated) Climate Change Adaptation and Diploma in Agricultural Sciences respectively are also functioning in Kerala Agricultural University.

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20171
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Subject: Agricultural Engineering × Author: Ranasalva, N × Start date: 2017 × Type: Thesis × Thesis Type: Ph.D ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Development and evaluation of a vacuum frying system for banana chips (Musa spp.)
    (Department of Food and Agricultural Process Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2017) Ranasalva, N; KAU; Sudheer, K P
    Frying is an indigenous cooking method. The deep fat frying produces crispy textured and tasty fruits and vegetable products with increased fat content. The property of oil and fried product gets degraded during deep fat frying. The vacuum frying could be an alternative technology that involves low frying temperature and pressure aids in reduced oil absorption in fried product and preserves the quality of frying oil. Accordingly an advanced vacuum frying system with dual chambers, oil storage and a frying chamber with de-oiling system was developed to produce vacuum fried raw and ripened banana chips. The developed vacuum frying system was batch type with product capacity of 12 kgh-1 and frying oil tank capacity of 30 l. The properties of the product and oil were evaluated and standardisation of process parameters was done with the developed vacuum frying system. The oil blend (Rice bran and Palm oil) at 80:20 was identified as suitable frying oil with high oxidation and thermal stability among coconut, rice bran, palm, corn and blended oils. Effective de-oiling was attained with removal of 74.1 and 71.4% oil, respectively, in VF-raw and VF-ripe centrifuged at 1000 rpm for 5 min. The vacuum frying with de-oiling nullified the effect of pre-treatments like blanching cum drying, freezing and gum coating for the production of VF-raw and VF-ripe. The quality parameters like oil content, moisture content, energy, texture, bulk density, true density, colour values, thickness expansion and sensory acceptability of vacuum fried raw and ripened banana chips were evaluated at different processing conditions. The processing conditions of vacuum frying at 105°C and 18 kPa for 13 min produced improved quality of VF-ripe with low oil content (13.35%), acrylamide content (122.8 μgkg-1), moisture content (0.869%), water activity (0.21), L* (57.28) a* (12.23), b* (56.4), yellowness index (131.3) bulk density (0.453 gcm-3), true density (1.38 gcm-3), thickness expansion (-74%) and good organoleptic properties with high sensory score of 8.6. The process protocol for the production of VF-raw has to be improved to attain consumer acceptability. The vacuum fried ripened banana chips processed at 105°C for 13 min, packed in 400 gauge LDPE with nitrogen flushed packaging showed good consumer acceptability upto 90 days of storage. After 90 days of storage, the products exhibited poor consumer acceptability due to reduced degree of crispness. The FFA value of the blended oil was within the acceptable limit upto 52 batches of frying at 105°C and 18 kPa for 13 min. The total polar compound of the blended oil increased from 9.5 to 15.7% after sixty batches which was within the safe level. The production cost formulated based on fixed and variable cost for per kg of vacuum fried raw and ripened banana chips was Rs.342/- and Rs.363/- respectively.