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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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2010 - 20173
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Subject: Food Science and Technology × Author: KAU × End date: 2020 × Start date: 2010 × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Recovery of solids from surimi wash water and preparation of a fish feed with the recovered solids
    (Department of Processing Technology,College of Fisheries, Panangad, 2010) Jibina, M.M; KAU; Krishnakumar, S
    A study was conducted aimed at testing the efficiency of pH reduction and heat coagulation in the recovery of solids from surimi wash water (SWW) generated during water leaching of the meat of tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) and to reduce the nutrient load in SWW. The study also included the preparation of a fish feed with the recovered solids. Temperature for heat coagulation was optimized among four different temperatures viz., 65oC, 70oC, 75oC and 80oC. Optimum temperature that provided maximum recovery was 75 oC. Isoelectric precipitation was optimized using four different pH levels viz., 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, and 5.5. Optimum pH which yielded maximum recovery was pH 5.0. By heat coagulation 1.97% solids with respect to SWW was recovered whereas isoelectric precipitation yielded only 1.41% solids. In relation to surimi the yield was 1.22% and 0.88% respectively. Heat coagulation reduced crude protein, crude fat and ash of SWW by 53.49%, 68.75% and 38.57% respectively whereas isoelectric precipitation reduced these parameters by 33.72%, 43.75% and 38.57% respectively. Heat coagulation reduced BOD and COD of SWW by 59.51% and 69.35% respectively whereas isoelectric precipitation reduced their levels by 52.92% and 63.9% respectively. Analysis of proximate composition of fish feed showed that the control using clam meat and the two feeds using recovered solids showed similar composition. Thus the use of these recovered solids in fish feed as an animal protein source is a possibility. This study recommends to surimi industry, two methods that are comparatively cheap and easy to implement for recovering solids from SWW. Heat coagulation and isoelectric precipitation can effectively recover solids from SWW and improve its quality. However, heat coagulation is the more efficient method of the two. After solid recovery, the wash water effluents are rendered safer. The recovered solids can serve as a good substitute to clam meat in the fish feed preparation even though the quantum of proteins recovered are relatively small.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Development, packaging and storage of intermediate moisture jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus L.)
    (Department of Processing Technology, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2016) Divya, S L; KAU; Saji Gomez
    Jackfruit, a tropical composite fruit with delicious, succulent bulbs, is rich in carbohydrates, protein, potassium, calcium, iron, vitamin A, B, and C. The huge size and high perishability are major bottlenecks in its post harvest handling. As a result of the recognition that jackfruit is under-utilised but has considerable potential for alleviating malnutrition and income generation, appropriate methods for post harvest handling, processing and product diversification are to be developed. In this circumstance, a study on “Development, packaging and storage of intermediate moisture jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus L.) was conducted in the Department of Processing Technology, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara. Intermediate Moisture (IM) foods are semi moist foods having ideal water activity between 0.65-0.90 and some of their water is bound by glycerol, sorbitol, salt or certain organic acids, thus preventing the growth of many micro organisms. As the intermediate moisture products are characterized by semi moist consistency, these foods have enough moisture content to permit easy chewing but low enough water to prevent spoilage. Firm, ripe bulbs of variety Muttam Varikka were subjected to additive infusion by steeping in a solution containing a binding agent (2%) in combination with a humectant (sucrose-60%), an antioxidant (ascorbic acid-0.2%) and a preservative (potassium metabisulphite-0.2%), for 12 hours. The binding agents used were calcium lactate, sodium alginate, corn starch and cassava starch. After additive infusion, the bulbs were dehydrated in a drier developed by the NIST, Thiruvananthapuram at three different temperatures viz 40±5, 50±5 and 60±5°C. Moisture content and water activity were found to be in the range of 16.20 to 22.54 per cent and 0.76 to 0.80, respectively. Moisture content, water activity, pH, vitamin C, total carotenoids, total flavanoids and microbial count showed a declining trend with increase in dehydration temperature. TSS, titratable acidity and sugar content increased with increase in dehydration temperature. Observations on physico chemical characteristics revealed significant differences only in pH and vitamin C content of the product. Therefore, the treatment possessing maximum organoleptic quality and minimum microbial load was selected as the best one. Thus intermediate moisture jackfruit containing corn starch as the matrix binding agent in combiantion with other additives was selected for storage studies The intermediate moisture jackfruit thus developed was enclosed in seven types of packaging materials (LDPE 200 gauge, plastic trays over wrapped with cling film, high impact polystyrene boxes (HIPS), laminated aluminium foil pouches, rigid plastic boxes and glass containers) followed by storage under two conditions (ambient and low temperature). Samples stored under ambient conditions became unmarketable after two months of storage, whereas the ones stored under refrigerated condition was marketable upto six months. LDPE pouches (100 gauge) and glass containers showed minimum changes in physico-chemical characteristics of the product as compared to other packaging materials. A declining trend in moisture, water activity, pH, non reducing sugar, vitamin C, total carotenoids and total flavanoids was observed during storage, whereas TSS, acidity, total ash, reducing sugar, total sugar and non enzymatic browning showed an increasing trend. Organoleptic quality declined gradually during storage, but the scores were within the acceptable range in refrigerated samples.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Development and performance evaluation of a solar dryer for copra
    (Department of Food and Agricultural Process Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2017) Sai Krishna, V; KAU; George Mathew
    Copra is one of the major traditional products dried from fresh coconut kernels. It contains about 65% oil. It is produced from various methods such as direct sun drying, solar drying, and traditional smoke drying, indirect drying, etc. The objective of making copra is to reduce the moisture content of coconut kernel to a safe storage level and thereby prevent microbiological attack and spoilage. It is also used to extract coconut oil. There are many solar drying methods introduced and developed to meet the requirements of drying. The quality of copra and its cake is influenced by the method of drying the coconut kernel. Improperly dried copra gives rise to certain moulds, the most harmful of which is the yellow green mould called Aspergillus flavus and other aflatoxin related moulds. Aflatoxin is harmful both for man and animals. Improper processing results in low oil yield. Proper post-harvest practices, as well as proper drying and storage can increase the oil yield. Proper drying of coconut results in copra with lower moisture content and lower incidence of aflatoxins. Since Kerala is the region with high humidity and comparatively low solar radiation, there are chances of uneven and uncontrolled drying of copra. Hence, an attempt was made to develop an advanced forced convection solar dryer. Evacuated tube collector was used to generate hot air and it was used to dry coconuts. In the drying chamber, the basic function of solar dryer is to heat air to a constant temperature which facilitates extraction of moisture from copra kept inside an insulated drying chamber. The coconut meat is not directly exposed to the sunlight which will retain the nutritive values. The performance evaluation of the developed solar dryer was tested at KCAET, Tavanur. The average energy produced by the solar evacuated tube collector in dry day was 63668.80 kJ. Evacuated tube collector consisted of 30 borosilicate glass tubes of 1500 mm length and the outer and inner diameters were 47 and 37 mm. The length of manifold is 2.5 m and its inner and outer diameters of cylinder are 12.5 cm and 40 cm, respectively. A 24 gauge galvanized steel sheet was used to fabricate the chamber of 75 x 75 x 50 cm. The thickness of the galvanized iron sheets was 2 mm and it was completely insulated using glass wool of thickness 12.5 mm. The height of the exhaust duct with 11 cm diameter was 120 cm. The drying chamber and the solar evacuated tube collector were connected by metal duct of 60 x 15 x 10 cm. The evacuated tube collector setup was placed on a supporting stand fabricated out of 2 x 2 cm square tube having 2 mm thickness. The solar drying was performed at full load condition using heated air at 50-60 ℃, 61-70 ℃ and 71-80 ℃ and by using different blower velocities of 0.2 m.s-1, 0.5 m.s-1 and 0.8 m.s-1 with and without glass wool insulation. The temperature was controlled by providing required shade to the evacuated tubes and theblower was controlled by using a regulator for getting various air velocities (V1, V2, and V3). Drying time, moisture content, relative humidity inside chamber and temperature inside the chamber were considered as the dependent variables. Statistical analysis (ANOVA) was performed using Design Expert software (Trail version 7.0.0). The optimized operating conditions of temperature, blower velocity and insulation were found to be of 71-80 ℃, 0.8 m.s-1 and insulation with critical thickness of 12.5 mm. Hence, the developed solar dryer operated at the optimized condition yielded good quality copra. Microbiological analysis was conducted for dried copra and it was found that the tested samples were microbiologically safe for human consumption.