eChapters

Pollination

Pollination is the act of transfer of pollen from the male reproductive organ of a plant to the female reproductive organ of same or another plant.

Pollination is of two types

5.1 Self Pollination

It is the transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma of the same flower from where the anthers have been generated. Thus, self pollination happens to be denominated as autogamy where auto means “same” and gamy means “union”. Obviously, self pollination is found in bisexual flowers. But self pollination also occurs when pollen is transferred from one bisexual flower to the stigma of another bisexual flower of the same plant. This kind of autogamy is known as geitonogamy. So, self pollination has to be defined keeping the parent plant on the main focus not the flower. If genetical consequences are considered, self pollination promotes the occurance of purelines or homozygotes. Self pollinating species developed themselves evolutionary fit due to homozygous balance and do not exhibit significant inbreeding depression.

Cultivated plants in general including the spice crops observed today have been evolved through selections from their weedy and wild types. Apart from this, there had been another force which could bring the wild forms into cultivated forms named human intervention which is actually the process of domestication. Natural mutations and genetic recombination after selfing and crossing also played a significant role in the entire process. Whereas, natural forces take a long time to come into act, the techniques of plant breeding was devised and fine tuned throughout passing of times, essentially to accelerate the speed of evolution using these natural phenomenons. It was, therefore, mandatory for us to know the modes of reproduction and pollination to create variability in natural population and make all thise happen to what we see today in organised cultivated forms. Moreover, knowledge on reproduction of different plant species helps the breeder to choose the right breeding procedure to be used for crop improvement. Modes of reproduction help to evaluate the genetic constitution of crop plants by determining the extent of homozygosity or heterozygosity which, in turn, are unanimously applicable to any plant. To comprehend modes of reproduction in spice crops effectively, understanding about the floral biology is absolutely necessary. Plant reproduction, a process by which one species gives birth to its offsprings, may be of two types

Since historical times, Indian spices have been contributed not only to the country’s wealth and prosperity but also to the subcontinent itself as a whole. Spices precisely witnessed many wars, bloodshed, armoury alongwith the glowing accounts and adventurous voyage by Pliny, Ptolemy, Marco Polo, Vasco da Gamma and other travelers. The Southern parts of India, especially the Malabar Coast, with its abundance of the World’s best pepper, cinnamon and ginger was enormously creating impact of a plethora of spices which attracted the foreign trade and continue even today by creating a unique brand value globally. In the past, invaders travelled to India by overcoming many odds and barriers with the prime focus on capturing spice trade and dominating the trade scenario of those days throughout the world. As a result, gradually Indian spices travelled far and wide to traditional destinations by providing flavor, aroma, pungency, taste and colour to a variety of foods and beverages.

It was the end of 18^th century, from when scientific research began on the idea of origin of cultivated plants. The pioneers of this field were Darwin, Alphonse de Candolle, N.I Vavilov and many more. Charles Darwin wrote his famous book ‘On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection’, or the ‘Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life’ published on 24^th November 1859. According to him, cultivated plants may have originated from its wild form after a series of intense modifications. Afterwards, a Swiss botanist Alphonse de Candolle studied 247 cultivated plant species and documented his work in the book “Origin of cultivated plants” in 1886. Later, Vavilov first identified the Centres of origin. He could determine the origin of plants by analyzing the pattern of variation and proposed that, crop plants have been evolved from their wild species in the geographic region of the greatest genetic diversity of that particular plant. That area is known as the primary centres of origin of the particular plant. But, some crop species were found to show substantial genetic diversity even though they did not originate there. Such areas are known as secondary centres of origin for that particular species.

A. General Morphology

2.1 The Root

It is the organ of a plant that typically lies below the surface of the soil.The root is best defined as the non-leaf, non-nodes bearing parts of the plant’s body. However, important internal structural differences between stems and roots exist. Root spices are, rather surprisingly, rare. Some popular examples of spices having roots are: Apium graveolens (Celery), Armoracia rusticana (Horse radish), Coriandrum sativum (Coriander), Ferula asafoetida (Asafetida), Glycyrrhiza glabra (Licorice), Levisticum officinale (Lovage), (Petroselinum crispum (Parsley), etc. All of the mentioned plants have aromatic roots.Roots of gingiberaceae are adventitious and storage roots arise from among the nodes of these scales.

Plant breeding is described as an art and science of changing the genetic architecture of plants with a goal towards betterment of mankind. Apart from this generalized concept, plant breeding is accomplished through inter-disciplinary mode assorted from simple selection in a variable plant-population having some desirable traits to the application of biotechnology and more. Worldwide, cultivars of different crops are routinely manufactured by Multinational and National level Industries, Government Institutions, Universities, Crop specific Organizations, professional plant breeders and even by the individuals such as gardeners and farmers.

Plant breeding is basically operated by the principles of Genetics where selections are practiced from a variable population and the selected variation needs to be inherited. Three categorized broad goals of plant breeding are 1) high yield 2) uplift in quality and 3) resistance against biotic and abiotic stress.

Spice crops are known to add nutritive value and increase the palatability as well as quality of food. Therapeutic uses of spices are also well recognised. The spice industry in India and trade has shown stunning progress over the last 5 years with 120% increase in revenue which is very close to touch $ 3 billion. East Asia is the major market for spices, followed by America and the European Union and the world spice trade has almost touched $ 17 billion by 2020. So, increased production is of paramount importance across the world and the potential is increasing. On the other hand, quality improvement is one of the primary objectives of spice crop breeding apart from achieving high yield. Cultivar and species diversity are the principal components of diversity of spices (Sasikumar et al. 1999; Krishnamoorthy et al., 1997; Prasath and Venugopal, 2004). A good amount of variability is found in many important Indian spices like black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, curry leaf, ginger, garcinia, tamarind and turmeric. A number of cultivars have been released followed by intra-germplasm evaluation and selection in spices. Contribution of recombination breeding is less in spice crops with regard to other field crops and a number of valuable varieties have been bred by clonal and seedling selection (Peter, 2008). Deployment of high yielding, water use efficient, climate resilient genotypes and technologies are also necessary.

During the last decade organic agriculture has emerged as a dynamic alternate farming system. This has been necessitated as a consequence of resource degradation because of to achieving high yields in various crops to meet the increasing demand of food by the burgeoning population. These have resulted in change in soil structure, imbalance in soil micro-organisms and organic matter, resistance among various weeds to weedicides, increased salinity, sodicity and have affected the water holding capacity of the soil and brought in health and environmental problems. Organic farming is a specified form of diversified agriculture that not only aims to produce nutritious food of high quality but also lead to the generation of more income and employment opportunities for rural population. In true sense, organic farming is a production system which avoids or largely excludes the use of synthetic fertilizers, growth regulators, livestock feed additives and pesticides. Moreover, it relies on agronomic management practices like crop rotation, crop residues, animal manures, legumes, green manures, off-farming organic wastes and aspect of biological pest control to maintain soil productivity.

The inability of Indian agriculture to meet the demand for food in the country during the two and half decades immediately after independence had been a matter of concern at those times. The system of our agriculture based on the traditional knowledge and practices handed down from generation to generation could not produce enough to feed the increasing population. The ignominy of our dependence for food on the western developed nations and the politics of food aid practiced by them added to our determination to be self-sufficient in food production by modernizing agriculture. The green revolution fulfilled our aspirations by changing India from a food importing to a food exporting nation. However, the achievement was at the expense of ecology and environment and to the detriment of the well-being of the people.

1. INTRODUCTION

During fermentation, the fruit wines have to be monitored for different parameters to know the progress of fermentation and to control the quality of the finished products. It is essential to maintain the quality of the products, for which it is necessary to keep a complete record of wine fermentation. One such form is the fermentation control record or fermentation logbook, which is kept to monitor and record fermentation progress. It includes the name of fruit, variety, original characteristics of juice/pulp, amelioration, tank number, inoculum type and quantities, sampling time, date of start of fermentation and completion. It should also have daily record of temperature of fermentation, total soluble solid or ^oBrix reading, titrable acidity and volatile acidity, racking time/date and other comments on the fermentation. Fermentation control records should be completed and all new wines be entered in the bulk wine book inventory, the annual supplemental records can be kept in a file entitled, for example ‘Vintage season 2018’.

EXPERIMENT

TECHNOLOGY FOR EXTRACTION OF KERNEL OIL FROM STONE FRUITS

Apricot, peach, plum, cherries, nectarines etc are the important stone fruits belonging to the family Rosaceae. These fruits are known to contain stones/pits i.e., apricot (6.0-11.5%), peach (7.5-11.5%), plum (4.5-7.0%) and these stones are reported to contain kernels (%) apricot (28.0-32.0%), peach (5.7-5.9%), plum (10.0-20.8%), almond (28.0-30.0%). These kernels can yield an oil yield of (42.5-45.5%), (38.5-41.5%), (39.2-40.6%) and (52.0-58.9%), respectively. Thus, these stone fruit kernels can be utilized for extraction of kernel oil by using the improved technology developed for extraction of oil. The developed technology consists of mechanical decortication of stones by the use of mechanical decorticator, kernel separation by using specific gravity separation technique, oil extraction by using table oil expeller and oil filtration through oil filter press followed by packing in PET bottles and PE pouches.

Mechanical decorticator: The mechanical decorticator is a type of roller crusher consisting of two rollers moving in inward opposite directions with the help of 3 HP motor and is provided with a hopper and feeder assembly. The clearance between two rollers is adjusted according to the respective size of stones.

Table oil expeller: Oil expeller is a 24 patti screw type oil expeller driven by 7HP motor, in which the kernels are fed into the moving hopper at pre-determined flow rate, which are pressed in between rollers (worm) and side walls of the expeller. The kernels are then, passed through the expeller 3-4 times until a thin slice of press cake is obtained.

EXPERIMENT: MINIMAL PROCESSING OF CAULIFLOWER (FREEZING PRESERVATION AND STEEPING PRESERVATION)

Materials and reagents

Material : Fresh cauliflower, glass jars, polythene pouches

Reagents: 15% sodium chloride

FRUIT TOFFEES

Fruit toffees can be prepared from different fruits like apricot, plum, apple and other fruits. Concentrate the fruit pulp to about half of its volume by cooking with sugar and other ingredients. Milk powder should be added in the form of paste. Heavy stirring is required till it hardens enough on cooling.

PRACTICAL 1: PREPARATION OF READY-TO-COOK MUSHROOM PASTA

Pasta is a product originally made from wheat and is of different shapes and sizes. It is generally rich in carbohydrate but is deficient in protein especially amino acid balance. Therefore, addition of spices and dried vegetables may solve this problem. Moreover, fortification of pasta with tomato, garlic, mushroom or spinach makes it nutritious for consumption. Since instant foods are widely becoming popular and consumed throughout the world and is also a fast growing sector of the noodle industry because of busy life schedule of people.

Beverage is a drinkable product which includes all drinks fermented or unfermented, sweetened or unsweetened. It may be fruit based or non-fruit beverage. Fruit based beverage is the fruit juice that has been considerably altered in its composition before consumption e.g. drink, squash, nectar etc. In this chapter, preparation of RTS drink and squash has been discussed.

1. PREPARATION OF READY-TO-SERVE (RTS) DRINK FROM FRUITS

Theory: RTS is a type of fruit beverage which contains at least 10% of fruit juice and 10 degree Brix as Total Soluble Solids (TSS) with 0.3% acidity. It is not diluted before serving, hence it is known as ready-to-serve beverage. It can be prepared from fresh/preserved pulp/juice of various fruits like mango, litchi, apricot, guava, lemon etc.

1. INTRODUCTION

Marketing is a general term used to describe the activities that lead to the sale of your product. It is the process of planning and executing pricing, promotion and distribution programs to satisfy customer needs. It involves collecting information, analyzing alternative market outlets, developing different product forms, pricing products to compete in the marketplace, defining the scope of the proposed market area and meeting consumers’ needs. So marketing is more than just selling a product or service. It is an essential part of any business. Without a good marketing program, even the best businesses fails.

Value-added agricultural groups typically don’t pay enough attention to marketing. Selling agricultural commodities usually only involves hauling the commodities to a market where there is usually a willing buyer. So farmers often spend their time analyzing brick and mortar issues associated with processing and manufacturing (making the product rather than marketing the product). Often the attitude is that, if we make the product, someone will come along and buy it. So value-added agricultural businesses consistently fail because they do not understand the importance of designing and implementing a good marketing program.

As a first step, ‘A Marketing Primer and Marketing Basics’ will help you with a basic understanding of marketing. Successful marketing involves designing and implementing a marketing strategy for your product. Marketing Strategies provide generic strategies for various types of products and product buyers. In a simple term, marketing activities and strategies result in making products available that satisfy customers while making profits for the companies that offer those products.

1. INTRODUCTION

Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ingested by an organism and assimilated by the organism’s cells in an effort to produce energy, maintain life, or stimulate growth. A food contains some non-nutrients, some of which may even have a detrimental influence on the consumers, while some may be inert and have no effect. Nature has endowed many plants with the capacity to synthesize a wide variety of chemical substances that are known to exert a deleterious effect when ingested by animals and are called as antimetabolites. These substances are also referred to as antinutritional factors when they are present in food/feedstuffs and influence a metabolic pathway when introduced into and/or eaten by an organism.

There is a wide distribution of biologically-active constituents throughout the plant kingdom, particularly in plants, used as animal feed stuff and as human food. The knowledge that these compounds elicit both toxic and advantageous biological responses has given rise to several investigations in recent times as to their possible physiological implications in various biological systems. It is well known that plants generally, contain antinutrients acquired from fertilizer and pesticides and several naturally-occurring chemicals. Some of these chemicals are known as ‘‘secondary metabolites’’ and they have been shown to be highly biologically active. They include saponins, tannins, flavonoids, alkaloids, trypsin (protease) inhibitors, oxalates, phytates, haemagluttinins (lectins), cyanogenic glycosides, cardiac glycosides, coumarins and gossypol and the list is inexhaustible. Some of these plant chemicals have been shown to be deleterious to health or evidently dis-advantageous to human and animal health, if consumed in appropriate amounts. Most of these secondary metabolites elicit very harmful biological responses, while others are widely applied in nutrition and as pharmacologically-active agents. The pharmacological and other beneficial effects of these antinutritional factors in plants have been reviewed here.

1. INTRODUCTION

Fruits and vegetables are increasing in popularity in the daily diet of people of both the developed and developing countries. Product quality and quality evaluation methods are extremely important. The decisions concerning harvesting, maturity, ripeness and quality are based mostly on subjective and visual inspection of the external appearance of the fruits. The quality of fruits and vegetable is mostly based on size, shape, colour, gloss, flavour, firmness, texture, taste and freedom from external and internal defect. Many techniques for evaluating the external quality parameters are now available commercially. Internal quality parameters such as sugar content, acidity, oil content and internal defects however, are difficult to evaluate. Methods are needed to predict the internal quality of fruits and vegetable better without destroying them. Recently, there have been an increasing interest in non-destructive method of quality evaluation and a considerable amount of efforts has been made in this direction. The development of science and technology, especially of information technology has made available many non-destructive methods of analysis of materials which can also be applied to fruits and vegetables. The fruit industry needs non-destructive techniques for online sorting and certifying high quality fruit.

Non-destructive method can be classified according to the principle used to detect fruit properties; mechanical, acoustic, optical and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (MRI) Techniques.

1. INTRODUCTION

Sensory science is the fundamental physiological and psychological underpinnings of sensory evaluation and includes our basic understanding of the mechanisms of taste and odour, kinesthetic and the various techniques of scaling and statistical analysis, whereas, sensory evaluation could unfold the application of this knowledge and the development of specific methods for the evaluation of the discriminative, descriptive and affective nature of products, in a problem-solving situation. When the Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA) methodology was first described, it represented a decade of experimentation and study of the issue that were perceived at the time to be the impediments in solving “the problem of flavour characterization” Further, new developments and knowledge about sensory evaluation were beginning to have a positive effect on its acceptance by the food industry, but much more needed in be done if it is to contribute in a meaningful way. Today, it is indisputable that flavour is an important attribute affecting consumer acceptance of food and it is taste plus odour. The perception of taste is merely the detection of non-volatile tastants by the tongue while in other words, the perception of odour is the detection of odoriferous volatile aroma compounds by the olfactory nerves ending in the nose. The combination of all the possible flavour stimuli that could be encountered is as vast as the galaxy.

1. INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE

Sensory evaluation is one of the important methods of evaluation of the quality of food. Without the sensory evaluation of a product whether it is fresh or processed, it cannot be launched in the market. All the other methods like physical, chemical and microbiological fails for the product development if sensory evaluation is ignored as the final acceptance can come from the sensory evaluation only. So sensory evaluation has got an upper edge as compared to the other methods of food quality evaluation. However, a collective approach of quality evaluation of a product that includes the physical, chemical, microbiological and sensory evaluation is the most acceptable approach today.

In the past, human sensory perception had been the only mean of assessment of product quality as illustrated by the classical examples of cooks who knew how to mask the off-notes long before the microbial assessment of quality came into existence. Everybody relied on the sensory evaluation of food as a criterion of quality assessment. In the past, even the kings depended upon “tasters” to assure that the food was suitable for their consumption in the past. The role of sensory organs in sensory evaluation of food is shown in Table 1. But later on, with the development of instrumentation, sensory analysis was overlooked and the instrumental methods were preferred as they were supposed to provide absolute measures of quality. Consequently, the product quality was traditionally determined by physical, chemical and microbiological criteria with the assumption that the products meeting the prescribed specifications in the above parameters would automatically meet the desired sensory quality. However, soon it was realized that without sensory evaluation, the acceptability of a product cannot be determined.

1. INTRODUCTION

Packaging waste forms a significant part of solid waste and has caused increasing environmental concerns, resulting in strengthening of various regulations aimed at reducing the amounts generated. A wide range of oil-based polymers is currently used for packaging of various products by different industries including the food industry. These are virtually non-biodegradable and some are difficult to recycle or re-use as they are complex composites having varying levels of contaminants and pose serious health concerns. In the recent years, the use of bio-based and biodegradable products as packaging material has generated a lot of interest amongst researchers as they bring out a significant contribution to sustainable development with a wider range of disposal options.

Bioplastics are polymers that are capable of undergoing decomposition into CO₂, H₂O and inorganic compounds or biomass through predominantly the enzymatic action of microorganisms. Some of these polymers can also be compostable, which leads to their decomposition in a compost site at a rate consistent with known compostable materials. The market for these environmentally friendly materials is expanding rapidly, at the rate of 10–20 per cent per year. The global market for biodegradable polymers exceeds 114 million pounds and is expected to rise at an average annual growth rate of 12.6 per cent to 206 million pounds by 2020.

Bio-based packaging materials are mostly used to pack short shelf-life products, like fresh fruits and vegetables, and long shelf-life products, like pasta and chips, which do not require very high oxygen and/or water barrier properties. However, the inventory of films shows a wide variety in properties, which could make them applicable as a packaging material for other food products with stricter conditions, like MAP packaging. One of the challenges faced by the food packaging industry in its efforts to produce bio-based primary packaging, is to match the durability of the packaging with product shelf-life. The bio-based material offers great potential for the packaging industry. However, it is important to realize that a thorough evaluation of the functional properties of a bio-based material is essential before it can be used as an alternative for the traditional film materials.

1. INTRODUCTION

Food processing involves the use of wide range of unit operations and technologies to transform the raw, bulky and perishable food into more shelf-stable, palatable and marketable food products. Food processing is one of the most effective solution to reduce the wastages, improves the quality and safety aspects of food products, increase the food availability and marketability. Fruits and vegetables are considered as an integral part of any dietary system as these are rich sources of vitamins, minerals and dietary fibres. India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables after Brazil and China which contributes 10 % of world fruit production and 14 % of world vegetable production. Fruits and vegetables are more prone to spoilage as compared to cereals due to their nature and composition. The spoilage can be occurr at the time of harvesting, handling transportation, storage, marketing and processing that results in lot of wastage in the form of seeds, pulps, peels etc. Efficient management of these wastes can help in preserving vital nutrients of fruits and vegetables, and bringing down the cost of production of processed foods, besides minimizing pollution hazards. In India, processing of fruits and vegetables is extremely low as compared to the developed countries.

Biotechnology can help in the bio-processing of fruits and vegetables for the production of novel products having better sensory and nutritional qualities, improved shelf life. Bio-processes involve the use of different micro-organisms and enzymes along with modern biotechnological techniques like genetic engineering.

1. INTRODUCTION

Flavour is a distinctive property of a substance affecting the gustatory sense. It may be defined as “The sum of those characteristics of any material taken in the mouth, perceived principally by the senses of taste and smell, and interpreted by the brain.” Flavour perception is a complex process which requires the particles to be mixed with saliva and salivary enzymes to promote the release of flavour. Flavour molecules are very diverse in nature. More than 5000 compounds in food have been identified as flavour components which can be detected at very low concentration and are thus, used in products at very low levels. Hexenols and hexenals, characteristic of green taste of fresh fruits and vegetables, can be perceived at a concentration of about 1 part per million (ppm). Naturally occuring flavour compounds are present at a very low concentration ranging from parts per trillions (ppt) to parts per millions (ppm) level. Majority of these compounds are volatile, with boiling points in the range of 20-300 °C. Most of these compounds are lipophilic and possess a great diversity of chemical group and structure with molecular weight ranging between 50-250 g/mol.

Flavour and fragrance compounds are a part of expanding industry with an estimated cost of nearly $27 billion. These comprise of diverse molecules with unique structures and functional groups that contribute to varied aroma and flavour, ranging from floral to fruity notes. The processing operations modify the equilibrium between the different components in raw food that might weaken the original flavour, which require subsequent supplementation. These flavour supplements can be natural or chemically synthesized. Of all the available flavour compounds, around 80% are produced by chemical synthesis whose use is limited due to formation of racemic mixtures and lack of substrate specificity. The growing awareness of consumers towards chemicals supplemented to food has led to the development of the flavouring compounds of biological origin referred to as natural flavours or bioflavours. The first major source of flavour compounds was primarily from plants. Identification of microbes producing vital food flavourants paved the way for alternative low cost, efficient and flexible method for the commercial production of flavour compounds.

1. INTRODUCTION

Colour affects every moments of our lives, strongly influencing the cloths we wear, the furnishing in our house and garden, and the appeal of foods. Not only this, colour aids the recognition of food and also has psychological appeal on the enjoyment of food. It is also one of the first characteristic perceived by our senses and help in determining acceptability, judging the quality and basic aesthetic value of food. Addition of colour to the food ensures the uniformity and intensifies the naturally occurring pigments in our food. To achieve this, historically natural or bio-colours have been used extensively till the end of 19^th century, when synthetic colours called ‘coal tar dyes’ were developed that acquired a widespread acceptability. But unfortunately, these are not totally safe for human consumption; for example high levels of erythrosine intake causes thyroid tumors, while Ponceau 4R, tartrazine and sunset yellow were found to be allergic. Many dyes used as colourant have been proved to be carcinogenic. The consumer wants to see the food looking natural as the synthetic colours have been proved to be carcinogenic to humans. Thus, increasing consumer awareness for natural products with almost no chemical additive and certified dyes (which was earlier considered safe) has necessitated the need to exploit food colourants of natural origin. Natural colours are generally extracted from materials of biological origin like fruits, vegetables, seeds, roots and microorganisms, and are often called as ‘Biocolours’. Microorganisms like Rhodotorula, Sarcina, Chromobacter have been proved to be a good source of biocolour.Colour has also been successfully produced from microorganisms using apple pomace as a base for the growth medium of biocolour producing microorganisms.

1. INTRODUCTION

Enzymes are proteins with highly specialized catalytic functions responsible for many essential biochemical reactions in microorganisms, plants, animals and human beings. Enzymes play an important role in many aspects of life since the dawn of civilization that have used enzymes for thousands of years without understanding what they were or how they work. Food processing through the use of biological agents/enzymes is historically a well-established approach. The earliest applications go back to 6000 BC or earlier, with the brewing of beer, bread baking, cheese and wine making. Whereas the first purposeful microbial oxidation dates back 2000 BC, with vinegar production. In the late 19^thcentury, Christian Hansen reported the use of rennet for cheese making and production of bacterial amylases was started at Takamine (latter became part of Genencor). Pectinases have been used for juice clarification in the 1930s and during World War II, invertase was also employed the production of invert sugar syrup in a process that pioneered the use of immobilized enzymes in the sugar industry. Still, the large-scale application of enzymes could only be really established in the 1960s, when the traditional acid hydrolysis of starch was replaced by an approach based in the use of amylases and amyloglucosidases (glucoamylases) and glucose (xylose) isomerase. From then onward, the trend for the design and implementation of processes and production of products by the use of enzymes has steadily increased.

Food and beverages and household care industries represent the largest application areas of enzymes, followed by animal feed, biofuels, textile and other technical industries. Recently, several new developments have taken place in the application of enzymes in fruit and vegetable processing. Fruits and vegetables are consumed as fresh or processed into different type of products. Commercial enzyme preparations are used as processing aids in fruit and vegetable processing to improve the process efficiency and product quality, because enzymes show activity on specific substrates under mild processing conditions. Therefore, there has been a striking growth in the enzyme market for applications in the fruit and vegetable industry.

1. INTRODUCTION

Food additives have been used for centuries in food processing practices such as smoking and salting of meat. Prior to the advent of refrigeration, food grown in the summer had to be preserved for the winter. Salt, sugar, and vinegar were commonly used preservatives. Additives serve many roles and their common uses includes maintaining product consistency and palatability, providing leavening or controlling pH, enhancing flavour and imparting colour. A food additive can be defined in many ways. The Codex Alimentarius Commission, which develops international regulatory guidelines for food additives, provides the following definition of a food additive:

"Any substance not normally consumed as a food by itself, and not normally used as a typical ingredient of the food, whether or not it has nutritive value, the intentional addition of which to food for a technological (including organoleptic) purpose in the manufacture, processing, preparation, treatment, packing, packaging, transport or holding of such food results, or may reasonably be expected to result, (directly or indirectly), in it or its by-products becoming a component of or otherwise affecting the characteristics of such food. The term does not include contaminants or substances added to food for maintaining or improving nutritional qualities".

F.A.O and W.H.O in 1956 defines food additives as non-nutritive substances added intentionally to food, generally in small quantities, to improve its appearance, flavour, or storage properties. The definition did not include vitamins and minerals. Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FASSI) in 2011 defines food additives “as any substances which is added to food for a technological (including organoleptic) purpose in the manufacture, processing, preparation or treatment of such food and affects the characteristics of such food, but does” not include contaminats or any substance(s) added to the food maintaining or improving the nutritional values. Food additives are those added intentionally to foods and are not naturally a part of a food but can be a part of food unintentionally.

1. INTRODUCTION

Stone fruits belonging to family Rosaceae (sub family-Prunoideae) include several important fruit crops like peach, plum, apricot, cherries, nectarines etc. The World production of these stone fruits is approximately 45.49 million tones; out of which 39.61 million tones stone fruits are grown in Asia and India contributes 6.67 million tones of stone fruits annually. Among all the stone fruits Peach, Plum and Apricot production in world is 24.98, 12.05 and 4.11 million tones, respectively whereas India alone produces 287778, 261903 and 17862 metric tones of peach, plum and apricot, respectively (Table 1). These stone fruits are grown extensively in USA, Spain, France, Italy, Turkey, Morocco, Iran, Africa and Australia. In India, these are grown in J&K, Himachal Pradesh sub-mountainous tracts of Punjab, Uttarakhand, North East States and to the limited extent in the Nilgiris hills. Primarily, these stone fruits are used for table purposes or processed to prepare various types of value added products like jam, jelly, marmalades, preserves, baby foods, nectar, juices, squashes, concentrates, ready-to-serve beverages, wines and also processed into dried products.

1. INTRODUCTION

With diverse agro-climatic conditions, India produces a wide variety of horticultural crops and out of these crops and out of these apple (Malus x domestica Borkh.) occupies a prominent position in India. It is processed into different products like juice, concentrates, wine, cider, canned slices etc. Apple processing is one of the major industries in countries of the world including India, where it is processed in different states like H.P, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand. Apple pomace is a left-over residue after juice extraction containing peel, seeds and remaining solid parts and represents about 25-35% of the weight of the fresh apple processed. At prasent, it is a waste and its disposal is a major environmental problem (Plate 1). Being precious natural resources its utilization is a challenge and opportunity to the scientists and technologists. It may be a good substrate for the pectin esterase enzyme, animal feed, citric acid, ethanol and biocolour production. It could be a good substrate for the production of microbial colours under SSF which otherwise require a costlier medium for its production. Different products using solid state fermentation of apple pomace forms the subject matter of this chapter. Here the efforts made to utilize apple pomace especially to explore the possibility of making value added products using Solid State Fermentation (SSF) have been summarized.

1. INTRODUCTION

Food processing industries are engaged in production of different types of processed products and generate various types of wastes. These wastes, whether solid or liquid, on one hand are a direct loss to the producer or manufacturer and on the other hand create environmental pollution, if not disposed properly. Therefore, the processors would always like to minimize these wastes. The generation of wastes not only cause economic losses but would also require additional cost for their management and disposal. As a matter of fact, it is often estimated that proper use of efficient machinery and careful handling during various operations can lead to more than 50% reduction in losses.

In general, the wastes from the food processing industries are either not utilized or primarily utilized as animal feed, fertilizer and in preparation of by-products on a limited extent. Many of the wastes such as cuttings and shreds from the fruit and vegetable processing industry can be used as animal feed. Fruit and vegetables wastes can also be used for extraction of starch, pectin, natural colouring matter, fat, essential oils etc. Wheat and maize bran alongwith palm kernel are used for the production of feed for chickens. Various oils and oleoresins having enormous pharmaceutical properties can be obtained from the spice processing industry.

Fermentation is a cheap and energy efficient means of preserving perishable raw materials. It commonly does not require any sophisticated equipment, neither is the storage of fermented products a big issue. Fermented foods play an important role in providing food security, enhancing livelihoods and improving the nutrition and social well being of millions of people around the world, particularly the marginalised and vulnerable population across the developing countries.

1. INTRODUCTION

Wine is an ancient fermented product as revealed by the wine jugs recovered (Plate 1) during excavation from different places. Wine is made all over the world and wine produced in each region from different parts of the world has different characteristics. Development and implementation of practices and policies for sustainable growth of grapes and other fruits is the most essential component for the growth and development of wine industry. The science dealing with wine production, evaluation and consumption is known as 'Oenology'. For the introduction of wine, several aspects influence the wine quality are style, the consumer perception and finally, the marketing are taken in account. Factors related with fruit growing, ripening, micro organisms and other verification factors need to be considered in wine production.

1. INTRODUCTION

Wild fruits are highly nutritious and contain vitamins, carbohydrates, protein and minerals in higher quantity than majority of other common cultivated fruits. They are also a rich source of several bioactive substances, compared to the cultivated fruits. In India,these wild fruit trees grow abundantly across an altitudinal gradient of Himalaya and the majority of them bear fruits during summer. Fruit varieties are consumed by the local inhabitants of the region. At the same time, there are numerous under exploited species of wild fruits having high potential for exploitation viz., Bael (Aegle marmelos CL.), Berberis asiatica DC, Seabuckthorn (Hippophae sp.,) Rubus sp., Prunus armeniaca L., Karonda (Carissa carandas L.) Bitter Almond (Prunus amygdalus Batsch Smith), Feijoa sp. Among the wild fruits, Hippophae sp.was found to be economically efficient, followed by Aegle marmelos, Rubus ellipticus Smith, respectively. Wild apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.), a semi-domesticated and less utilized fruit of the higher Himalaya, provides better economic returns on an annual basis. Attempts have been made to utilize these wild fruits as a source of income, particularly for poor rural inhabitants and unemployed youths of the region by making a variety of edible products such as jam, jelly, juice, squash, sauce, wine etc. Here in this article, production of wine, vermouth and brandy from wild fruits would be focused. But before discussing preparation of wine and brandy in detail, we shall be describing the general process of wine and brandy making first, then the products from the specific wild fruits.

1. INTRODUCTION

Wine is the alcoholic product obtained by fermentation of fruits like grape, plum, peach, pear, apple and apricot (see chapter 25). Different types of wine which can be made from various fruits are:

• Table wines
• Fortified wines
• Sparkling wines

In preparation of table, fortified and sparkling wine many steps are common. It is out of scope of this text to discuss these specialized wines. But the general steps involved to in wine making are described here.

1. INTRODUCTION

Admitably except for water and milk, no other beverage has earned such universal acceptance and esteem throughout the ages as wine. The aesthetic postures of wine can be gauged by the quotations like ‘wine is the most healthful and the most hygienic beverage (Louis Pasteur)’, ‘wine is a chemical symphony (Amerine). Man has been preparing and consuming since time immemorial a large variety of alcoholic beverages, ranging from mild stimulants to highly intoxicants liquors. Amongst the mild stimulants are the wines which have long association with human artistic, cultural and religious activities.

Grapes and wines are of immense importance to us and their sheer magnitude of production and associated investment, employment, enjoyment, tax revenue collected and the economic contribution is a justifiable. These play a major role in economics of major wine producing countries like Italy and France. Wine and brandy refer to the fermented by-products of grapes, member of genus Vitis notably the cultivars of V.vinifera L. as per the European definition. However, here these terms may also refer to the fermented by-products from any fleshy fruit or flower. Compared to the grapes, industry producing wine from other fruits is very small. Do these have any role to play especially in nutrition, health and economy of the horticulturally developed countries or are simply mild intoxicants consumed? Such queries at one or the other time may baffle the thinking of an inquisive reader. An attempt has been made here to discuss briefly the historical aspects, role of wine in the context of nutritive and therapeutic value, present status of Indian Wine Industry, research status and future strategies. Emphasis on its role in developing the horticultural industry would also be laid.

1. INTRODUCTION

Vegetables occupy a prominent position in our diet especially to tone up our digestive system and provide nourishment. Regular use of vegetables, supply many essential health building and protective substances, such as vitamins and minerals. India ranks second in vegetable production in the world. The abundant production of vegetables during the season, results in a glut. Consequently, a large quantity of vegetables gets spoiled resulting in a considerable loss of natural resources. Therefore, preservation is the best way to save the wastage of vegetables and make them available even in the off-season (Plate 1).

1. INTRODUCTION

Fermentation is an age old technology. It has been used by man since antiquity. It has been employed to produce a number of fermented products such as wine, beer, curd, vinegar, pickles and several others. Fermentation was discovered quite early and by chance but the underlying principles were discovered very late. Primarly fermentation was used as a method of shelf-life extension of the produce in the time of glut production, though the final product had modified sensory qualities. Thus, fermentation and drying were the main methods of preservation. With the discovery of new methods of preservation, fermentation as a method of preservation has gone into background and as technique of flavour development and product with modified sensory quality came into practice. In this chapter, fermentation as a method of preservation has been described.

1. INTRODUCTION

Food fermentation is the oldest method of food preservation and have originated several million years ago. It plays an important role in ensuring the food security of millions of people around the world particularly marginalized and vulnerable groups. It is relatively efficient, low energy consuming process which needs no refrigeration or other energy intensive food preservation technologies but increases the shelf-life of foods. Fermentation ensures not only increased shelf-life and microbiological safety of food but may also make some foods more digestible and lower or eliminate the toxicity of substrate like cassava.

The food fermentation technology utilizes the ability of growth of microorganisms on various substrates for the production of a variety of fermented foods, beverages and pickles like bread, beer, cheese, idli, tempeh, miso, sauerkraut, fermented sausages, etc. Fermented foods are popular throughout the world since antiquity and in some regions these are the major component of the diet of millions of individuals. Indigenous fermented foods such as bread, cheese and wine have been prepared and consumed since ages and have occupied important place in culture, religion and tradition of people all over the world.

1. INTRODUCTION

Since vedic times, importance of fermented milk and its products was known but the major attention to probiotic and its health related benefits was gained after Eli Metchnikoff’s publication entitled “The prolongation of life” in 1908. Due to the awareness of the role of nutrition in health and well-being, improved knowledge of diet-related diseases, consumer demand for probiotic and prebiotic products has been increased in recent years. The link between diet and health is flourishing the market for health-embracing population and opens an opportunity for Food and Dairy Industries meet the demand of this market. Probiotics, constituting live micro organisms, have been incorporated into drinks, food products, supplements (tablets, capsules and freeze–dried preparations) and prebiotic products. Milk, milk based products, fruits and vegetables are rich in functional food components such as minerals, vitamins, dietary fibers, and antioxidants (phytochemicals). Application of probiotic bacteria in such products further enhances the nutritional value of the food product. Probiotic juices produced from fruits and vegetables have also been in consideration in recent years. The food market is being getting captured by pro- and prebiotic food products day-by-day. Even the agro-industrial by-products such as whey, wheat straw, rice straw, sugarcane bagasse, etc. are being explored for the economical and cost effective production of prebiotic molecules. Thus, this chapter gives a comprehensive overview of pro- and prebiotics and their market potential.

1. INTRODUCTION

Amongst the common fermentations employed in food are alcoholic, lactic acid and acetic acid. Lactic acid fermentation is a potent tool of biopreservation of foods by the use of biological means i.e. microorganisms or their metabolites having antimicrobial action. It deals with the extension of storage life and increased safety of edible products by employing natural microflora or their antimicrobial products such as in food fermentation. Though many problems in food processing and microbiological safety of food have diminished, yet these are certainly not eliminated altogether. These include the likelihood of food-related illness and product spoilage in industrialized countries. The increasing consumption of pre-cooked food, prone to temperature abuse, are among the main causes of this scenario. The bacterial pathogens that account for many of these foodborne illness cases include Salmonella, Compylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli 0157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, and Clostridium botulinum. Until now, approaches to seek improved food safety had relied heavily to find out more efficient chemical preservatives or on the application of more drastic physical treatments (e.g. high temperatures) of food processing. Nevertheless, these types of solutions do have some drawbacks also: the proven toxicity of some of the commonest used chemical preservatives (e.g. nitrites), the alteration of the sensory and nutritional properties of foods (thermal processing) especially recent consumer trends in purchasing and consumption, with demands for safe but minimally processed products without additives.

1. INTRODUCTION

According to the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (1968) food is “an article that provides taste, aroma or nutritive value”. The term 'health food' is generally used to describe foods that are considered to be beneficial to health beyond a normal diet required for human nutrition. Though, the term is not precisely defined by any regulatory agencies such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) however, “Health food” is sometimes used as an umbrella term encompassing natural foods, organic foods, whole foods, and sometimes dietary supplements or may also refer to functional foods. The use of foods for promoting health and relieving symptoms is as old as the practice of phyto-medicine for treating or preventing various types of illness and have been documented in Hippocratic and Vedic texts and the canons of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Therefore, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”, quoted by Hippocrates about 2,500 years ago, is certainly the tenet of today which is receiving overwhelming interest. In the recent years, rapid urbanization, industrialization, increase in per capita income etc. in developing countries like India, have resulted in dramatic lifestyle changes leading to lifestyle related diseases like coronary heart disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer and hypertension. The transition from a traditional to modern lifestyle, consumption of diets rich in fat and calories combined with a high level of mental stress has compounded the problem further.

1. INTRODUCTION

The growing demand of consumers for fresh, safe, chemical, additive or preservative free and minimally processed foods has compelled the food scientists and technologists to develop many non-thermal food processing technologies which cause minimum nutritional and sensory qualities impairment in the processed foods. In this endeavour, consumers prefer minimally or non-thermally processed foods rather than the thermally processed one. Today, non-thermal technologies like High Pulse Electric Field (HPEF) processing, High Hydrostatic Pressure (HHP) processing or Hight Pressure Processing (HPP) food irradiation, ultraviolet light, ultra sound, arc discharge, oscillating magnetic fields, light pulses, plasma, chemicals (ozone, carbon dioxide, argon), and the combined methods of these technologies are the major areas of research in the process and food engineering in order to find their suitability for processing of various food products.

1. INTRODUCTION

Mushrooms are edible fungi of commercial importance and their cultivation has emerged as a promising agro-based land-independent enterprise. There are about 20 varieties of mushrooms being cultivated throughout the world for food. In India, only white button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus J.E. Lange Imbach), oyster mushroom (Pleurotus spp. [Fr.] P. Kumm) and paddy straw mushroom (Volvariella volvacea [Bul.] Singer) are grown commercially. Of these, white button mushroom contributes ~90% of the total production. Mushrooms have been recognized as an alternate source of good quality protein and produce the highest quantity of protein per unit area from agro-wastes. Besides, they provide potentiality for generating employment, improving economic status of growers, help in checking pollution and earn foreign exchange.

Out of the total production about 45% of mushrooms produced are consumed in the fresh form while the other 55% are processed, with 5% in dehydrated form and 50% in canned form. This is because their shelf-life in the fresh form is very short and hence mushrooms are traded in the world market mostly in the processed form. Fruiting bodies (reproductive phase) of Agaricus are appreciated not only for texture and flavour but also for their chemical and nutritional characteristics.

1. INTRODUCTION

In recent years, fruit and vegetable consumption has grown rapidly. Today’s society is characterized by an increasing health consciousness and growing interest in the role of food for maintaining and improving human well-being and consumer health. Due to consumer’s profile being ‘‘rich in cash/poor in time’’, there is a demand for ready-to-eat products As a result of changes in consumer attitudes, the market of minimally processed (MP) fruits and vegetables has grown rapidly. In addition to their nutritional and sensory properties, foods are currently recognized as active and protective agents. Among the others, minimally processed products stand out as convenient novel foods that fit the many needs of a modern lifestyle as they combine technical content with an innovative food concept. Fresh fruits and vegetables are an essential component of a healthy diet, able to decrease the risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Their consumption has continued to grow rapidly, linked to the increased public awareness of their health benefits.

Minimal Processing’ (MP) is a concept describing approaches to food safety and preservation that are designed to retain the natural and as-fresh properties of foods. Minimally processed fruits are new forms of product marketing, intended to meet the consumers’ desires for convenience and fresh-like quality. Minimally processed fruits and vegetables, also called ready-to-use, fresh-cut or pre-cut produce, are raw fruits and vegetables that have been washed, peeled, sliced, chopped or shredded into 100% usable product that is bagged or packaged to offer to the consumers high nutrition, convenience, and flavour while still maintaining its freshness.

1. INTRODUCTION

Wild pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is one of those fruits which has got a great economic importance. The name “pomegranate”is derived from Latin pomum (apple) and granatus (seeded) which has influenced the common name for pomegranate in many languages (like in German Granatapfel, seeded apple). It has widely been cultivated throughout India and drier parts of South-East Asia, Malaysia, the East Indies and tropical Africa. The most important growing countries of pomegranate are are Egypt, China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, India, Mayamar and Saudi Arabia. In India, it grows in the vast tract of the hill slopes of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. One of the important centers of wild pomegranate, in Himachal Pradesh is Darlaghat, located about 50 Km from Shimla. The fruit provides substantial income to the farmers particularly where it is found growing wild such as in Mandi, Kullu, Sirmour, Solan, Shimla, and Chamba districts of Himachal Pradesh. It is found very common and gregarious in drier and sub-marginal land of mid hill regions of outer Himalayas at an elevation of 900-1800 m above mean sea level (a.m.s.l). Wild pomegranate is considered as one of the commercial fruits of Himachal Pradesh in the form of dried arils popularly known as “Anardana”. Besides Anardana, other value added products can also be prepared from this fruit as detailed in this chapter.

1. INTRODUCTION

India is blessed with all types of vegetation because of the diversified climatic and physiographic factors like tropical, subtropical, temperate and alpine. Due to its wide ranging environmental regimes and diverse biological communities, it is one of the world’s 12 “Mega diversity” nations. Out of nearly 425 families of flowering plants in the world, 328 families with 21,000 species are found in India. Further, in India about 20.64 % area is under forest where various species of trees are found, depending upon the climatic conditions.

There are about 29 species of pine which produce edible nuts and utilized at least by indigenous tribal culture in the world. Most of these nut bearing pines are haploxilon (soft) pines, although several species are of diploxilon (hard) pine group. Spain is the largest producer of Pinus pinea and China is the largest producer and exporter of Pinus koriences and Pinus sibrica nuts. Some of the famous edible pine nut species are listed in Table 1. Chilgoza (P. gerardiana Wall.), commonly known as ‘chilgoza’ or ‘Neoza’ is a member of genus Pinus that maintains a very unique position of being an integral part of the vibrant, but fragile ecosystems of the great Himalayas in the Indian sub-continent. The chilgoza pine is the only pine which is of immense social forestry importance. The earning for the bread and butter of most of tribals in HP is from the chilgoza nuts. Further, it also forms an important part of their diet as well as an item essential for some social obligations. Tribals are still adopting the age old practices for chilgoza nut extraction and further their selling to the agents at throw away prices during peak season of nuts.

1. INTRODUCTION

Indians are known to prepare preserves from the ancient times. They were also familiar with ther therapeutic values associated with the preserves. Besides, candies, reathers and toffees are the other food products prepared and consumed. In this chapter, the methods of their preparation are described.

2. PRESERVES

A preserve is made from properly mature fruit, by cooking it whole or in the form of large pieces in heavy sugar syrup, till it becomes tender and transparent. In its preparation not less than 45Kg of the fruit are used for every 55Kg of sugar, and cooking is continued till a concentration of at least 68 per cent of TSS (Total Soluble Solids) is reached.

Freshly made preserves are wholesome and have an attractive appearance. When they are stored for a long period, their natural colour and flavour deteriorates on account of oxidative changes. They should therefore, be made only during the season, unless there should be adequate facilities to keep the fruits so that they are available in the off-season also.

1. INTRODUCTION

Juices and pulps are produced from a wide variety of fruits and vegetables around the world, while some medicinal plants and herbs are also used for preparation of extract of beneficial bioactive compounds. These juices and extracts contain very high proportions (upto 75-90%) of water. Due to their seasonal nature, these products can not be produced round the year in various parts of the world. Preservation, storage, transportation and marketing of single strength juices, pulps and extracts is not at all economical due to the presence of large quantities of water. Under these circumstances, the technology of concentration offers many advantages.

In chemistry, concentration, as a state, may be defined as “the abundance of a constituent divided by the total volume of a mixture” and can be mathematically explained in four types i.e. mass concentration, volume concentration, molar concentration and number concentration. Generally, the term concentration can be applied to any mixture (solid or liquid) but most frequently it refers to the presence of solutes in solvents. Mass concentration is defined as mass/volume (m/V) of mixture and represented in kg/m³, volume concentration as volume of a constituent divided by the volume of all constituents of the mixture (v/V) and represented in m³/m³, molar concentration as moles of a constituent divided by the volume of all constituents of the mixture (n/V) and represented in mol/m³, while, number concentration is defined as the number of entities of a constituent in a mixture divided by the volume of the mixture (N/V) represented in 1/m³.

In food technology or fruit juice industry in particular, concentration refers to a process of separation of water (or any other solvent) from the solids of the pulp, juice, extract by making use of any of the three basic methods i.e. evaporation, freezing and membrane technology. Pulps, juices and extracts are the basic material used for preparation of various types of processed products. But due to their bulk and presence of large quantities of water they are difficult to store and transport. Concentration of juices, not only provides microbial stability, but also reduces the costs of packaging, transportation and storage by reducing the bulk of the material. Concentrated juice, contains far less water than normal, or “not-from-concentrate” forms of juice.

1. INTRODUCTION

Preservation of foods by drying is perhaps the oldest method known to mankind. Drying is a thermo-physical action and its principles are governed by heat and mass transfer laws inside and outside the product. The weight of the product is reduced to the extent of 1/4^th to 1/9^th of its original fresh weight. Drying of foods and biological products is a widely applied process for different purposes such as increasing the shelf-life, reducing packaging costs, lowering shipping wastes, encapsulating flavours, making food available during off-season, adding value by changing the phase structure of the native material and maintaining nutritional value. Drying or dehydration of fruits and vegetables can be accomplished with low capital while maintaining high quality and obtaining less perishable food products.

1. INTRODUCTION

Thermal processing means preservation by application of heat. It involves heating of foods in hermetically sealed containers for a specific time at a specific temperature to eliminate the microbial pathogens that endanger public health and that micro-organisms that deteriorate food during storage. The credit for invention of thermal processing (Canning) goes to a French Confectioner, Nichola Appert. The application of heat is an important method of preserving foods and is also a means of developing texture, flavour and colour in some foods.

1. INTRODUCTION

Fruits and vegetables represent highly perishable items of agricultural produce, mainly because of their high water content in the fresh form. Fruits and vegetables vary greatly in their protective covering, peel or rind, and also in shape, size, colour, texture and flavour. Their care starts from the field of harvest, including pre- harvest care to reduce postharvest infections and maintain quality. Because of the high rate of perishability in fresh form, fruits and vegetables are preserved by processing into several forms and choices, depending on the specific commodity to ensure reduction in mass, render storage stability for extension in storage life for both domestic and foreign trade over variable distance and time.

Food preservation can be defined as the science which deals with methods of prevention of decay or spoilage of food, thus allowing it to be stored in a fit condition for future use. In this chapter, food preservation and have been discussed in abroad way.

Thus, sugar serves as a preservative in jam and jelly, whereas salt is the major preservative for pickle. RTS (Ready-to-Serve) beverage under acidic conditions in pasteurized form can be stored at room temperature for approximately three months while dehydrated products with 5% residual moisture with suitable packages, depending on the low hygroscopicity can find storage life upto 12 months. Intermediate moisture product with 25% residual moisture is becoming popular to consume mango or papaya strips directly in ready-to-eat form. Storage quality of such forms assumes greater importance. The use of synthetic preservatives is highly questioned in the modern days. However, low concentrations of potassium meta-bisulfite and sodium benzoate are still in use. Formation of benzene under acidic conditions for example in products like RTS beverage by the use of sodium benzoate is said to be dangerous, as benzene is known to be carcinogenic. This takes us to a subject of food safety including hygiene and HACCP. Good manufacturing practices are practically the most useful form of product preparation to expect safety.

1. INTRODUCTION

The Green Revolution and subsequent efforts through the application of science and technology for increasing food production in India, have brought self-reliance in food. The imputs given by the Government, State Agricultural Universities, State Departments of Agriculture and other organizations through the evolution and introduction of numerous hybrid varieties of fruits and vegetables and improved management practices have resulted in increased food production. However, the nation still faces the problem of the use of improper methods for the storage of food stuffs and their preservation leading to great wastage of the food produced. So, there is a urgent need for the application of food preservation and processing methods.

Food preservation involves all the processes used to maintain foods with the desired properties or nature for longer time. The process is has moved from an art to a highly interdisciplinary science. Food safety now the first priority of the food production and preservation industry, incorporating innovations and sustainability. The preservation and processing of food however, is not as simple or straight forward as it was in the past. A number of new preservation techniques have been developed to satisfy the current demands of economic preservation and consumer satisfaction in nutritional and sensory aspects, convenience, and safety, absence of chemical preservatives, and environmental safety. Understanding the effects of each preservation method on food has therefore, become critical in all the aspects.

1. INTRODUCTION

In the changing global scenario, food nutrition, health care and livelihood security are the matter of great concern to human, social and economic development. Fruits and vegetables is one of the most important and fast growing sub-sectors as they form an indispensable part of healthy diet. The current trend shows that dietary habits are changing with increasing income, from cereal based diet to nutritious diet. Resultantly, there is a growing demand for horticultural produce.

World production of vegetables amounts to 1169.45 million tonnes, while that of fruits is 689.39 million tonnes (NHB, 2017). India is the second major producer of fruits and vegetables in the world and ranks next to China. India produces 92.85 million tonnes of fruits from an area of 6.5 million hectares and 175.00 millions tonns of vegetables from an area of 9.2 million hectares annually. The productivity of vegetables in India is 17.6 tonnes per hectare. Potato (28.9%), tomato (11.3%), onion (10.3%) and brinjal (8.1%) are the 4 major vegetables contributing 58.6% of total vegetable production in our country. Other important vegetables are cabbage (5.4%), cauliflower (4.6%), okra (3.9%) and peas (2.4%)

1. INTRODUCTION

To over come the problem of glut of perishables and to regulate the market, storage of such commodities is a 'common' practice. Storage of fruits and vegetables also makes available these commodities in the off-season. Needless to say, storage is a powerful tool in the prevention of postharvest losses and to give remunerative prices to the farmers. The management of temperature and relative humidity are the most important factors determining storage life of horticultural produce. The natural means like ice, cold water, night temperature have been used for long time for protecting food materials from spoilage and these are still common. However, with the development of innovative technologies, it is possible to achieve optimal environments in the insulated stores. All these aspects are discribed in this chapter.

1. INTRODUCTION

Fruits and Vegetables are heighly perishable crops and have to be handled carefully after harvest. Postharvest handling of these perishables is essential to prevent the post harvest losses and maintain the quality of the fruits and vegetables. Various treatments (chemical, physical and biological agents) have been standardised and used for retaining the storage quality of different horticultural commodities. All these aspects have been discussed in this chapter.