eChapters

Food Processing Technology

    1.    The transition from solid to fluid and back is known as a phase transition and this is important in many types of food processing (e.g. water to water vapour in evaporation and distillation and dehydration; water to ice in freezing and freeze drying or freeze concentration or crystallisation of fats.
 
    2.    Phase transition takes place isothermally at the phase transition temperature by release or absorption of latent heat, and can be represented by a phase diagram.

    3.    A second type of transition, known as glass transition, takes place without the release or absorption of latent heat and involves the transition of a food to an amorphous glass state at its glass transition temperature.

    4.    The transition is dependent on the temperature of the food, time, and the moisture content of the food.

    5.    The density of a material is equal to its mass divided by its volume and has units of kgm^-3

Food Packaging

    1.    Food packaging : A wrap, pouch, bag, box, cup, tray, can, tube, bottle and jar are some of the many forms of packaging that contain food products. It must contain a food product as well as protect and preserve it for a specific length of time. Each package must, by law, display product information for the consumer.

    2.    Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) is an economical material with low WVTR; however, it has high permeabilities to flavours/volatiles, poor grease resistance and are limp.
 
    3.    High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) is stiffer, more translucent and has better barrier properties but needs higher temperature for sealing.

    4.    A copolymer of polyethylene and poly vinyl alcohol, and EVOH has outstanding gas barrier properties especially when dry.

    5.    High-density polyethylene is stiff, strong, tough, resistant to chemicals and moisture, permeable to gas, easy to process, and easy to form. It is used to make bottles for milk, juice, and water; cereal box liners; margarine tubs; and grocery, trash, and retail bags.

    6.    Low-density polyethylene is flexible, strong, tough, easy to seal, and resistant to moisture. Because low-density polyethylene is relatively transparent, it is predominately used in film applications and in applications where heat sealing is necessary. Bread and frozen food bags, flexible lids, and squeezable food bottles are examples of low-density polyethylene.

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) System

1. Identify hazards
 
 It is important to be able to identify the possible microbiological, chemical and physical hazards that can occur at every stage of the food business – from growth, processing, manufacture, storage and distribution, until the point where it is sold to the customer and eaten.

    ·    Microbiological Hazards : Any bacterium, virus, or protozoan that is capable of causing illness and that grows or may be carried on food. Well-known examples of bacteria are Campylobacter, Listeria and Salmonella. The most likely food-borne viruses are the Norwalk type viruses. Giardia is an example of a protozoan that may be food borne. It is important to have some understanding of the risks associated with different types of microbiological hazards.

    ·    Chemical Hazards : Examples include excessive or toxic amounts of heavy metals, chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, vitamins, minerals, preservatives, disinfectants, detergents and cleaning compounds. Some hazards may be naturally present such as in green potatoes or taro and rhubarb leaves.

    ·    Physical Hazards : Objects that get into food, or are already present in food, may cause illness, injury or distress to the person eating it. Some examples are glass, metal fragments etc. Other contaminants such as hair or insects may be offensive but not necessarily a danger to health. They should nonetheless be considered and controlled

1. Food Labelling

Food labelling is the primary means of communication between the producer and seller of food on one hand, and the purchaser and consumer on the other.

Basic Terminology in Food labelling

‘‘Food” means any substance, whether processed, semi-processed or raw, which is intended for human consumption, and includes drinks, chewing gum and any substance which has been used in the manufacture, preparation or treatment of “food” but does not include cosmetics or tobacco or substances used only as drugs.

‘‘Ingredient” means any substance, including a food additive, used in the manufacture or preparation of a food and present in the final product although possibly in a modified form.

Immunological Causes of Male Infertility

Immune mediated male infertility is an auto-immune disease.Spermatozoa are first produced at puberty and isolated from the systemic circulation by a structural barrier maintained by Sertoli cell tight junctions within the testis and the uninterrupted epithelial cell lining of the excurrent ductal system. Sperm production occurs well after the development of immunological tolerance to self antigens; therefore sperm specific components are viewed as foreign by the immune system. Whether spermatogonia, the primordial cell in spermatozoa differentiation, is also antigenically foreign is not established. What is known , is that immunization with sperm elicits a highly reproducible immune response that can impair fertility.

Antisperm antibodies are found in about 10-15% of infertile men. Immunity only to those antigens present on the surface of viable, motile sperm will impair fertility. Antibodies to internal sperm antigens, due to an immune response to sperm degraded in the genital tract or to cross reacting microbial antibodies present in the sera of many fertile individuals , are of questionable relevance to infertility. A number of spermatozoa antigens have been identified .

In animals with a long gestation period, such as domestic animals, the acquired immune system is fully developed at birth, but cannot function at full adult levels for several weeks. The complete development of the acquired immunity depends on antigenic stimulation. The proper development of B cells and B cell antigen receptor (BCR) diversity requires clonal selection and antigen driven cell multiplication. Thus, the newborn animals are vulnerable to infection for the first few weeks of life. Hence, the temporary assistance in defending themselves at this time is provided by the mother in the form of antibodies and possibly T cells.
 
Development of the Immune System

The thymus is first lymphoid organ to develop, followed closely by the secondary lymphoid organs. B cells appear soon after the development of spleen and  lymph nodes, but antibodies are not usually found until late in foetal life, if at all. The ability of fetus to respond to antigens develops very rapidly after the lymphoid organs appear, but all antigens are not equally capable of stimulating fetal lymphoid tissue. The immune system in a series of steps, each step permitting the foetus to respond to more antigens. These steps are driven by a gradual increase in the use of gene conversion or somatic mutation to antibody diversity. The ability to mount cell mediated immune (CMI) responses develops at the time as antibody production. Data from humans suggest that T cell receptor diversity is limited in the fetus and neonate and that cytokine production may be low. This may simply be due to their lack of to foreign antigens.

A. Answer the following

Q.1.    What is the difference between apoptosis and necrosis?

Ans.    In apoptosis, there is pronounced decrease in cell volume, modification of cytoskeleton, condensation of chromatin and degradation of DNA into fragments. Due to these changes, an apoptotic cell sheds tiny membrane bound apoptotic bodies containing intact organelles. Macrophages phagocytose apoptotic bodies and cells in the advanced stages of apoptosis. But there is no release of proteolytic and the lytic enzyme, cationic proteins and oxidizing molecule in the surrounding tissue and no local inflammatory response. On the other hand, in necrosis cells swell and burst releasing their contents and possibly triggering a damaging inflammatory response.

A. Answer the following.

Q.1.     What are the different phagocytic cells ?
Ans.     The phagocytic cells of mammals belong to two complementary systems (1) The myeloid system consists of cells that are rapidly phagocytic but incapable of sustained effect. (2) Mononuclear phagocytic system act more slowly but capable of repeated phagocytosis.

Q.2.     How 3 types of granulocytes are differentiated ?
Ans.    Three types of granulocytes are distinguished by the staining property of their granules. Cells whose granules take up basic dyes such as haematoxylin (a blue dye) are called basophils, whose granules take up acidic dyes such as eosin (a red dye) are called eosinophils and those that take up neither basic nor acidic dyes are called neutrophils.

A. Answer the following.

Q.1.     What are tumour specific transplantation antigens (TSTAs) or tumour specific antigens (TSAs) ?
Ans.     Some antigens present on the surface of malignant cells are unique to the cancerous cells and are not present on their normal counterparts. They are called tumour specific transplantation antigens (TSTAs) or tumour specific antigens (TSAs).

Q.2.     What are tumour associated antigens (TAAs) ?
Ans.    Some antigens present on the tumour cells that are not different qualitatively from those found on normal cells but are overexpressed and present in increased number on the cancer cells as products of cellular oncogenes. They are called tumour associated antigens (TAAs). Ex the high level of a growth factor receptor due

Introduction

Sheep and goats have a vital economic importance in India, inhabitant in semi-arid region and mostly rose under harsh environmental conditions (high ambient temperature, scarcity of feed and water). The arid and semi-arid regions of India are drought prone due to low and uneven rainfall.  The vegetation of arid and semi-arid tract is more acute during summer when the quality of the pastures becomes vulnerable which in turn decreases the body condition score of animals and reproductive efficiency is being compromised (Maurya et al. 2009a & 2010).  The small ruminants are widely distributed in comparison of other domesticated species. These species of livestock is also a source of employment for marginal and land-less farmers particularly in the arid and semi-arid region of India. Most of the Indian farmers have limited resources and small ruminants production offers an opportunity to alleviate financial conditions and improve living standards.

Introduction

Harshberger first used the term ethnobotany in 1895-96, for the plants used by the local tribes and people, for their basic needs and requirements. They also used plant, plant parts and plant products for animal healthcare and other practices. This indigenous or traditional animal health care practice is called ethnoveterinary medicine. Ethnoveterinary medicine is defined as a holistic comprehension of the indigenous systems of animal health, their interpretation through western medicine and the development of effective and appropriate technologies (McCorkle 1986). McCorkle et al. (1989) define Ethnoveterinary medicine (EVM) as dealing with the folk beliefs, knowledge, skills, methods and practices pertaining to the health care of animals. McCorkle et al. (1996) give a description of ethnoveterinary medicinal research as the holistic interdisciplinary study of the local knowledge and the socio-cultural structures and environment associated with animal health care and husbandry.
 
EVM consists of local people’s knowledge pertaining to animal health and production. According to Mathias (1996 & 2002), it includes:

Introduction

Aflatoxins are a group of highly subsituted coumarine, of which aflatoxin B1 and G1 are  most  highly hepatotoxic (toxic to liver) to animals. The toxins are produced by some strains of Aspergillus flavus and other species of Aspergillus which develop in many food stuffs, particularly groundnuts. cottonseed, and their cake and flour. Protein concentrates meant for babies as well as adult are now a day  made from groundnut flour and the cakes are used as feed for poultry and livestock. It has been found that even fodgrains such as maize, rice and wheat are attacked by the fungus producing the toxins.

Estimation of Magnesium in Feeds, Fodders and Faeces
(Gravimetric method - AOAC, 1965)
Principle

Evaporation of calcium free filtrate is carried out to drive off ammonium chloride and nitric acid is added to decompose ammonium salts, which is then subsequently driven off by evaporation. NH₄Cl + HNO₃ = HCl + NH₄NO₃ (driven off). Sodium citrate in solution yields citric acid which has got a tremendous effect on aluminium and iron in that the citric acid keeps these materials in solution.

At neutrality, first the normal magnesium phosphate is formed, which is then turned to magnesium ammonium phosphate, which on incineration gives rise to magnesium pyrophosphate (Mg₂P₂O₇).

Pomegranate is emerging as one of the important fruit crops for semiarid and arid areas of India with the identification of superior varieties like Ganesh, Mrudila, Arka Ruby, and Bhagwa the area under pomegranate is increasing fast. Therefore the demand for elite planting material is also increasing fast. Pomegranate is propagated vegetatively either by cutting or air layering since ages. However now a day’s orchards raised from tissue culture are also very common. Nursery as a business preposition can also be as profitable as raising a crop. 

Types of Nurseries According to Marketing
    1.    Wholesale nurseries
    2.    Garden centers
    3.    Nurseries for large-scale gardening (municipals etc.)
    4.    Regular nurseries

Manures and Fertilizers

Even though pomegranate grows well in soils of low fertility, production can be increased by application of manures and fertilizers. Initial soil analysis is desirable for proper scheduling of fertilizers. The nutritional recommendation depends on fertility of the soil and also the age of the plant. For young plants (2-3 months old) application of 200 g Neem cake along with 3-4 kg FYM/plant is recommended. After 3 months, each plant may be given 250 g DAP along with 250 g Neem cake and 5 kg FYM. Again after 9 months, application of 500 g DAP, 250 g Potassium sulphate, 1 kg Neem cake and 10 kg of FYM/plant is recommended.

Fruit Maturity Criteria
 
    1.    The fruit takes about 135 to 170 days to mature depending on the variety.

    2.    In summer, mature fruit turns yellow and is dark pink in winter and rainy season.

    3.    The calyx at the bottom of the fruit turns hard and curves inwards.

    4.    The fruit shape gets compact

    5.    The fruit skin becomes hard.

    6.    The color of the aril turns dark red or pink and is full of juice and sweetness.

Export

India is one of the largest producer of the pomegranate. Apart from India, Spain, Iran, Egypt, Peru, Israel, Pakistan, Afganisthan, Turkey and America are the countries where the crop is cultivated. World production of Pomegranate is around 10 Lakh tones out of which India’s share is 40-45 percent .At present Spain is the maximum producer and exporter of pomegranate due to high quality and low transport cost capturing most of the European market. The total demand for pomegranate in the world is around 1.5 Lakh tones, which is increasing day by day. Spain contributes 75,000 to 80,000 tones (75%)of the total demand followed by Iran 25,000 tones and India 10000 tones (5%). Thus to increase the export there is only one way to improve the quality.

Lesser yam, Lesser Asiaticyam (Dioscorea esculenta) is among the most ancient species of the genus and its centre of origin is stated by various authorities as India, Vietnam or Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. It is domesticated as a staple food in Southern China from 2nd and 3rd centuries. Today, it is widely distributed throughout the tropics, but is little used except in South East Asia, where it is grown to such an extent that it ranks third in production and utilization of yams after D. rotundata,D. cayenensis and D. alata. Wild types of D. esculenta also exist in Malaysia, New Guinea and Philippines.  The wild types have more leaves, large roots, longer stolons, more fibrous tuber flesh and more thorny roots and shoots.

Classification
The wild types of D. esculenta (Family: Dioscoreaceae) exist in Malaysia, New guinea and Philippines. Wild types have more vigorous foliage, larger leaves, longer stolons, more fibrous tuber flesh and more thorny roots and shoots.  On the basis of thorniness, the cultivated types are distinguished into two botanical varieties.

In literal sense a species is called underutilized whose potential has not been properly realized. These underutilized crops (referred to also by other terms such as minor, orphan, neglected, underutilized, underexploited, underdeveloped, lost, new, novel, promising, alternative, local, traditional, niche crops) have been included in world-wide plans of action after having successfully raised the interest of decision makers. Wealth of plant genetic diversity currently available holds vast potential. We use only small number of crop plants for our basic requirements. Many thousands of wild plants have great economic and cultural importance and tremendous market potential for vast numbers of people throughout the world. But the majority are still unknown to science. Plant genetic resources have gained global attention in  recent past by agricultural and environmental institutions. Conservation and use of genetic resources attracted  considerable attention. Value of biological diversity in economic terms is very important for human society.

Aonla or Indian Gooseberry (Emhlica officinalis Gaertn. syn. Phyllanthus embfica L.). belonging to family Euphorbiaceae. is an indigenous fruittree to Indian sub continent. It is one of the most important commercial crops suitable for marginal soils and various kinds of waste lands particularly salt affected lands. A lot of genetic variability is available in India with respect to growth and fruit quality characteristics of aonla. Almost all the budded varieties of aonla were selected from naturally occurring superior chance seedlings having in view their earliness, lateness, hardiness to adverse conditions, yield and superior fruit quality.

1-or successful aonla orchards, it is utmost necessary to have basic knowledge of various cultivars suitable for a particular set of environmental and soil conditions.

Genetic resources for food and agriculture are the biological basis of world food and nutrition security and they directly support the livelihood of people. Horticultural genetic resources are a few of biological assets available to resource-poor farmers to ensure sustainable production to improve livelihood options. Genetic diversity gives resource-poor farmers a low cost option to manage the shocks and vulnerability of production systems by its ability to adopt to changing environments. It is the foundation upon which plant breeding depends for the creation of new varieties and is, therefore, of critical public value for global food security. The rapid loss of genetic diversity (genetic erosion) is a worldwide concern and is particularly severe among crop landraces. Farmer’s varieties or landraces may contain co-adapted gene complexes that have evolved over decades and are the most valued genetic resources as they provide options for a range of climatic and edaphic stresses. Therefore, agricultural biodiversity has a critical public value for global food security (FAO, 1978).

Carambola (Averrhoa carambola) is a fruit of warm tropical and sub- tropical areas of the world. The fruit is oblong with three to six longitudinal ribs, resulting in a star shaped cross section when cut. Usually they have five ribs which give rise to common name of ‘five corners’ or ‘star fruit’. The tree is medium-sized, attractive and evergreen growing to about 10m. The fruit has emerged as an interesting addition to the table fruit, not only as fresh fruit, but also for its juice, decorative uses and sherbet qualities.

Promotion of perennial crops is a good alternative for food security since they offer more consistant, year-round production without any break. Agathi and Chekkurmanis are the two nutritive perennial greens that can be easily grown in hot and humid tropical climate.

The Begonia family has a tropical and subtropical distribution in America, Asia and Africa. With approximately 100 species and 10,000 cultivated hybrids, they are very important as ornamental plants.A few reports describe Begonia as edible; the highest number of these species is found in America, some in Asia, and we have only one report of an edible Begonia in Africa.

The Begonia family has a tropical and subtropical distribution in America, Asia and Africa. There are approximately 600 species in America, and the same number in Asia.

Africa, including Madagascar and the Mascarenes, has 158 reported species, one third of which are endemic to Madagascar and associated Isles (Mascarenes, Seychelles and Comoros). Only ones species, B. grandis Dryander, is widely distributed in temperate regions, extending northwards near Beijing (Forrest & Hollingsworth, 2003; Plana, 2003).

Curry leaf (Murraya koenigii Spreng. Syn. Bergera koenigii Koen (N.O Aurantiaceae), Chaleas koenigii Curz ex. Swingle) is a perennial leaf vegetable. It belongs to family Rutaceae. Its genus name ‘Murraya’commemorates John Adam Murray, Professor of Botany at Gottingen and editor of many of Linnaeus’s works. (Fyson, 1977).

Origin and Distribution

The crop originated in the tarai tract of Uttar Pradesh (India), in the foothills of the Himalayas. Wild forms with less pungent leaves are seen along the plains and hills of Himalayas extending from Kumaon to Sikkim, in Bengal, Assam, Deccan plateau and in Western Ghats. At present, it is cultivated in Myanmar, SriLanka, China, Australia and Pacific Islands. The curry leaf grows throughout India including the Andaman Islands up to an altitude of 1500 m amol (Wealth of India, 1962). Dastur (1970) recorded its wild form in Garhwal hills in Uttaranchal, Sikkim, Bengal, Assam, Central India, Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.  Used as a flavourant and as a leaf vegetable by the early inhabitants, Dravidians, curry leaf was introduced to Southern India when the Dravidians moved southward after the arrival of Aryans from Persia. It is a backyard crop in many of the South Indian homesteads.  The spicy leaves of plants are used extensively for seasoning and flavouring dishes.

The formulation of ration for various categories of livestock depends upon the nutrient requirements for a particular animal or group of animals and the feeds and fodders available for the purpose. Livestock feeds can be grouped into two major categories – Roughages and concentrates, on the basis of bulkiness and chemical composition and combination of both is essential for a balanced ration.

Roughages are the bulky feeds having crude fiber more than 18% and TDN less than 60% while, Concentrates are feed or feed mixture having crude fiber less than 18% and TDN more than 60%. They are rich in either energy or protein and accordingly are called as energy concentrates (when CP is less than 18%) or protein concentrates (when CP value exceeds 18%). Various energy concentrates are grains and seeds (maize, barley, sorghum etc.), milling byproducts (brans and chunis), roots (tapioca tubers, turnip, potatoes) and molasses.

Demographic explosion, environment pollution, habitat destruction, enlarging ecological footprint, widespread hunger and unsustainable lifestyles, and potential adverse changes in climate all threaten the future of human food, water, health and livelihood security systems. 2010 appears to mark the beginning of uncertain weather patterns and extreme climate behaviour. Events like temperature rise, drought, flood, coastal storms and rise in sea level are likely to present new challenges to the public, professionals and policy makers. Biodiversity has so far served as the feedstock for sustainable food and health security and can play a similar role in the development of climate-resilient farming and livelihood systems. Biodiversity is also the feedstock for the biotechnology industry. Unfortunately, genetic erosion and species extinction are now occurring at an accelerated pace due to habitat destruction, alien species invasion and spread of agricultural systems characterised by genetic homogeneity. Genetic homogeneity increases genetic vulnerability to biotic and abiotic stresses. To generate widespread interest in biodiversity conservation, the UN General Assembly has declared 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity.

It was in 1968 that the term Green Revolution was coined by Dr. William Gaud of USA to describe advances in agriculture arising from productivity improvement. Even in 1968, I concluded that if farm ecology and economics go wrong, nothing else will go right in agriculture.  I expressed my views in the following words in my lecture at the Indian Science Congress Session held at Varanasi in January 1968:

Exploitive agriculture offers great dangers if carried out with only an immediate profit or production motive. The emerging exploitive farming community in India should become aware of this. Intensive cultivation of land without conservation of soil fertility and soil structure would lead, ultimately, to the springing up of deserts. Irrigation without arrangements for drainage would result in soils getting alkaline or saline. Indiscriminate use of pesticides, fungicides and herbicides could cause adverse changes in biological balance as well as lead to an increase in the incidence of cancer and other diseases, through the toxic residues present in the grains or other edible parts. Unscientific tapping of underground water will lead to the rapid exhaustion of this wonderful capital resource left to us through ages of natural farming.

India is predominantly an agriculture based country and 65% of the Indians depend on agriculture. To meet the ever increasing nutritional demands of Indian population, production and productivity of vegetables have to be increased manifold within the limited available land and other resources. Seed is the basic and critical input in which the expected dividends from all other inputs depend and it plays a crucial role for enhancing the stability of productivity. With the ever increasing demands for a mechanized, energy efficient type of agriculture, each seed is expected to produce a vigorous plant, which would develop. uniformly under a wide range of environmental conditions.

Seed enhancement technologies have historical basis dating back hundreds to thousands of years. Seed coating was being practiced by ancient Chinese farmers who coated seeds of rice with mud balls to anchor the seeds in water saturated soil . The Greeks presoaked the cucumber seeds in milk or water to make them germinate quicker. Keeping the seeds in moist cloth or soaking in water prior to sowing was a common practice among the farmers of India from time immemorial.

Genus : Musa 
Species : paradisiaca L.
Family : Musaceae
Chromosome No. : 2n =22,33,44

The genus Musa has been named after Antonio Musa, who was the official physician to Octovius Augustus the first emperor of Rome, 63-14 BC. Banana (Musa spp.) was perhaps the first among the fruit plants to be cultivated and there is hardly an difference of opinion that banana was one of the first food on which human relied upon. Banana was cultivated in India at very early times which is evident from the fact that Alexander the Great found banana cultivation in Indus river valley. In tropics, banana constitutes an important food crop for man and is a staple food of Buganda (Uganda), Wahaya (Bukoba) and Wachagya (Tanzania).

Genus : Vitis 
Species : vinifera L.
Family : Vitaceae
Chromosome No. : 2n=38, 40

Grapes are considered to be the oldest plants on earth which dates back to 90-95 million years, a time when dinosaurs ruled this planet, hence grape is as old as mankind. Grape is one of the most ancient crops. The Aryans knew grape cultivation as well as to prepare beverages from it. Grape cultivation in India dates back to 11th century BC. Later Muslim invaders from Iran and Afghanistan in the 12th century also introduced grapes to India, further in the 16th century Emperor Akbar the Great introduced and encouraged grape cultivation in various parts of India.

Genus : Actinidia 
Species : deliciosa (Plonch)
Family : Actinidiaceae
Chromosome No. : 2n = 58, 170, 174

The remarkable fruit of the previous century Kiwifruit is known by various names like China’s miracle fruit, the wonder fruit of New Zealand, Kiwi berry, Chinese gooseberry, Yangtao, Grosella and Mihoutao. In a short period of about two decades the crop has attracted huge inclination towards its cultivation and has become an established fruit crop of different world markets, which is unparallel in history of commercial fruit culture. In China the fruit has been growing over centuries in its wild form. The name Mihoutao was used for this crop by the Tang dynasty which indicated peach of the Macaque monkey indicating both the presence of fruit in wild stands and the love of the local monkey for this fruit.

Genus   : Ribes 
Species : nigrum L. americana Mill.
                bracteosum Dougl. niveum 
                Lindl. divaricatum Dougl.
Family : Saxifragaceae / Grossulariaceae
Chromosome No. : 2n = 16

The genus Ribes belongs to the family Saxifragaceae mainly comprises of woody shrubs distinctly marked with spines and prickles and those which have attractive handsome foliage, flowers and fruits.  The genus name Ribes is likely to be derived from ribas, the Arabic name for Rheum Ribes. Some are of the view that it is the latinized form of riebs,  an old name of currants in Germany.

Genus : Prunus 
Species : domestica institia L. 
                saliciana Lindl.
Family : Rosaceae
Chromosome No. : 2n - 48

Of all the stone fruits, plums are the most varied. They belong to the genus Prunus of the subfamily Prunoideae of the family Rosaceae. All plums have a basic chromosome number of x=8. Plums and related species have been placed in the subgenus Prunophora section Euprunus and Prunocerasus. Six species have been placed in the section Euprunus. Their chromosome number range from diploid to hexploid and are native to the land extending from Europe to China. Thirteen species native to the North American continent are all diploid in nature and have been placed in the sections Prunocerasus. Separation of the plums into the two sections does not appear to have any genetical basis since the species appear to be closely related. Prunus domestica, the European plum, is believed to be the most recent crop species to have arisen within the section Prunophora. Prunus insititia.

Genus   : Prunus
Species : avium cerasus, mahaleb L.
Family : Rosaceae
Chromosome No. : 2n = 16, 24, 32

Records indicate that cherries were in cultivation ever since the beginning of civilization. Cherries exhibit vast genetic variability as is evident from the different species which vary in their ploidy level. Sweet cherries (Prunus avium L) are diploid while sour cherries (P. cerasus, L.) are tetraploid, and commercially more important than the other species. Duke cherry has resulted from hybridization between sour and sweet cherry with intermediate tree and fruit characters. Successful cherry cultivation revolves around climatic factors, prime being the extent and spread of rainfall, variation in day and night temperature, occurrence of frosts, high heat day largely determine the type of cherry that will grow successfully in a particular areas. Hence cherry improvement around the world has so far been localized to few selected areas where different cherries have been successfully grown.

1. Introduction

Plants are reliable sources for the treatment of diseases in different parts of the world (Eisenberb et al., 1993; Cowan, 1999; Hostettmann et al., 2000) and they have been unique sources of medicines and constituted the most common use of biodiversity (Hamilton, 2004; Hiremath and Taranath, 2010). Their use contributes significantly to primary healthcare delivery (Holetz et al., 2002) as they are regarded as invaluable sources of pharmaceutical products (Olalde, 2005).

Traditional medicine, with medicinal plants as their most important component, are sold in market places or prescribed by traditional healers in their homes (Von Maydell, 1996). As a result of this strong dependence on plants as medicines, many ethnopharmacological studies have been conducted to determine their safety, efficiency and discovery of new active principles from them. Only, 1,100 plants have so far been thoroughly examined for their medicinal practices in the world (Dobson, 1995).

Herbal medicine have been in use since time immemorial and are still the mainstay mainly in the developing countries because of their better cultural acceptability, better compatibility with the human body and lesser side effects (Kamraj, 2000).

1. Introduction

Nothing in the universe is non medicinal everything has its value in its own way. Infectious diseases are an important health hazard all over the world, both in developing and developed countries. Several synthetic antibiotics are employed in the treatment of infectious and communicable diseases. A number of researchers nowadays are working seriously to find out substitutes for antibiotics as they cause side effects on the functioning of different parts of the body organs and systems. Antibiotics are also known to disturb the natural intestinal micro flora, thus depriving the benefits of these microbes to human body. Medicinal plants exhibit antimicrobial activity since they contain innumerable biologically active chemical constituents. The medicinal plant wealth, the strong and time tested traditional medicare systems like ayurveda and the human resource base are the strengths of India. Over the last forty years intensive efforts have been made to discover clinically useful antibacterial/ antifungal drugs (Sashikumar et al., 2003). Over 50% of all modern clinical drugs are of natural product origin (Ates, 2003). Higher plants as sources of medicinal compounds have continued to play a dominant role in the maintenance of human health since ancient times (Farombi, 2003).

1. Introduction

The therapeutic efficacy of many indigenous plants for various diseases has been described by traditional herbal medicine practitioners (Bharat and Parabia, 2010). Natural products are the source of synthetic and traditional herbal medicine. They are still the primary health care system in some parts of the world (Mahmud et al., 2010). In India, local empirical knowledge about medicinal properties of plants is the basis for their uses as a home remedies. It is generally accepted by many Indians and elsewhere in the world that beneficial medicinal effects can be obtained by ingesting plant products. Plants bear the basis of many traditional medicines throughout the world for thousands of years and continue to provide new remedies to mankind (Patel, 2009). The World Health Organization (WHO) also encourages, recommends and promotes the use of traditional and herbal remedies in the National Health Care Program because these medicines are easily available at low cost, comparatively safe and people have faith in such remedies (Wani, 2007). Herbal medicines are promising choice over modern synthetic drugs. Due to the serious obsession with the modern medicinal system, people have started looking at the ancient healing systems like Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani (Shankar and Ved, 2003).

1. Introduction

Medicinal plants are nature’s priceless gift to human. They have been used all over the world for the treatment and prevention of various ailments particularly in developing countries where infectious diseases are endemic and modern health facilities and services are inadequate. Medicinal principles are present in different parts of the plants such as root, stem, bark, heartwood, leaf, flower, fruit or plant exudates (Thenmozhi et al., 2010). Phytochemicals from medicinal plants serve as lead compounds in drug discovery and design (Sofowora, 2006).

Free radicals are chemical species which contain one or more unpaired electrons, due to which they are highly metastable and cause damage to other molecules by extracting electrons from them in order to attain stability (Chakraborthy and Ghorpade, 2010). Hyper-physiological burden of free radicals causes imbalance in homeostatic phenomena between oxidants and antioxidants in the body. This imbalance leads to oxidative stress that is being suggested as the root cause of aging and various diseases like diabetes, cancer, and liver damage (in severe conditions like cirrhosis and hepatitis) (Wagh et al., 2010).

1. INTRODUCTION

The medicinal plants have been used by humans from the pre-historical times. Traditional medicine based on herbal remedies has always played a key role in the health systems of many countries. In India, the native people are exploiting a variety of herbals for effective curing of various ailments. Medicinal plants are widely used by all sections of the population and country is richly endowed with a wide variety of plants of medicinal value, which represents the great national resource (Alok, 1991).

It is estimated that at least 70 percent of population relay on herbal medicines for primary health care in our country (Holley and Williams, 1996). In India, different classical medicinal systems such as Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani are being practiced in the country and in addition to innumerable local folk medicinal traditions exist. More than 8000 species of wild plants are known to be used in India for the treatment of various health problems (Ved et al., 2000). This rich medicinal wealth is mainly distributed in two biodiversity hotspots that are Eastern Himalayas and Western Ghats. Numerous studies have pointed out that many drugs that are used in commerce have come from folk-use and use of plants by indigenous cultures (Anon, 1994). Medicinal plants form a heterogeneous group in growth, habit, distribution, reproduction, phenology and their ecological requirements.

Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances to kill, injure or incapacitate an enemy.

Chemical warfare is different from the use of conventional weapons or nuclear weapons because the destructive effects of chemical weapons are not primarily due to any explosive force. The offensive use of living organisms (such as anthrax) is considered to be biological warfare rather than chemical warfare; the use of nonliving toxic products produced by living organisms (e.g., toxins such as botulinum toxin, ricin, or saxitoxin) is considered chemical warfare under the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Under this Convention, any toxic chemical, regardless of its origin, is considered as a chemical weapon unless it is used for purposes that are not prohibited (an important legal definition, known as the General Purpose Criterion)

INTRODUCTION

EGGS : Eggs and egg products constitute an important part of family meals. The economic importance of the egg to agriculture and industry, its multiple uses in the preparation of many food products, and its excellent nutritive value have stimulated scientific scrutiny into the nature of the egg.

STRUCTURE : The chief parts of the egg are the yolk, the albumin (the white), and the shell and the shell membranes. The yolk is more complex structurally than may be thought at first glance. At the very center is a light coloured structure called the white yolk. The vitelline membrane serves as the enclosure or sac for the yolk. The strength of this membrane is important when yolks and whites needs to be separated in cookery. Two important rather twisted membraneous structures extend from opposite sides of the yolk into the white.

Materials Required

Fruit juice/ pulp, cane sugar, potable water, essence, citric acid, colours, preservatives, weighing balance, bottling and sealing facilities, hand refractometer, homogenizer etc.  

Procedure

    1.    Extract the juice as discussed in previous exercise.
    2.    Filter the fresh or preserved juice through muslin cloth.
    3.    Calculate the quantities of juice, sugar, water, acid (if required), preservatives, colour, essence etc. required for preparation of a known quantity of                      squash as per FPO specifications.
    4.    Prepare the beverage as directed by instructor
    5.    Pack the beverage in bottles 
    6.    Seal the bottles and label them
    7.    Take out one of the bottles and measure its TSS and titratable acidity.

Hantaviruses have been responsible for a variety of human illnesses particularly haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). There are currently 47 recognized sero/genotypes of hantaviruses with considerable geographic diversity. Each hantavirus type appears to be specific to a different rodent host. The different hantavirus types are associated with different types of disease both in terms of target organs and disease severity. HFRS is primarily a disease of the Old World while HPS is a disease of New World. Although the disease may have first been recognized as early as 1000 years ago in China, it affected >3000 United Nations Soldiers during Korean war (1950-1953). Now it is reported that hantavirus affect as many as 2 lakhs people each year in Asia and Europe. The agent of this virus remained unknown until 1978 when Lee and his associates isolated and named Hantaan virus, after a river in South Korea. Other viruses antigenically related to Hantaan virus were characterized and placed under the genus Hantavirus and family Bunyaviridae.

Over the past few decades, the sharp increase of incidences of hantavirus disease in humans throughout the world has been reported. There are 47 recognized hantaviruses with considerable geographic diversity. But the number of hantavirus virus types recognized continues to grow. Hantaviruses cause persistent infections in rodent reservoirs which directly impact transmission of these zoonotic agents between rodents and from rodents to humans. Environmental, 127 demographic and physiological factors likely interact to mediate responses to hantaviruses in natural rodent populations. Although not much work has been carried out, comparisons of human and rodent immune responses to hantaviruses may provide insights into why hantaviruses often are fatal for humans but cause only persistent infections in rodents.

Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) was first reported in the 12^th century as a hemorrhagic syndrome in present day Tajikistan. However, in the modern era, the first outbreak of the CCHF was reported in 1944-1945 in the Crimea region with more than 200 cases and the disease was called Crimean Hemorrhagic Fever. Ten years later in 1956, the virus was isolated from a febrile patient in Belgian Congo and this isolate was noted to have the same antigenic structure with the Crimean strains. For this reason, the virus was called Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever. Nowadays, outbreaks of CCHF have been documented in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Western Asia including India. CCHF is a severe hemorrhagic fever with a case fatality rate of up to 50%.

Etiology: It is a tick-borne viral disease belonging to the family Bunyaviridae, genus Nairovirus. Like other Nairoviruses, CCHF virus is an enveloped single stranded negative-sense RNA virus and its tripartite genome consists of a small (S), a medium (M) and large (L) segment which encode for the nucleocapsid protein (NP), the envelope glycoproteins G1 and G2 and an RNA-dependent polymerase, respectively. The virus is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected ticks or by direct contact with viremic animals or humans. Infected humans can spread the disease via close contacts which may result in community outbreaks and nosocomial infections. It is an important human pathogen and could be used as a bioterrorism agent.

Pathogenesis: The pathogenesis of CCHF is not well understood. A common pathogenic feature of hemorrhagic fever viruses is their ability to disable the host immune response by attacking and manipulating the cells that initiate the antiviral response. This damage is characterized by marked replication of the virus together with dysregulation of the vascular system and lymphoid organs. Endothelial damage contributes to hemostatic failure by stimulating platelet aggregation and degranulation, with consequent activation of the intrinsic coagulation cascade. DIC is noted as an early and prominent feature of the disease process. In another study, the levels of interleukin IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-alpha were higher among patients who subsequently died as compared to survivors. The DIC score was higher among fatal cases, correlating positively with IL-6 and TNF alpha levels, and negatively with IL-10 levels. These findings demonstrate that proinflammatory cytokines play a major role in pathogenesis and mortality of patients with CCHF.

Synonyms: Calf scour, white diarrhea, septicaemia of calves

Colibacillosis is one of the important diseases in new born calves, piglets, lambs and foals caused by E. coli and characterized by marked postration, profuse diarrhea and septicaemia.

Etiology: Colibacillosis is associated with pathogenic serotypes of E. coli. Certain serotypes cause diarrhea and others cause septicaemia.

(a)  Enterotoxigenic E. coli: is the most common enteropathogen that causes diarrhea in new born farm animals. It causes bacteria by adhering to, colonizing and producing enterotoxins in the small intestine. They are not invasive. The enterotoxins produced by E. coli are of two types: heat stable (ST) and heat labile (LT).

(b)  Enteropathogenic E. coli: they attach tightly to the epithelial cells of the villus of small intestine. They do not produce toxins and seldom invade the intestine.

(c)  Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli: They are Shiga toxin or verotoxin producing strains of E. coli. They are not an important cause of diarrhea in farm animals but some produce diarrhea in calves. E. coli O157:H7, one of the important enterohaemorrhagic E. coli strains cause a broad range of clinical disease in humans including diarrhea in humans and haemorrhagic colitis and highly fatal haemolytic-uremic syndrome in children. 195

Glanders is a contagious, acute or chronic, usually fatal anthropo zoonotic disease of Equidae caused by Burkholderia mallei and characterized by serial development of ulcerating nodules that are most commonly found in the upper respiratory tract, lungs, and skin. The first recorded description of glanders is from the third century from Aristotle. In 1664, glanders was recognized as a contagious disease and in 1830, it's zoonotic potential was suspected. In the late 1800's, the Mallein test (1891) was developed for diagnosis of glanders. By 1910, the U.S., Canada and Great Britain all implemented glanders controlprograms. B. mallei was eradicated from the United States in 1929.

Etiology: It is caused by Burkholderia mallei. It is a straight or slightly bent Gm - non-spore forming, non-motile rod. The organisms in old culture appear as pleomorphic. The organisms can grow in ordinary media but addition of defribinated horse blood or glycerol accelerate the growth. Colonies have hop like odour and slime consistency. The organisms are readily destroyed by direct sunlight and most of the disinfectants. They can survive for 20 days in water and 6 weeks in contaminated stable. This organism is closely related to the agent of melioidosis, Burkholderia pseudomallei.

Susceptible hosts: The most susceptible hosts are horses, mules and donkeys. Infections can also occur in dogs, cats, goats and camels; cats may be particularly susceptible. Hamsters and guinea pigs can be infected in the laboratory. It is an occupational /professional hazard to human being. Laboratory samples are highly infectious to humans. Infection have been observed in sheep and goats. Guinea pigs, rabbits and field mice may be infected fatally. Cattle and pigs are absolutely resistant.

Geographic Distribution: Glanders is seen in some Middle Eastern countries, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, parts of China and Mongolia, and Africa. Sporadic cases are also seen in South America. Sporadic cases of glanders were identified between 1985-86 to 1990-91 from the states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. Since reemergence of glanders in July - August 2006 in and around Pune and Panchgani area of Maharastra, several cases have been reported among equines of different states viz., Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab. During the year 2006-07, National Research Centre on Equines, Hissar tested 4395 samples and 97 were detected positive and B. mallei was isolated from 8 of these cases.

Synonyms: Circling disease, Meningoencephalitis, silage disease

It is an infectious fatal disease of wide range of animals and man characterized by encephalitis. It also causes abortion, endometritis and repeat breeding in farm animals. Historically, Listeria was first isolated in 1926 from a natural disease of rabbits characterized by mononuclear leucocytosis and therefore named as Bacillus monocytogenes by Murray and coworker at Cambridge. Later, Pierie who isolated similar bacillus from liver of gerbils in 1927 named it Listerella hepatolytica in honour of surgeon Joseph Lister and finally renamed it Listeria in 1940 due to taxonomic reasons.

Etiology: The disease is caused by L. monocytogenes. The genus Listeria consists of a group of Gm + bacteria of low G+C content closely related to Bacillus, Clostridium, Enterococcus, Streptococcus and Staphylococcus. Out of 6 species reported, only L. monocytogenes and L. ivanovii are considered virulent. Human cases of L. ivanovii infection are rare whereas L. monocytogenes is an important food borne pathogen. L. monocytogenes has been isolated from a variety of food products. Meat, poultry, dairy and vegetable products have been implicated as vehicles of listeriosis. The organism can be isolated from faeces and silage. The organism can be easily destroyed by ordinary disinfectants but may survive in soil and silage for a considerable period of time.

L. monocytogenes is small, coccoid with a tendency to occur in chains. It is aerobic or microaerophilic. It grows on ordinary media within a temperature range of 4-42°C. Growth is improved by addition of glucose, blood or liver extract. Colonies are β haemolytic on blood agar. It ferments glucose and salicin producing acid without gas. Lactose, maltose and sucrose are fermented slowly or not at all and mannitol is not fermented. It is catalase +. It shows tumbling motility when grown at 25°C but at 37°C is non-motile. It is because peritrichous flagella are produced by the bacillus optimally at 20-30°C but scantily or not at all at 37°C.

Rivolta (1873) first described the chain forming cocci in pus collected from the equine infection. Later Rosenbach established the genus ‘Streptococcus’. Nocard and Mollereau (1887) first observed the relationship between the bovine mastitis and Streptococcus agalactiae.

Properties of genus

1. Morphology : Streptococci are gram positive cocci, capsulated, non-sporing and non-motile. Each coccus cell is 1µm in diameter.  They are arranged in a pair or chain of cells as the cell division occurs in one plane (Fig. 1). The chain formation and the chain length are variable. Streptococcus equi ssp equi is a constant chain producer, other species are not. The chain length is shorter in artificial media than natural one. Young cultures are gram positive whereas the bacteria present in the pus and older cultures in the laboratory are often stained as gram negative. 

Streptococcal capsule is polysaccharide in nature. It can be subdivided into different antigenic types (e.g. S. agalactiae, S. pneumonae). However capsules of S. equi, S. pyogenes are made of nonantigenic hyalu-ronic acids containing repeating units of glucuronic acid and N-acetyl-glucosamine. Synthesis of the polymer involves the products of three genes, hasA, hasB, and hasC, which are all in the same operon.

Lignieres and Spitz first isolated the bacteria from the cattle with Actinomycosis like condition in Argentina in 1902. They referred them as ‘Actinobacilllus’. These findings were also confirmed by Nocard in 1902. Latter, the isolated bacterium from the cattle was named as Actinobacillus lignieresii, in memory of Lignieres. 

Properties of genus

1.   Morphology :  Actinobacillus are gram negative small rods, measuring 1.5 µm in length and 0.4 µm in width, occurring singly, in pairs or more rarely in chains. After isolation in the laboratory they may show pleomorphism varying from coccobacilli to filamentous forms. In gram stained smear they may show both bacillus and coccus form together, known as ‘morse code’ appearance (dots and dashes appearance, Fig.1). They are non-motile (both at room temperature and 37^oC), non-sporing and non-acid fast. The pili are found in A. pleuropneumoniae.

      Some of them (A. pleuropneumoniae) are capsulated. Whereas, slime layer is found in the surface of other species like A. lignieresii, A. suis, A. equuli.  This slime layer is related with stickiness of the colonies in the agar, enhanced resistance of the colonies to the chemical disinfectants, as well as, resistance of the bacterial cell to the antibiotics and desiccation.

2.         Actinobacillus are aerobic, microaerophilic or facultative anaerobic in nature. They are chemoorganothrophic having both respiratory and fermentative types of metabolism.