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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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20181
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Subject: Post Harvest Technology × Author: Archana Unnikrishnan × Author: KAU × End date: 2019 × Start date: 2018 ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Development of novel value added products from tender coconut (cocos nucifera L.)
    (Department of Post Harvest Technology, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2018) Archana Unnikrishnan; KAU; Saji Gomez
    The study titled ‘Development of novel value added products from tender coconut (Cocos nucifera L.)’ was carried out in the Department of Post Harvest Technology, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara during 2016-2018. The immature nut known as tender coconut, contains a sterile liquid which is the endosperm and it has got many health benefits and medicinal values. But the popularisation of tender coconut based products is limited because of the loss in natural freshness unless treated scientifically. Therefore, an attempt was made to prepare some novel value added products from tender coconut and to evaluate their quality and shelf life. Fresh tender coconut of about 7 months maturity (cv. COD) was procured from different localities of Thrissur district. In the first experiment, RTS beverage was prepared with tender coconut and the beverage was added with 100 ppm ascorbic or malic acid in combination with one of the three preservatives, viz. potassium metabisulphite, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate at a concentration of 100 ppm. The RTS beverage stored under refrigerated condition gave significantly longer shelf life as compared to samples stored under ambient condition. The treatment T1 (tender coconut RTS beverage added with 100 ppm ascorbic acid and 100 ppm potassium metabisulphite) gave the maximum shelf life of 25 days under ambient condition and 50 days under refrigerated storage. The same treatment was also superior with regard to titratable acidity (0.217 %), ascorbic acid (53.00 mg 100g-1), protein content (0.053 %), non-enzymatic browning (0.03), overall acceptability score (7.4) and microbial load among the treatments under refrigerated condition. Tender coconut was blended with fruit juice/pulp of guava, pineapple and sweet orange in different proportions (90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 60:40, 50:50 v/v) and based on the organoleptic score obtained for each blend, best type of tender coconut- fruit juice blend was identified. Tender coconut blended with guava pulp in 80:20, tender coconut and pineapple in 50:50 and tender coconut with sweet orange in 60:40 proportion was selected for storage studies. Tender coconut RTS beverage blended with pineapple (T2) gave significantly longer shelf life (40 and 73 days) under ambient and refrigerated storage conditions respectively. The biochemical parameters such as highest TSS (14.23o brix) and total sugar content (14.58 %), lowest non-enzymatic browning (0.03) was observed in T2 (tender coconut RTS beverage blended with pineapple) and T3 (tender coconut RTS beverage blended with sweet orange) retained highest vitamin C content (47.66 mg 100 g-1), 30 days after storage, under refrigerated condition when compared to ambient condition. Sixty days after storage, the biochemical parameters such as TSS, sugars, pH, protein and overall acceptability score was highest in T2 (tender coconut RTS beverage blended with pineapple) under refrigerated condition. Tender coconut jelly was preapared from tender coconut by incorporating jellifying agents such as agaropectin, banana peel pectin, guava pectin and nutmeg rind pectin at different concentrations (0.5 %, 1.0 %, 1.5 % and 2 %). Treatments such as C3 (1.5 % agaropectin), C4 (2 % banana peel pectin), C3 (1.5 % guava pectin) and C4 (2 % nutmeg rind pectin) showed highest overall acceptability score of 7.5, 7.5, 7.2 and 7.5 respectively. Tender coconut jelly could be stored for 73 days under ambient condition whereas under refrigerated condition, the shelf life beyond 90 days. T4 (tender coconut jelly prepared from nutmeg rind pectin) showed lowest (0.75) water activity Highest vitamin C (11.93 mg 100 g-1) was observed in T3 (tender coconut from guava pectin) under both refrigerated storage conditions. Tender coconut jelly from nutmeg rind pectin (T4) showed highest overall acceptability value of 7.7 and 7.4, 2 months after storage under ambient condition and 3 months after storage under refrigerated condition respectively. The results of the study indicated that through scientific handling along with addition of preservatives, the tender coconut can be utilized as a potential source for the production of many novel value added and processed products.