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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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Subject: Horticulture × Author: KAU × End date: 2023 × Start date: 2020 × Thesis Type: Ph.D ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Process optimisation and quality evaluation of Jackfruit based probiotic food products
    (Department of Community Science, College of Horticulture,Vellanikkara, 2020) Remya, P R; KAU; Sharon, C L
    The concept of food has changed from its basic definition of satisfying hunger and nourishing the body, to health maintenance and prevention of diseases. Probiotics are one among such foods. The incorporation of probiotics to locally available foods may help to develop its nutritional profile and therapeutic value. Hence, the study entitled “Process optimisation and quality evaluation of jackfruit based probiotic food products” was undertaken with the objective of standardising probiotic food mixtures with raw jackfruit flour, instant shake mixes with the probiotic food mixture, probiotic yoghurt with ripe jackfruit and also to evaluate the nutritional, organoleptic and shelf life qualities of these developed food products. Probiotic food mixtures were developed with the incorporation of raw jackfruit flour, defatted soya flour, jackfruit seed flour, tomato and papaya in various proportions. The proportion of ingredients were standardised with four sets of treatments and from each set, one food mixture with maximum organoleptic scores were selected. The experiment was repeated for both koozha and varikka varieties. The food mixture containing 60 per cent raw jackfruit flour was selected from set 1 and 2 whereas food mixture containing 50 per cent raw jackfruit flour and 20 per cent jackfruit seed flour was selected from set 3 and 4. For all the selected food mixtures, the conditions were optimised for attaining the maximum viable count of L. acidophilus. Fifty grams of the food mixture at pH 4.5 fermented with 300 μl of inoculum for 24 hours at 370C gave the maximum viable count of L. acidophilus ranging from 10.90 to 10.94 log cfu/g. The selected food mixtures from each set along with their respective unfermented samples were freeze dried and packed in laminated polyethylene pouches and kept for storage studies under ambient conditions for a period of six months. Titratable acidity (2.32 to 2.96 %), protein (22.84 to 25.16 g/100g), thiamine (0.064 to 0.090 μg/100g), riboflavin (0.048 to 0.088 μg/100g), in vitro starch digestibility (79.89 to 81.94 %) and in vitro protein digestibility (77.49 to 83.83 %) were significantly higher in the fermented food mixtures when compared with the unfermented samples. The probiotic count of the food mixtures ranged from 10.85 to 10.90 log cfu/g. Based on the nutritive, sensory and probiotic viability, the food mixtures with 50 per cent raw jackfruit flour, 20 per cent defatted soya flour, 20 per cent jackfruit seed flour and 10 per cent tomato pulp were selected from both koozha and varikka varieties for further analysis. Glycemic index of the food mixtures were assessed and a low glycemic index of 45.35 for koozha and 47.99 for varikka was obtained. Using the best probiotic food mixture one each from koozha and varikka varieties, two instant shake mixes were prepared. The developed shake mixes contain 50 per cent fermented food mixtures along with other ingredients. The shake mixes were packed in laminated polyethylene pouches for a period of two months and the quality (nutritional, organoleptic and shelf life) aspects were analysed at 15 days interval. Both the shake mixes were nutritionally and organoleptically acceptable without the presence of fungi, yeast and insect infestation throughout the storage period. The probiotic count of the developed instant shake mixes varied from 10.14 to 10.19 log cfu/g. Jackfruit incorporated probiotic yoghurts were standardized and the yoghurt with 30 per cent jackfruit pulp was found to be the most acceptable. Yoghurts were prepared using homogenized milk (HM), skimmed milk (SM) and a combination of both. The conditions for the growth of L.acidophilus were optimised for all the selected yoghurts. Twenty five grams of the yoghurt, fermented with 100 μl of inoculum at 38 0C gave the maximum total viable count of L.acidophilus ranging from 10.84 to 10.92 log cfu/g. The prepared yoghurts were kept under refrigeration for a period of 15 days for quality evaluation. The probiotic yoghurts were found to be acceptable with a mean score of more than seven even at the 15th day of storage and the probiotic viability ranged from 10.62 to 10.79 log cfu/g. The cost of probiotic fermented food mixture was Rs. 260.31 /100g, instant shake mix was Rs. 138.54 /100g and that of probiotic yoghurt was Rs. 18.56-19.56 /100 ml. The study revealed that jackfruit can be a suitable substrate for probiotic fermentation and the probiotic food mixtures, instant shake mixes and probiotic yoghurt can be successfully developed. Further research can be done for the development of innovative probiotic products from jackfruit.