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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Open Access
Development and quality evaluation of microencapsulated banana pseudostem juice powder
(Department of Food and Agricultural Process Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2016) Saranya, S; KAU; Sudheer, K P
Banana pseudostem, often discarded after the harvest of bunch is very good for health. Its disposal in the field lead to unhygienic surroundings and environmental pollution. Juice from banana stem is a well-known remedy for urinary disorders. But the major problem associated with the pseudostem juice is its perishability and immediate browning reactions which lead to reduction of its acceptability by consumers. Considering these facts, a study was undertaken to obtain powdered products from pseudostem juice. The intention of the study was to develop a process protocol for microencapsulated banana pseudostem juice powder, standardisation of the spray drying parameters, and quality analysis of developed product. Three powder based products were developed from banana pseudostem juice by spray drying technology. Product-I comprised of pseudostem juice-sugar combination with ginger as flavourant. Product-II consists of a blend of banana pseudostem and horse gram with ginger extract. However, the third product from banana pseudostem juice was fortified with milk, horse gram extract and cardamom flavour. The process parameters were optimised as inlet temperature of 180ºC and outlet temperature of 65-68ºC for product-I & II, whereas inlet air temperature of 185°C and outlet temperature of 74-92°C were chosen for Product-III. The feed pump rpm of 15 and main blower rpm of 1800 were kept constant for developing all three products. The physicochemical characteristics, reconstitution and flow properties were determined. Standardised products were stored in aluminium pouches and quality parameters of product-I and II were analysed up to six months at an interval of two months and Product- III was stored up to three months for verifying its stability during storage. Based on quality analysis and sensory evaluation, best samples were selected from product-I, II and III i.e., T6-180°C (15% sugar + 25% maltodextrin + 56% pseudostem juice), T6-180°C (25% maltodextrin + 30% horse gram extract + 43% pseudostem juice), and T12-185°C (50% milk + 30% horse gram extract + 20% pseudostem juice), respectively. Cost analysis of the products was done and cost of production of one kilo gram was estimated as Rs.195/-, Rs.208/- and Rs.243/- for product I, II and III, respectively.
Open Access
Development and evaluation of a jackfruit peeler cum corer
(Department of Food and Agricultural Process Engineering , Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2016) Hareesha Shidenur, T; KAU; Santhi Mary, Mathew
India is the largest producer of jackfruit followed by Bangladesh and Thailand. Kerala, which lies in the southernmost part of Western Ghats, is well known for its diversity in jackfruit with cultivated area of 90,225 ha and production of 294 million fruits per year. Peeling, coring and bulb separation of jackfruit are time consuming, causes drudgery and very tedium in manual operation. However, a major chunk of the production is wasted due to lack of post-harvest technological interventions, andhence jackfruit isconsidered as underutilized fruit. The present study aims at development and evaluation of a jackfruit peeler cum corer machine. The principle operation of the machine is, as the jackfruit rotates peeling was done helically due to the linear motion of the blade from bottom to top. Similarly cutting-coring operation was performed by screw mechanism which pressed the core removing tool against the fruit and cut into four portion. Finally bulbs were separated manually. Performance evaluation of the machine was conducted in the laboratory to optimize the speed of fruit holder (90, 120 and 150 rpm) and corer pulley (110, 130 and 150 rpm) with three size of jackfruit, by considering the minimum processing time and bulb wastage with higher efficiency. The peeling operation at optimized speed (90 rpm) showed minimum bulb wastage for small (7.85%), medium (7.24%) and large (6.20%) sized fruits with high peeling efficiency of 85.27, 83.51 and 80.64% with a trend of increasing operational time of 38.24, 44.58 and 50.34 secrespectively. Similarly coring operation at optimal speed (130 rpm) showed processing time of 16.98, 22.39 and 24.83 sec and high coring efficiency of 92.85, 90.32 and 82.03% with bulb wastage of 10.337, 7.81 and 6.09% respectively. The average power consumption of optimal operational speeds for medium size jackfruit with load was found as 0.0149±0.0029 kWh/fruit whereas in without load condition was found to be 0.0104±0.0007 kWh/fruit. As per the comparative study, the average time taken for peeling, cutting-coring and bulb separation was more (28.8 min/fruit) during manual operation and in case of mechanical operation it was only 13.3 min/fruit. The maximum throughput of machine was 37.5 kg/h, whereas in manual operation 17.36 kg/h. The cost of the machine has been estimated as Rs. 46950/-. The operational cost of the machine was Rs. 52.97/h whereas, in manual operation, it wasRs. 47.5/h. The benefit-cost ratio of the developed machine was 2.32:1 and in case of manual operation, it was2.66:1.
Open Access
Development and optimization of microwave assisted process for extraction of nutmeg mace essential oil
(Department of Food and Agricultural Process Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2016) Nukasani, Sagarika; KAU; Prince, M V
Essential oils which are the volatile components distilled from the aromatic plant materials, have gained importance in cosmetic, therapeutic, aromatic, fragrant and spiritual uses. But the conventional methods of distillation carry the disadvantages mainly concerned with the quality of final product such as loss of some volatile notes, low extraction efficiency and degradation of unsaturated ester compounds through thermal or hydrolytic effects. These processes also requires high extraction times and energy consumption. However, in order to reduce these difficulties microwave energy could be effectively used to mediate extraction of essential oil in place of steam or water heating in order to introduce its inherent advantages. As in the case of microwave heating of food materials, the internal heating of the in-situ water within the plant material by the microwaves leads to the rupture of the glands and oleferous receptacles freeing the essential oil which is then evaporated by the in-situ water of the plant material. The water then evaporated could then be passed through a condenser outside the microwave cavity where it is condensed. This study envisages development of a microwave assisted extraction system for extracting nutmeg mace essential oil. The developed extraction system consists of a microwave cavity, extraction unit, supporting stand and energy meter. In order to evaluate the developed system towards extraction of nutmeg mace essential oil, the process parameters like solid: water ratios of 1:14. 1:10 and 1:6, power densities of 9.6, 14.4 and 19.2 W/g and soaking times of 2, 3 and 4 h which would influence the essential oil yield, extraction time and energy consumption were chosen as independent variables. The physical quality characteristics like refractive index, specific gravity, solubility and colour of essential oil were selected as dependent variables. The optimized conditions of solid: water ratio, power density and soaking time for extracting nutmeg mace essential oil in microwave assisted process was found to be 1: 14, 14.4 W/g and 4 h respectively. Therefore, microwave assisted extraction could be considered as an extraction technique that results in the production of high quality oil in higher quantity in less time with minimum energy consumption.
Open Access
Development and quality evaluation of millet fortified tuber based extruded RTE products
(Department of Food and Agricultural Process Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2016) Seema, B R; KAU; Sudheer, K P
As the eating patterns are changing day by day, snack foods play very important role in the diet of the modern consumer. Extrusion technology has a pivotal role in the snack and ready to eat breakfast food industry. The development of new value added products like pasta and expanded products would enhance their food, and economic value. Such products are more palatable and acceptable to the modern day consumers. So the present study was undertaken to develop ready to cook (RTC) pasta and ready to eat (RTE) expanded products from corn, ragi, rice, atta, elephant yam, purple yam and drumstick. Six combinations of pasta products consists of flour mix containing tuber, wheat, millet flour and a binding agent like guar gum in different proportion. The quality parameters cooking properties (cooking time, swelling power, solid loss and WAR), physical properties (expansion ratio and bulk density) and engineering properties (colour and texture) for various pasta products were determined. Pasta products were packed in 400 gauge LDPE and kept for storage studies up to three months. For development of RTE product, preliminary trials was conducted and based on those trials feed moisture content and screw speed were fixed. The blends of seven different combinations were extruded at temperature of 100, 110 and 120°C at a screw speed of 350 rpm and 17.5% feed moisture content. Considering the results of sensory evaluation, seven combinations were selected out of 21 extrudates. The seven extruded product was evaluated for physical, functional, colour and textural properties. The proximate composition in terms of protein, fat, carbohydrate and total energy were also analysed. The extruded products were stored in aluminium pouches and with nitrogen flushing. The quality parameters (moisture content, water activity, colour and textural properties) of stored RTE products were analysed upto one month with an interval of 15 days. Based on optimization and sensory evaluation, Ragi(25%): Corn(20%): Atta(25%): Elephant yam(10%): Purple yam(15%): Drumstick(3%): Guar gum(2%) i.e., P6 pasta sample and Corn(60%): Elephant yam(15%): Purple yam(20%): Drumstick(5%) (P4T1) RTE product was selected as the best combination out of all combinations under concern.
Open Access
Development and Evaluation of a Continuous Cacoa Pod Breaker
(Department of Food and Agricultural Process Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2016) Srikanth Vankayalapati; KAU; Rajesh, G K
Cocoa {Theobroma cacao) is a commercial plantation crop in India. It is the main raw material in the production of chocolates, cosmetics, health drinks, pharmaceuticals etc. The cocoa beans which are embedded in a mucilaginous pulp inside the pod consist of two parts- seed coat and seed cotyledon. Seed cotyledon is the material in which characteristic flavour and aroma produced during fermentation. At present, cocoa pod breaking and bean extraction from crust pod are done manually by using sickle which is a labour intensive method. Manual chopping could increase the number of damage bean which leads to fungal attack. In order to eliminate the drudgery involved in manual cocoa pod breaking, avoid injury to workers, increase efficiency and to ensure high quality products, an attempt was made to develop a continuous cocoa pod breaker. Before the fabrication of machine, the engineering properties of cocoa viz., physical, mechanical and frictional properties of fresh cocoa pod were determined. Physical properties studied were size, shape, mass and density. The mechanical and frictional properties viz., compression test, angle of repose and co-efficient of friction were determined as per the standard procedures. The continuous cocoa pod breaker consists of hopper, metal rollers, chute, rotating cylindrical strainers, frame, prime mover and pulleys. Cocoa fruit was fed manually in to breaker unit through hopper. Gap between the rollers was set so as the cocoa kernels were not damage during the pod breaking process. Tangential force of the roller pushed the cocoa pod towards the gap resulted in breakage. Cocoa pod, kernels and placenta then discharged to strainer through chute. Rotation of strainer separated the cocoa kernels from cocoa pod and placenta, and passed through the pores of the strainer. It was then collected and could be directly send for fermentation process. The broken pods were remained above the strainer and got separated. Performance of the machine was evaluated in terms of capacity, energy requirement, percent bean damage, per cent bean recovery, shelling efficiency and machine efficiency. The average capacity and breaking efficiency of cocoa pod breaker was 550.5 kg/h and 95-98 percent, respectively. Bean damage percentage was 0.5 per cent. The shelling efficiency and beans separation efficiency of the strainer at inclination, 45° 96.42 and 86.5 per cent, respectively. The performance of the developed cocoa pod breaker was compared with traditional method of pod breaking, the total time required to break 100 kg cocoa pods and collect the beans for mechanical and manual method was 10.44 and 50.17 minute, respectively. The field evaluation of the developed machine was done with two cocoa varieties viz., Criollo and Forastero. The performance of the machine was evaluated based on its capacity, per cent bean damage, efficiency of cocoa pod breaker and energy requirement. From the field trail it is understood that, the efficiency of the machine is higher for Criollo variety as compared to Forastero variety. The fermentation studies were conducted in artificial fermentation chamber, poly house and ambient condition and it was compared with three different environmental conditions (ambient, poly house and fermentation chamber). The effects of treatments on dependent variables like temperature, pH. moisture content and microorganisms during fermentation process were studied. In this study, fermentation of cocoa beans on all methods in the artificial fermentation chamber found the best among the other treatments for the production of good quality cocoa. Similarly, the box method was found the best among the other treatments for the production of good quality cocoa. The cost of operation of cocoa pod breaker of 550 kg/h capacity was estimated as Rs.74.42/-
Open Access
Development and evaluation of an ultra violet radiation assisted with ohmic heating system for preservation of pineapple juice
(Department of Food and Agricultural Process Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2015) Dileep, Sean Y; KAU; Prince, M V
Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is one such non-thermal processing alternative that has been shown to be effective against many types of foodborne pathogens. But there is a limitation of practical application of UV to disinfect liquid food products due to low penetration depth. Ohmic heating (OH), another promising technology, has been widely applied in food processes. This generates heat immediately in the food product, creating a rapid and uniform heating that reduces thermal abuse, as opposed to conventional thermal processing methods. Often times, ohmic heating cause heat-sensitive nutrients within food to be deteriorated by excessive current flow. These advanced technologies could contribute to shorten processing times, energy savings, and highly balanced safe food; however, they alone still cannot guarantee food safety without damaging the food’s quality. Therefore, a new concept to combine ultraviolet and ohmic heating has been extensively evaluated. This combination technology would optimize each of the individual technology’s strengths and reduce each of their individual weaknesses. The present study envisages development of a UV radiation assisted with ohmic heating system for pineapple juice and evaluation of the developed system in retaining the quality characteristics and microbial safety. In this study, a dual cylindrical ohmic and ultraviolet treatment combination continuous flow chambers was designed and fabricated to pasteurize the pineapple juice. UV treatment 800, 1200 and 1600 mJ/cm2. Ohmic treatment until the sample temperature reached 50°C, 55°C and 60°C; and ohmic heating combined with UV treatment as the temperature rose to 50 °C, 55 °C, and 60 °C along with 800, 1200 and 1600 mJ/cm2 dosages. Combined ohmic heating at 50 °C and UV treatment of 1200 mJ/cm2 were found to be superior based on biochemical, microbiological and organoleptical characteristics. Storage study of best sample revealed that could give a shelf life of 25 days under a refrigeration temperature at 4 °C retaining its biochemical characteristics while keeping the microbial level safe.
Open Access
Design and development of a solar refrigeration system
(Department of Food and Agricultural Process Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2015) Rakhi, J F; KAU; George, Mathew
When solar power, either thermal or photovoltaic, is used to provide energy to any refrigeration system, it is called as solar refrigeration system. The main objective of the study was to design and develop a solar absorption refrigeration system and performance evaluation of the developed system. In this study 40 L capacity three fluid vapour absorption refrigeration system (VARS) was designed and a commercially available three fluid absorption refrigerator working on electricity was procured and modified for using heat energy. The solar radiation at KCAET Tavanur was measured and it was observed that a maximum solar radiation intensity of 783.81 W/m2obtained at 1.00 PM at Tavanur. The performance of the modified VARS was tested using hot water obtained from solar water heater. It was found that the hot water from the solar water heater was not sufficient to produce any cooling effect. Hence a hybrid system using hot water from solar water heater and subsequent heating of the hot water using other heating sources such as electricity and LPG were utilized and the hot water was converted to steam at high temperature. Under this new set up the system worked perfectly and produced refrigeration. The performance of the modified VARS was then tested in the laboratory under simulated conditions using water at 100°C, steam at 103°C, 106°C, 116°C and 121°C and using electric heater. The experiments with low temperatures could not produce any cooling whereas steam at116°C and 121°C and electric heater at 150°C produced refrigeration effect. The corresponding generator temperature obtained were 105°C and 110°C and the ice tray temperatures were 6.8°C and 1.9°C. The temperature obtained in the cabin of the refrigerator was 10.9°C and 8.1°C which was ideal for keeping fruits vegetables and other perishable items. For effective working of this system using only on solar energy, instead of flat plate collector, a solar steam generator that could produce steam can be used.
Open Access
Studies on microencapsulation of vanilla extract
(Department of Food and Agricultural Process Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2015) Sariga, S; KAU; Prince, M V
Vanilla is one of the minor spices, most popular flavoring agent and second most expensive spice in the world. Vanillin flavour is highly volatile, heat sensitive and application in food incorporation is limited; this can be minimized by encapsulation technique with suitable wall material. The microencapsulation technique protects the vanilla extract from undesirable changes and coverts into a free flowing powder. Spray drying is the most common and commercial method for carry out the microencapsulation process. Therefore, to increase the storage stability of the microencapsulated vanilla extract powder, an investigation has been taken up to develop optimum process parameters to produce best quality microencapsulated vanilla extract powder. The microencapsulation of vanilla extract was carried out in tall type spray drier with twin fluid atomizer. Maltodextrin and maize starch were used as wall material. Different proportion of wall materials were used for the emulsification such as 100% maltodextrin, 100% maize starch, combination of 75% maltodextrin and 25% maize starch and 75% maize starch and 25% maltodextrin. The wall materials were emulsified with 10, 20 and 30% of vanilla extract for spray drying. The physico-chemical characteristics of vanilla extract and wall materials, and emulsion characteristics were carried out and the emulsions were spray dried at different inlet temperatures of 170, 180 and 1900C. The encapsulated vanilla extract powder were collected and packed in aluminum foil and stored in room temperature for five months. The powder characteristics of encapsulated vanilla extract powders were carried out and analyzed. Based on the emulsion and powder characteristics, optimum conditions for the production of best quality encapsulated vanilla extract powder were found out. The study concluded that the encapsulated vanilla extract powder produced from 100% maize starch, vanilla extract concentration of 10% and inlet air temperature of 1800C was found to be superior. The cost of one kilogram of optimised microencapsulated vanilla extract powder using spray drying technique was estimated to be Rs.850.
Open Access
Development and evaluation of a cassava (Manihot esculenta) storage cum packaging system
(Department of post harvest technology and agricultural processing, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2014) Chinthana, D T; KAU; George, Mathew
Cassava (Manihot esculenta) has its origins in South America. This tuber root crop has become the staple food of the economically weaker sections of these countries as this can be grown in most of the adverse climatic and in fertile soil condition. In India the major production today is still from Kerala followed by Tamil Nadu and Andra Pradesh where it is gaining commercial importance for the production of Sago and Starch. The shelf life of this crop starts deteriorating immediately after harvesting and becomes unmarketable within 2-3 days. Hence, this study was undertaken to develop a more practical and affordable method to increase the shelf life of cassava by keeping in mind the economically weaker sections of society worldwide. The method chosen was to store the fresh cassava roots in boxes made up of locally available materials such as (wood, plastic, plywood) and filled with easily available cheap filler materials which are within the reach of the common man. To maintain moist condition of the filler materials small quantity of water was sprinkled daily. The filler materials selected ranged from different types of soils like sand , clay and laterite soil, cheap synthetic materials like sponge and plastic cuttings, and easily available organic materials like cassava leaves, coir, saw dust and wooden shavings. For the present study, the size of the box was developed to house around 6 Kgs of the roots along with filler materials. Two locally available popular varieties of Cassava viz. M4 and Muttechi were chosen for the study. First experiment was carried out with M4 variety with nine different filler materials as explained above stored in nine wooden boxes. Quality parameters were studied periodically in a range 5 days. It was found that cassava could be stored for 40 days using wooden shavings as filler material followed by sawdust and coconut fibre for 35day. The second experiment was the repetition of the same study with another variety commonly known as Muttechi variety in Kerala. Quality parameters were studied periodically in a range 5 – 7 days. It was found that cassava could be stored for 37 days using wooden shavings as filler material followed by sawdust (32days) and coconut fibre 27days. First two experiments revealed that synthetic filler materials like sponge, plastic etc were harmful to their survival. Organic materials like cassava leaves, Sand as a filler material was good in the initial stages but could not support for longer durations. The above two experiments were conducted using wooden boxes. In order to find the impact of material of construction of box on the storage duration of cassava, a third study was done choosing three materials (wooden box, plastic box and plywood boxes). Nine boxes were used for the study (3 each for the same material). The best three filler materials coconut fibre, saw dust and wooden shavings out of nine filler materials used in first and second experiments were used in the third experiment R.H 75% and temperature was 32ºC. Results of third experiment showed that the storage box played an important role more than that of the filler materials, as the roots stored in plywood box with best of the three filler materials could not survive for more than 15 days Comparing all the quality parameters it was observed that cassava roots stored in wooden box with wooden shavings as filler materials with routine replenishing of moisture by adding small quantity of water was best suited for extending the shelf life of the cassava roots up to 37 days during winter and the results could be less during summer with the extended shelf life of around 15 days. The economic analysis of the storage system was conducted and it was found for storing 1kg of cassava in the developed storage system with wooden shavings as a filler material including labour charges was Rs. 4.62/-. Hence, it can be concluded that this simple method of extending the shelf life of cassava roots by storing them in wooden boxes with wooden shavings as filler material with retention of moisture in the boxes by sprinkling small quantity of water daily is very economical, successful and easy for quick transportation.

Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur

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