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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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ThesisItem Open Access Development of functional jackfruit pasta(Department of Post Harvest Technology, College of Agriculture,Vellayani, 2019) Swathi, B S; KAU; Geetha lekshmi, P RThe present study entitled “Development of functional jackfruit pasta” was carried out at Department of Post Harvest Technology, College of Agriculture, Vellayani during the period 2017-2019 with the objective to develop functional pasta from jackfruit bulb and seed flour enriched with vegetables and to study the storage stability. Jackfruit bulb and seed flour were used for the development of jackfruit pasta in different combinations along with cassava flour replacing a portion of refined flour contributing to 65% of total ingredients. The remaining 35% of total ingredients were kept as constant with refined flour, soy flour and starch. Jackfruit pasta developed were subjected to analysis for cooking quality, nutritional, textural and sensory parameters. Cooking quality characters viz. cooking loss, water absorption, swelling index and cooking time were analyzed for jackfruit pasta and cooking loss ranged from 14.16% to 21.97%. The lowest cooking loss (14.16%) was recorded for jackfruit pasta developed with 15% jackfruit bulb flour, 15% jackfruit seed flour and 35% cassava flour. Water absorption and swelling index of jackfruit pasta increased with increase in seed flour concentration and the highest water absorption (1.34 g g-1) and swelling index (2.86%) was observed for 50% jackfruit seed flour and 15% cassava flour combination. Cooking time of developed jackfruit pasta ranged from 6.12 min to 7.14 min with no significant difference among the treatments. Nutritional parameters viz. starch, total sugar, reducing sugar, protein, carotenoids, crude fibre and antioxidant activity were analyzed for raw as well as cooked jackfruit pasta which varied with jackfruit bulb and seed flour concentration. Starch and protein content of jackfruit pasta increased with increase in seed flour and cassava flour concentration and total sugar, reducing sugar and carotenoids increased with bulb flour concentration. Sensory evaluation of developed jackfruit pasta exhibited significant difference in consumer acceptance for the treatment combinations. Based on cooking quality, nutritional, textural and sensory parameters the three best treatments viz. jackfruit bulb flour (10%) + jackfruit seed flour (30%) + cassava flour (25%), jackfruit bulb flour (25%) + jackfruit seed flour (25%) + cassava flour (15%) and jackfruit bulb flour (20%) + jackfruit seed flour (20%) + cassava flour (25%) were selected for further studies. The best three jackfruit pasta combinations selected were incorporated with three vegetables viz. carrot, beetroot and red amaranthus @ 5 and 10 % and the developed functional jackfruit pasta were subjected to cooking quality, nutritional, textural and sensory analyses. Cooking loss, swelling index and cooking time did not show significant difference among the combinations. Water absorption of vegetable incorporated jackfruit pasta @ 10% recorded the highest value of 1.49 g g-1 and 1.68g g-1 for the combination of 10% jackfruit bulb flour, 30% jackfruit seed flour and 25% cassava flour with 10% amaranthus and beetroot respectively while it was 1.53g g-1 for the combination of jackfruit bulb flour (25%) + jackfruit seed flour (25%) + cassava flour (15%) with 10% carrot. Carrot incorporated functional jackfruit pasta with 25% jackfruit bulb and seed flour, 15% cassava flour and 10% carrot recorded the highest consumer acceptance followed by beetroot and amaranthus based functional jackfruit pasta with 10% jackfruit bulb flour, 30% jackfruit seed flour, 25% cassava flour and 10% respective vegetables. The selected vegetable based functional jackfruit pasta were stored at room temperature and storage stability studies on cooking quality, nutritional and sensory attributes revealed that there was no significant change in qualities during storage and no microbial load was found till the end of storage period of four months. In the present study, combinations for development of vegetable based functional jackfruit pasta were standardized as 25% jackfruit bulb flour, 25% jackfruit seed flour, 15% cassava flour and 10% carrot for carrot based functional jackfruit pasta and the combination of jackfruit bulb flour (10%) + jackfruit seed flour (30%) + cassava flour (25%) and 10% beetroot or amaranthus for beetroot and amaranthus based functional jackfruit pasta. Storage stability studies on cooking quality, nutritional and sensory attributes revealed that there was no significant change in qualities during storage and no microbial load was found till the end of storage period of four months.ThesisItem Open Access Characterization and value addition of male buds of banana cultivars(Department of Post Harvest Technology, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2019) Thanzeela Hoorlin, K A; KAU; Meagle Joseph, PIndia is the largest producer of banana in the world and Kerala is rich with wide array of banana varieties. The banana plant in whole is useful for its fruits, peel, fibre, corm, male bud and pseudo stem. Banana inflorescence also known as navels is removed in commercial banana cultivation, by a practice called denavelling, for quality assurance of fruits. These male buds loaded with lots of nutrients are used as vegetable and also for the preparation of nutraceuticals. The stages of harvest after bunch emergence influence the quality of the male bud. Hence the study was carried out in the Department of Post-Harvest Technology, during 2017-2019,with the objectives to characterize the male buds of banana cultivars and to standardize their harvesting stage, packaging and storage methods and minimal processing techniques . Palayankodan, Grand naine, Njalipoovan and Nendran varieties of banana were selected for the first experiment. They were harvested at 15, 20 and 25 days after full bunch emergence (DAB) and characterized based on physico-morphological and biochemical parameters. Palayankodan and Grand naine had the highest bud weight, length and diameter when harvested at 20 DAB and Nendran at 25 DAB. The recovery and firmness was found to be highest when harvested at 25 DAB in Palayankodan and at 15 DAB in Grand naine and Nendran. However, Njalipoovan had the highest value for all the four parameters (275 g weight, 19.8 cm length, 20.4 cm diameter, 87.2 % recovery) when harvested at 15 DAB. Considering the biochemical parameters, in all the four varieties the desirable constituents like carbohydrate, protein, dietary fibre, potassium etc. were found to be highest when harvested at 15 DAB. When subjected to organoleptic evaluation, Palayankodan had the overall consumer acceptance and highest total score under all the three stages of harvest. Also due to its popularity and easy availability, Palayankodan variety was selected for the packaging and storage studies. In the second experiment, banana male buds were given different packaging treatments (wrapping in shrink film, cling film and perforated polyethylene cover) and stored under ambient, cold storage and refrigerated conditions. Physico chemical changes and organoleptic quality were observed. The studies revealed that banana male buds packed in polyethylene cover of 150 gauge and stored under refrigerated condition had the highest shelf life (43 days) and lower physiological loss in weight along with biochemical parameters like ascorbic acid (11.9 mg/ 100g) and total phenols (0.648 mg/ 100 g). Also it had scored highest in organoleptic evaluation with a total of 36.07. Third experiment consisted of standardizing minimal processing techniques for banana male bud. An attempt was made by adopting different pre-treatments (0.2 % ascorbic acid, 0.2 % citric acid, 0.2 % turmeric + salt) and packaging methods ( paper plate overwrapped with cling film, polystyrene trays overwrapped with cling film, polyethylene punnets) to enhance the shelf life and to improve the market value of sliced banana buds. Minimal processed buds with 0.2 % citric acid pretreatment packed in polystyrene trays had a shelf life of one week and microbial load within the permissible limit along with better retention of ascorbic acid (6.81 mg/ 100g) and total phenols (0.276 mg/ 100 g). The present study found that the harvesting stage of buds in Palayankodan and Grand naine was 20 days after full bunch emergence and in Njalipoovan and Nendran it was 15 and 25 days after full bunch emergence respectively. The buds of all four varieties are nutrient rich and organoleptically acceptable with mean rank scores above 6. Packaging in perforated polyethylene cover and storage under refrigerated condition increases the shelf life of whole male bud with retention of desirable qualities. Also 0.2% citric acid pretreatment and packaging in polystyrene trays enhance the market value of minimal processed buds.ThesisItem Open Access Standardization of quality wine production from selected underexploited fruits(Department of Post Harvest Technology, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2019) Keerthana Das; KAU; Mini, CThe study entitled “Standardization of quality wine production from selected underexploited fruits” was conducted at Department of Post Harvest Technology, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram, during the year 2017-2019 with the objective to standardize quality wine production technology from selected underexploited fruits of Kerala. Fruit wines were prepared from four different underexploited fruits viz., carambola, papaya, jamun and rose apple independently by varying three process parameters viz., fruit: water ratio, yeast concentration and clarification methods. Fruit: water ratio was tried at 1:0.75, 1:1 and 1:2; yeast concentration at 0.5, 0.75 and 1% and clarification by pectinase enzyme and by settling, thus formed 18 different wines in each fruit. The experiment was conducted as four continuous steps viz., production of fruit wines, quality evaluation, selection of the best wine and studying the storage potential of wines. Among the four underexploited fruits, carambola, papaya and rose apple produced wines of acceptable quality. No significant difference was noticed in the TSS content of different wines. All the prepared wines were “dry” due to absence of residual sugar content. Carambola wines were golden yellow, brilliant to cloudy with a predominant astringent taste and 7.2 to 12.3% alcohol content. Papaya wines were light yellowish with a characteristic papaya odour and their alcohol content ranged from 6.15 to 17.28%, whereas rose apple wines were light pinkish, brilliant with 5.27% to 12.01% alcohol. The wine with high antioxidant potential and high overall acceptability was selected from each fruit for conducting storage trials. The highest mean overall acceptability score (6.1) was obtained for the carambola wine prepared using 1:2 fruit: water ratio, 0.75% yeast and clarified by pectinase. This wine was brilliant, had 4.60 TSS, 0.5% acidity, 8.9% alcohol, 183.63 mgg-1 polyphenol and the highest antioxidant activity (64.9 %). Papaya wine prepared using 1:2 fruit: water ratio, 1% yeast and clarified by pectinase had the highest antioxidant activity and high polyphenol content with an overall acceptability score of 4.6. This brilliant wine had 30 TSS, 0.46% acidity, 6.15% alcohol, 201.57 mgg-1 polyphenol and 79.46 % antioxidant activity. The highest mean overall acceptability score (5.4) was obtained for the rose apple wine prepared using 1:2 fruit: water ratio, 0.75% yeast and clarified by settling. It was brilliant, with 5.60 B, 0.44% acidity, 9.08% alcohol, 97.79 mgg-1 polyphenol and the highest antioxidant activity (91.56 %). The processing variables tried in the present experiment resulted in a dark purple attractive but unacceptable beverage from jamun with high alcohol (6.44 to 24 %) and acidity (0.69 to 5.42%), pungent smell and vinegary taste; hence could not be subjected to sensory analysis and further storage studies. In general, wines prepared from 1: 2 fruit: water ratio had superior quality, acceptability and highest antioxidant activity. Addition of 0.5% yeast was not sufficient for producing quality wines. When yeast concentration was increased to 0.75%, the brilliancy and acceptability of the wines increased and at 1%, cloudiness enhanced resulting in reduced acceptability. Use of pectinase enzyme was essential for clarifying papaya and carambola wines where as clarification by settling could give a brilliant quality wine from rose apple. The best wine selected from each fruit was stored under ambient condition for a period of three months in plain and amber coloured glass bottles for analysing their storage stability. The polyphenol content of the wines decreased during storage in both the containers and the percentage reduction was less in amber containers indicating better retention of quality parameters. The alcohol content increased during storage and the percentage increase was more in amber containers. There was no significant difference in the microbial load of wines stored in different bottles or different storage periods. The present study highlighted the fermentation capabilities of three underutilized fruits of Kerala and standardized quality wine production from them. It was proved that the wine processing parameters should be formulated for different raw materials based on their initial characteristics for production of acceptable quality wines.ThesisItem Open Access Development of osmo dehydrated red banana(musa spp)(Department of post harvest technology, college of agriculture, Vellayani, 2019) Archana, A K; KAU; Geetha lekshmi, P RThe present study entitled “Development of osmo dehydrated Red Banana (Musa spp.)” was carried out at the Department of Post Harvest Technology, College of Agriculture, Vellayani during the period 2017-2019 with the objectives to standardize different process variables viz., fruit slice shape, osmotic concentration and immersion time for osmo dehydration of red banana and to assess the storage stability of osmo dehydrated product. Good quality uniform sized, fully ripe red banana were sliced into three shapes viz., ring, round and chunks of thickness 5 mm and osmosed in sugar syrup of 40oBrix, 60oBrix and 80oBrix concentration with an immersion time of 60, 120 and 180 minutes. After the osmotic treatments, the samples were analysed for different mass transfer characters. The osmosed red banana slices were finally dehydrated in a cabinet drier at 50oC till the product attained a moisture content of 17(+1)% and analysed for biochemical, physical and sensory quality parameters. Mass transfer characters viz., solid gain, water loss and percentage weight reduction increased with increase in osmotic concentration and immersion time irrespective of fruit shapes. Maximum solid gain (8.90%), water loss (9.59%) and weight reduction (10.00%) with a water loss to solid gain ratio of 1.07 was observed in osmo dehydrated red banana chunks at an osmotic concentration of 80oBrix with 180 minutes immersion time. Biochemical characters viz., TSS, total sugar and reducing sugar increased with increase in osmotic concentration and immersion time whereas acidity, vitamin C, antioxidant activity and carotenoid content decreased. Osmo dehydrated red banana rings recorded a TSS of 59.49oBrix, total sugar of 52.27%, reducing sugar of 36.63%, 8.33 mg 100g-1 vitamin C, 0.68% acidity, 94.54% antioxidant activity and 6.00 µg 100g-1 carotenoids and it varied with shapes. Physical characters viz., yield, rehydration ratio, textural quality and colour were analysed. The highest yield (31.75%) was observed for osmo dehydrated red banana chunks at 80oBrix and 180 minutes immersion time and it was 30.37% and 29.58% for ring and round slices respectively. The lowest hardness (1.24 kg) and cutting energy (0.72 kg s) was noticed in osmo dehydrated red banana chunks at 80oBrix and 180 minutes immersion time. Sensory evaluation of osmo dehydrated ring, round and chunk shaped slices were conducted and kruskal wallis test confirmed significant difference among the treatments for sensory attributes. Osmo dehydrated red banana rings, rounds and chunks recorded the highest acceptance for all the sensory attributes at 80oBrix for an immersion time of 180 min. Based on the mass transfer, biochemical, physical and sensory analysis, three best treatments; one from each shape were selected (ring, 80oBrix, 180 min; round, 80oBrix, 180 min and chunks, 80oBrix, 180 min). The best treatments selected were subjected to 2% and 4% corn starch treatment and sensory analysis revealed that corn starch treated samples were not acceptable when compared with untreated samples. The three selected osmo dehydrated red banana were packed in 200 gauge polypropylene and stored at room temperature were analysed for biochemical, microbial and sensory qualities at monthly interval for four months. During storage, 3.26% increase in TSS (53.73oBrix to 55.48oBrix), 4.62% increase in total sugar (53.72% to 56.20%) and 6.70% increase in reducing sugar (37.30% to 39.80%) were observed whereas a decrease of 51.61% in acidity (0.62% to 0.30%), 10.11% in vitamin C (9.59 mg 100g-1 to 8.62 mg 100g-1), 2.86% in antioxidant activity (93.85% to 91.17%) and 28.59% reduction in carotenoid content (7.52 µg 100g-1 to 5.37 µg 100g-1) was observed. Sensory qualities of the product decreased slightly with the advancement of storage period and osmo dehydrated red banana rings recorded the highest consumer acceptance followed by chunks and round shaped slices. No microbial growth was found till the end of storage. In the present study, process variables were standardised for the development of osmo dehydrated red banana. Sugar syrup as osmotic solution at a concentration of 80oBrix with an immersion time of 180 min was recorded as the best treatment for osmo dehydration for all the three shapes of red banana slices viz., ring, round and chunks. Better consumer acceptability was recorded for osmo dehydrated red banana rings followed by chunks and round slices. Storage stability studies revealed that osmo dehydrated red banana packed in 200 gauge polypropylene could be stored for four months at room temperature without loss in quality.ThesisItem Open Access Feasibility of puza zero energy cool chamber as low cost on-farm storage structure under Kerala condition(Department of post harvest technology, college of agriculture, Vellayani, 2019) Lekshmi, S G; KAU; Mini, CThe experiment entitled “Feasibility of Pusa Zero Energy Cool Chamber as low cost on-farm storage structure under Kerala condition” was undertaken at Department of Post Harvest Technology from 2017-2019 with the objective to evaluate the feasibility of Pusa Zero Energy Cool Chamber as a low cost on-farm storage structure for horticultural perishables during different seasons under humid tropical climate of Kerala. Six different fruits and vegetables, viz., papaya, snake gourd, cucumber, bitter gourd, amaranth and cowpea were stored in perforated plastic crates under Pusa zero energy cool chambers (PZECC) each of 165cm length, 115 cm breadth and 75 cm height during three seasons viz., June - September, October - February and March – May by maintaining 85-95% relative humidity inside the chamber with same set of commodities kept under ambient storage conditions as control. The study was conducted as six separate experiments for different commodities and possibility of storage of each commodity during different seasons was assessed based on physical, physiological, chemical and sensory quality parameters. Papaya, snake gourd and bitter gourd stored in PZECC during March- May and October- February had high shelf life, marketability and colour, where as cucumber had high shelf life and marketability when stored in PZECC only during March - May. Though the treatment combinations had no significant effect, amaranth and cowpea kept inside the PZECC had high shelf life, marketability and colour with low physiological loss in weight. The enhanced shelf life received for papaya fruits kept in ZECC was only 1.55 and 1.66 days during Oct- Feb and March- May respectively compared to their corresponding ambient storage, where as it was 0.89 and 0.66 days for bitter gourd and 0.78 and 1.55 days for cucumber. Amaranth had two days additional shelf life when kept under PZECC. Papaya, bitter gourd, cucumber and snake gourd had least shelf life when stored in PZECC during June- September. Storage under the chamber during June – September had resulted in poor colour development in bitter gourd and snake gourd, poor texture in snake gourd and lowest marketability in cucumber. All the sensory parameters were affected by the treatments in cucumber, amaranth, and cowpea. In other commodities, majority of the sensory parameters were not influenced by season and storage conditions Microbial load of papaya and snake gourd, cowpea, amaranth were not affected by the treatments; But bacterial load in bitter gourd and fungal load in cucumber were high when stored under PZECC during June – September. Carotene content in snake gourd and cowpea, vitamin C of bitter gourd, cucumber and cowpea and oxalate content in amaranth were not influenced by the treatments indicating that majority of the nutritional parameters were unaffected by storage conditions. PZECC is a low cost on-farm storage structure which could be constructed at a cost of Rs.5000/- per unit. But the structure helped only in marginal enhancement in shelf life of horticultural perishables that too only during March- May and October- February and was not at all suitable during the rainy season (June-September). The result of the present study showed that the PZECC, designed for the Rural North India as such cannot be recommended as an efficient on farm storage structure for Kerala. It has to be suitably modified for tropical humid climate and proper post harvest management practices are to be adopted before storing a commodity in the storage structure, so that it would be a better option for temporary storage of commodities awaiting marketing and short term maintenance of quality horticultural perishables, reducing the wastage of perishable commodities.