eChapters

Several fruits and vegetables are unexploited for proper utilization and product development. Due to lack of utilization, there is a lot of wastage and ultimately the great loss to the people as well as nation. Some unexploited fruits and vegetables have potential for introducing new products. Therefore unexploited fruits and vegetables have to be exploited for new product development especially from underutilized sub-tropical and tropical fruits and vegetables. Research and development should be undertaken to utilize these fruits and vegetables.

Unexploited Fruits

Unripe Green Mango: Although pickles are prepared but droped green mango fruits are not preferred for pickle preparation. They can be dried and utilized for preparation of dried slices or amchur. Amchur is used to develop flavor and taste in Ice cream. These products are used to develop flavor and taste in meal or food. It is also used to prepare chatney. But utilization of Amchur is not known to common people.

Avocado: It is found in tropical and sub-tropical climatic regions having more humidity and rainfall. In Ethiopia it is found throughout the country but not utilized properly by people. They prefer to eat ripe fruits with salt and lime juice. It is very healthy fruit for chronic disease like cardiac and diabeted diseases. This is seasonal use but no product is available for off season. Therefore researches should be carried out for different products development of Avocado products.

Packaging

Packaging is a mean or system by which a fresh or processed product will reach from the production center to consumer in safe and sound condition at an affordable price.

Objectives of packaging and packaging materials

The primary objective or packaging is to protect the contents during storage, transportation and distribution against deterioration. It may be physical, chemical or biological. However, followings are objectives of packaging and packaging materials.

Several products of fruits and vegetables are prepared on commercial and home scale. Products development from fruits and vegetables is the best way to utilize excess produces and save them from post harvest losses..

Value Addition

This is the process of improving the value of a commodity through processing by changing its form, increasing its shelf life or better presentation like packaging. Value addition can be done through the ways.

Process of preservation of food stuffs such as fruits and vegetables whole or in pieces in sugar syrup or brine by heating them in hermetically sealed containers for long storage is known as canning. In other words canning is the process of sealing food stuffs hermetically in containers and sterilizing them by heat for long storage.

Preservation of food (fruits and vegetables) in common salt sand vinegar is called pickling. It is one of the most ancient method of preservation of fruits and vegetables. Pickling is the result of fermentation by Lactic acid forming bacteria which are found in large number on the surface of fruits and vegetables. They can grow in acidic medium and in the presence of 8-10 percent salt solution. The growth of majority of undesirable bacteria is inhibited. Lactic acid most active at 30 °C temperature. This temperature should be maintained during the process of pickling.

Preparation of pickles

Pickles are prepared with salt, vinegar and oil or combination of these ingredients. Spices are also used for pickle preparation.

Fermentation

The decomposition of carbohydrates by microorganisms and enzymes is known as fermentation. During fermentation process of food organic acids and alcohol etc are produced which act as preservatives and also provide fine flavor and aroma that increase the value of raw materials. Most fermented foods contain a complex mixture of carbohydrates, proteins and fats etc. Fermentation occurs when microorganisms consume susceptible organic substances as a part of their own metabolic processes. Natural fermentation is probably oldest form of food preservation.

Sugar also acts as preservative at high concentration 70% or more in food products (fruit and vegetable products). High concentration of sugar in food materials create unfavourable conditions for microbial survival and prevent spoilage. Based on this principle of preservation, sugar based products are prepared from fruits and vegetables so that they can be preserved for long time. This method of preservation with high sugar concentration is principally based on the reduction in moisture content to arrest or stop microbial spoilage. Preparation of sugar based products is one of the most important aspects of home scale as well as industrial level processing of fruits and vegetables. Sugar based value added products include.

In the previous chapter the physical methods of fruit and vegetables processing and preservation have been discussed. The present chapter deals with chemical method of fruit and vegetable preservation. In this method of preservation of fruits and vegetables, chemicals as preservatives are used to prevent the spoilage of fruit and vegetable products. These preservatives react with food (produce) constituents or microorganisms and create unfavourable conditions which hinder growth, activities and multiplication of microbes responsible for spoilage of food products. These chemical agents have maximum permissible limit of their use as law. They can be classified into two classes class I and class II.

Class I: Sugar, Salt and Oils

Class II: Sodium benzoate, Potassium metabisulphite (K M S) and Sorbic acid

In the physical methods of preservation, fruits and vegetables are preserved by (i) adding heat, (ii) removing moisture content of produce to prevent spoilage and (iii) irradiated by Gama rays which kill the microorganisms responsible for spoilage of foods. These methods are described below.

Processing and Preservation by Adding Heat or Heating

In this method, heat treatment is given to destroy the microorganisms which are responsible for spoilage of the produce. Heat treatment is given by many methods.

The basic processing and preservation techniques such as canning, freezing, dehydration, salting, pickling and freeze drying are designed to change perishable foods into more usable form and prevent undesirable changes caused by microorganisms, or by chemical, physical and biochemical reactions in the food itself. Hence an ideal processing technology would involve prevention of growth of microorganisms and at the same time retention of f lavor, texture, nutritive value and palatability of the products.

Processing and Preservation

Processing and preservation is the best way of utilizing surplus production of fruits during seasonal gluts.

The fruits and vegetables are highly perishable in nature. The losses in harvested fruits and vegetables start immediately after harvesting and the resulting spoilage caused by biochemical changes (enzymatic) and activity of microorganisms such as bacteria, moulds and yeast. The losses caused by the microorganism in fruits and vegetables products can be prevented by controlling or destroying these organisms in order to preserve fruits and vegetables by processing and preservation means. The processing and preservation is one of the most important activities among various types of activities of Horticultural Science.

Processing: The processing can be defined as an activity, which is performed to maintain or improve the quality or to change the form or characteristics of the product. Processing operations are undertaken to add value to horticultural produce after their production. The main purpose of processing is to minimize the qualitative and quantitative deterioration of produce after harvest.

Preservation: Preservation can be defined as the science which deals with the methods of prevention of decay or spoilage of produce and allow it to be stored in a fit condition for future use.

Fruits and vegetables can be preserved for short and long term. For short term preservation can be achieved by proper handling of produce and low temperature storage. Long term preservation can be achieved by canning, drying and dehydration, fermentation and by using chemical preservatives.

After harvesting the quality of fruits and vegetables begins to diminish and products is edible for only a limited time then products begin to spoil or rot. Losses occur during harvesting and handling of fruits and vegetables can be minimized by proper techniques but processed food spoilage is bit difficult to control and stop after infection and contamination of microorganism.

Spoilage

Spoilage is deteriorative process which results reduction in quality of food (fruits and vegetables) which become inedible. The changes in food that cause it to lose its desired quality and eventually become inedible is called food spoilage or rotting. After harvesting, the quality of fruits and vegetables begins to diminish and product is edible for only a limited time. The deterioration and spoilage of fruits and vegetables may occur at different ways.

The losses in harvested products begin immediately after detachment of products from their parental plants. After some time, theses products begin to spoil or rot. Spoilage can be defined as the deteriorative process which renders the food inedible or results in reduction in quality. Spoilage of fresh fruits and vegetables usually occurs during storage, transportation and during processing. They also get contaminated with spoilage organisms either from each other or from the containers. Mechanical injuries during harvesting and transportation further aggravates the deterioration process.

Processed fruit and vegetable are considered as staple food products throughout the world, and are becoming more popular with the increase of the global urban population. As a result, demand for processed fruit and vegetable products tends to increase with population growth in the world. There is strong demand for processed fruits and vegetables in the developing world over the past few years. In poor countries, people consume less fruits and vegetables due to the relatively high prices. All forms of preserved fruits and vegetables are available only to the urban elite people. But rural mosses producing more than 90 % of these fruits and vegetables are usually deprived of their uses.

Demand of Processed Fruits and Vegetables

Demand of processed fruits and vegetables is increasing in the developing as well as under developing countries of world. The following reasons are responsible for day by day increasing demand of processed fruits and vegetables.

Fruits and Vegetables are highly perishable in nature due to which huge spoilage (damage) takes place during the period between harvesting and consumption. Fruits and Vegetables after harvesting are often poorly handled and in many cases neither cleaned nor washed. Improper handling may cause physical damage due to tissue breakdown which results mechanical damages and physiological changes in harvested fruits and vegetables. Mechanical losses include bruising, cracking, cuts, microbial spoilage by fungi and bacteria and physiological losses include changes in respiration, transpiration, pigments, organic acids and flavour.

The food we eat contains nourishing substances called nutrients which are required by human body for proper functioning and maintenance of body health. They are classified into five groups such as:

Carbohydrates,

Protein,

Fats,

Minerals

Vitamins

World Scenario

The world climatic conditions are divided into Tropical; Sub-Tropical and Temperate climates. Fruits and Vegetables suited to these climatic conditions are grown successfully. Considering the nutritional and economic importance of fruits and vegetables, there is tremendous increase in area and production of fruits and vegetables throughout the world. The present global scenario of fruit and vegetable crops (areas harvested, production and productivity (yield) has been given in Table 1. It shows that the fruits 865.88 million tones has been harvested from 65.24 million Ha land with productivity 13.27 t/ha (Table 1) where as vegetables produced 1075.20 million tonnes from area 57.00 million ha with yield 18.86 tonnes/ha (Table 1) during 2016.

Agriculture has been the base of human livelihood since ancient time when the man started planting of seeds of some edible plants now called Agricultural crops. Domestication of food plants and animals was started with the development of human civilization. Thus agriculture can be explained as science and technology of growing food crops and rearing of animals. Still in several countries of the world, most of population is based on agriculture for their livelihood particularly in rural areas of that country. According to Williams and Haq (2002) there are over 7000 species of plants that can be used for food. The edible plants species grown for food are called agricultural crops. The crops grown in garden are known as garden cops or Horticulture crops. Horticulture is a branch of agriculture, which deals with intensive cultivation of garden crops such as fruits, vegetables, f lowers, ornamental plants, plantation crops, spices, medicinal and aromatic plants, and mushroom. It also deals with post-harvest technology of horticultural crops. Processing and Preservation of fruits and vegetables is a part of Post-harvest Technology of horticultural crops which deals with methods of processing and preservation of these crops to extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables after harvesting.

All horticultural crops have their own importance in our society. Fruits, vegetables and spices are major ingredients of our meal. Spices add taste and flavor to our food and also have high medicinal values. Flowers and ornamental plants are used for decoration of environment and landscape. Aromatic and plantation crops have become industrial crops. Mushroom growing is a great enterprise. Among these crops fruits and vegetables are major crops and have been considered presently as highly economical and important food crops. There are 1200 crop species are used for vegetable purpose in the world (Hazra and Som, 2006). Fruits and vegetables are richest and cheapest source of all essential nutrients (carbohydrates, fat, protein, vitamins and minerals) required by our body for proper functioning of body organs and maintaining good health. Besides these nutrients they also supply water and fibers to our body which play vital roles in our body. Fruits and vegetables have important place in our daily diet and based on survey made by experts FAO WHO (2003) has recommended 400 g/capita/day of fruit and vegetables (fruits -100 g/capita/day and vegetables -300 g/capita/day) to be consumed for good health and prevent chronic diseases. Therefore, the demand of these food commodities has increased in the modern society due to increased awareness of the nutritional importance of fruits and vegetables. So that people must be aware that what part of fruit and vegetable is to be consumed?

The word ‘chlamydia’ comes from the Greek word ‘chlamys’ means ‘cloak draped around the shoulder’. It describes how the intracytoplasmic inclusions produced by the bacterium appear under the microscope(‘draped’ around the host cell nucleus). Chlamydia was first discovered by a Czech zoologist and parasitologist, Stanislaus von Prowazek in 1907 in Berlin. Originally because of its structure it was thought to be a virus. In 1963 it was recognized as a bacterium rather than a virus.

Properties of genus

1. Morphology: Chlamydia are Gram-negative, non-motile, pleomorphic and obligate intracellular bacteria. The Gram-negative cell wall consists of cytoplasmic and outer membrane. However, they lack peptidoglycan layer. Moreover, they also encode major outer membrane protein (MOMP), the key antigenic determinant used for serological differentiation of chlamydiae.

They are poorly stained by Gram’s stain. Chlamydiae are readily stained by Castaneda (blue in appearance), Giemnez and Macchiavello (red in appearance) methods. However, Giemsa staining is preferable to stain the inclusions (chlamydial micro colony) in the cell culture. Inclusion bodies of the Chlamydiae are basophilic in nature. The staining of the inclusion bodies may differ depending on the species. In C. trachomatis, the inclusion bodies contain glycogen matrix and can be easily stained with iodine solution.

History of rickettsial infections went back to 16^th century and it has long been associated with famine and war. Epidemic typhus had major impact to decide over the outcome of several wars. The epidemic alone killed or caused great sufferings to over 1,00,000 people during World Wars. However, the causative agent was not determined until the early part of the 20^th century. Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) was the first detected rickettsial infection in 1896 in Idaho Valley, USA. It was originally known as ‘black measles’ due to its clinical appearance in the form of characteristic spotted rash throughout the body. Howard Taylor Ricketts, an American pathologist for the first time described the causative agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever and was able to isolate it in the laboratory animals during 1902-1909. He was a dedicated scientist and on several occasions injected himself with the pathogen for experiment. The causative pathogen of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Rickettsia rickettsii was named after him. Later, the family Rickettsiaceae as well as the order Rickettsiales was named after him. Ernest William Goodpasture, an American pathologist and physician, invented the methods of isolation and culturing the rickettsial pathogens in chicken embryos and fertilized chicken eggs.

The word ‘Mycoplasma’ is originated from the Greek word mykes (fungus) and plasma (formed). It was first used by Albert Bernhard Frank (1889), a German biologist. He thought it was a fungus. An older name for Mycoplasma was pleuropneumonia-like organisms (PPLO), referring to organisms similar to the causative agent of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP).It was later found that the fungus-like growth pattern of Mycoplasma mycoides is unique to the species. It was first isolated in 1898 by Edmond Nocard and E. Roux from bovine lungs. Mycoplasma pneumoniae was considered as a virus previously. Eaton and his co-workers cultured the causative agent of human primary atypical pneumonia (PAP) or ‘walking pneumonia’. It was known as ‘Eaton’s agent’. In the early 1960s, Leonard Hayflick, in Philadelphia, was first to isolate and cultivate the causative agent of primary atypical pneumonia and identified the agent as a Mycoplasma pneumoniae.

Properties of genus

1 Morphology: Mycoplasma have no cell wall and therefore are resistant to the antibiotics used to inhibit the cell wall synthesis like penicillin, cephalosporin and vancomycin. The bacteria are the smallest prokaryote (0.3-0.8µm). They are pleomorphic due to absence of the rigid cell wall. The different shapes include ring, globules, filaments and elementary bodies. Due to their plasticity in shape and size, they can be passed through the membrane filter with pore size of 0.45µm. The cell membrane is constituted of trilaminar structure enriched with phosphoprotein, lipoprotein, glycolipid, phospholipid and sterol. So Mycoplasma require sterol for their growth.

Antony Van Leeuwenhoek (1681) first observed the spirochetes under the microscope and described them. In 1833, Ehrenberg used the name Spirochaeta for free living spiral shaped organisms. Obermeir (1873) first described a spirochete of pathogenic significance isolated from human patients with relapsing fever. Inada (1916) first isolated Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae from human patients of Weil’s disease. In 1980, Nogochi proposed the name as Leptospira.

In India, Taylor and Goyale (1931) first reported Leptospira from human patients suffering with jaundice in Andaman Islands. Ayyar (1932) first reported Leptospira from dogs in Chennai city.

Properties

1. Bacteroides, Dichelobacter and Fusobacterium are major gram negative anaerobes isolated from human and animals. Other gram negative anaerobes are listed below (Table-1).

2. The bacteria are tolerant to oxygen in comparison to strict anaerobes. The bacteria do not die after oxygen exposure.

3. The bacteria naturally inhabit the intestine and mucosal surfaces of human and animals. Majority of them are opportunistic pathogens. Often they cause mixed bacterial infection along with aerobes. The aerobes remove oxygen and create an anaerobic condition favourable for their growth. The aerobes may also supply other growth requirements. For e.g. Porphyromonas asaccharolytica requires vitamin K for its growth, supplied by another aerobic bacterium, not the host.

Guillame de Baillou (1673), a physician, described an outbreak of recurrent severe cough that could induce vomition and suffocation in human in Paris. The infection was described as ‘Quintan^tussis which was later confirmed as ‘whooping cough’. The causative agent Bordetella pertussis was discovered by Jules Bordet and Octave Gengou in 1906 in Paris. The Gram-negative bacilli were isolated from sputum of Jules Bordet’s son. Bordetella bronchiseptica was first isolated by Ferry (1911) and M’Gowan (1911) who considered the bacteria as the cause of distemper in dogs. Later B. bronchiseptica was known as primary cause of ‘kennel cough’ infection along with the Canine Adenovirus and Canine Parainfluenza virus. Moreno- Lopez named the bacteria B. bronchiseptica.

The genus Moraxella was named after Morax who first isolated the bacteria from human conjunctivitis in 1896.

Since the periods of Hippocrates and Lord Buddha cholera like symptoms was described in human. The first outbreak of cholera was described in India in 1817. Filippo Pacini (1854), an Italian anatomist, observed a gram-negative bacterium associated with human cholera. Robert Koch (1884) first isolated and confirmed the association of ‘comma-shaped bacteria’, later designated as Vibrio cholerae with the disease in Calcutta (India). In 1959, Sambhu Nath De, Professor of Pathology at Nilratan Sircar Medical College in Calcutta discovered the exotoxin produced by V. cholerae and a simple method (rabbit ligated ileal loop assay) to study the in vitro effect of exotoxins. The Ganges delta of India and Bangladesh is considered as the worst affected place with cholera although the infection is widespread throughout the world. The spread of cholera in different continents occurred through six ‘waves’ (‘pandemics’) since 1817. The current seventh pandemic (7P) was originated in Indonesia (Sulawesi) in 1961 and spread throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America. In 1963, the seventh pandemic reached South Asia and circulated for more than 50 years with intermittent transmission to other continents. The recent major 7^th pandemic outbreak was detected in Haiti causing more than 9400 deaths in 2010 which was originated through patients from endemic countries.

In 1886, Escherich observed Campylobacter like organisms in stool samples of children with diarrhoea. In 1913, McFaydean and Stockman first confirmed the bacteria as Campylobacter in foetal tissues of aborted sheep. Confirmatory tests were also carried out by Smith in 1918 when similar bacteria were isolated from aborted bovine foetuses. The bacteria were then known as Vibrio foetus. In 1963, due to certain differentiating characteristics, the organisms were separated from Vibrionaceae family and the new genus Campylobacter (means ‘curved rod’) under Campylobacteraceae family was proposed.

Clinical conditions similar to brucellosis have been described since the time of Hippocrates (450 BC). J. A. Marston (1861) first described brucellosis as gastric remittent fever in Malta, the Southern European island country. Sir David Bruce (1886) first isolated small coccobacilli from an infected soldier’s spleen and purified the culture in 1887, and named Micrococcus melitensis. Later the genus was renamed as Brucella in his honour. Similarly, Bang and Stribolg (1897) first isolated Brucella abortus from abortion material of a cow. Traum in 1914 isolated Bacillus abortus suis, currently known as Brucella suis. In 1953, Brucella ovis was firs isolated in New Zealand by Budlle and Boyes from the aborted material of sheep. Carmichael and Bruner (1968) first isolated B. canis from the aborted placenta of a dog.

In India first report of ‘contagious abortion’ associated with Brucella was found in annual report (1918) of imperial veterinary research institute (presently Indian veterinary research institute), Mukteswar, Uttarakhand and later in 1942 by Polding.

Lignieres and Spitz first isolated Actinobacillus from the cattle with actinomycosis like condition in Argentina in 1902. The findings were also confirmed by Nocard in 1902. Later the isolated bacterium from the cattle was named as Actinobacillus lignieresii in memory of Lignieres.

Pfeiffer (1892) first isolated Haemophilus influenzae as a cause of human influenza and it is also known as ‘Pfeiffer’s bacillus’. Other workers isolated and described different species of the genus Haemophilus from animals and birds. In 1903, Friedberger, a research assistant of Pfeiffer, isolated similar kind of bacteria from prepuce of dogs which was described later as Haemophilus canis. In 1925, Mitchell isolated Haemophilus ovis from the respiratory tract of sheep. Lewis and Shope (1931) isolated and illustrated Haemophilus suis from the infected pigs. Glasser found the association between fibrinous serositis, polyarthritis in pigs (Glasser’s disease) and a small gram-negative rod as early as 1910, later became known as Haemophilus parasuis. The bacteria was first isolated by Hjarre and Wramby in 1943. De Blieck (1931) isolated a hemophilic bacterium from the birds suffering with ‘infectious coryza’ and named the bacteria as Bacillus haemoglobinophilus coryzae gallinarum. Later it became known as Haemophilus paragallinarum (Avibacterium paragallinarum).

Louis Pasteur (1881) first isolated the bacterium from fowl cholera outbreak and attenuated the bacteria to develop a vaccine for the chicken. Trevisan (1887) coined the generic name ‘Pasteurella’ in honour of Louis Pasteur. Lignieres (1900) proposed the name of the species according to the animals acted as the major hosts such as Pasteurella aviseptica for fowls, P. suiseptica for pigs, P. boviseptica for bovines, P. oviseptica for ovines and P. leptiseptica for rabbits. Rosenbuch and Merchant (1939) proposed the name of single species Pasteurella multocida which is in use till date.

Mannheimia is an exclusive animal pathogen and is associated with ‘shipping fever’ or bovine respiratory disease (BRD) in cattle. Kitt (1885) first described the bacterium as Bacterium bipolare multocidum isolated from shipping fever in cattle. The nomenclature was further changed into Bacillus boviseptica and finally into Pasteurella haemolytica. Based on fermentation capability of arabinose and trehalose, P. haemolytica was subdivided into two biotypes (A and T) and several capsular serotypes. The biotype A (with 12 capsular serotypes) was classified under a new genus Mannheimia due to disparities in 16S rDNA sequence, cultural and pathological characteristics.

Lucke (1862) first described that the bluish green discolouration of surgical dressing is associated with the presence of small vibrio like organisms. Gessard (1882) first isolated the bacteria as Pseudomonas.

Identification of the etiologic agent of glanders was performed in 1882 by isolating a bacterium from the infected liver and spleen of horse. Since its discovery, the pathogen has been classified as Loefflerella mallei, Pfeifferella mallei, Malleomyces mallei, Actinobacillus mallei, Corynebacterium mallei, Mycobacterium mallei, Pseudomonas mallei, and currently as Burkholdria mallei. The genus Burkholderia was created to accommodate former rRNA group II (Pseudomallei group) Pseudomonas bacteria. It was based on the 16S rRNA sequences, DNA-DNA homology values, cellular lipid and fatty acid composition.

The family Enterobacteriaceae belongs to the order Enterobacterial. The family comprises 25 genera such as Escherichia, Salmonella, Klebsiella, Yersinia, Proteus, Providencia, Shigella, Enterobacter, Morganella, Edwardsiella, Budvicia, Cedecea, Citrobacter, Ewingella, Hafnia, Kluyvera, Leclercia, Leminorella, Moellerella, Pantoea, Rahnella, Tatumella, Trabulsiella, Serratia and Yokenella, out of which the first 10 genera are consistent pathogenic in humans, animals and birds.

Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli were first isolated by Theodor Escherich in 1885 from the faeces of infants. It was named in honour of the German pediatrician and its major natural habitat (colon). Previously it was also known as Bacillus coli or Bacterium coli (B. coli).

Streptomyces are soil-borne bacteria known for production of several antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals, antitumoral, anti-hypertensives and immunosuppressives. Krainsky (1914) first described S. griseus and named the species Actinomyces griseus. Waksman and Henrici (1948) changed the name to Streptomyces griseus.

Dermatophilus congolensis was first described from clinical case of exudative dermatitis in cattle in Congo by Van Saceghem (1915). It is primarily known as an animal pathogen causing acute, sub acute or chronic skin disease. The first cases of human infection with D. congolensis were reported in 1961 in four people who developed skin infection after handling an infected deer in USA.

Edmond Nocard (French veterinarian) first isolated filamentous aerobic bacteria from clinical cases of ‘bovine farcy’ in 1888. In 1889, the genus Nocardia was formed by Trevisan and the bacterium originally described by Nocard was named as Nocardia farcinica. In 1891, another similar bacterium (Nocardia asteroides) was isolated by Eppinger from a human brain abscess. Initially it was thought that they are the same bacteria. On the basis of the genetic differences the separate entity was established later.

The re-examination of Nocard’s original isolate revealed the existence of two different filamentous bacteria i.e. Mycobacterium and Nocardia. The cause of ‘bovine farcy’ has been subsequently attributed to Mycobacterium. Later, it is proved that Mycobacterium farcinogenes is the actual causative agent of ‘bovine farcy’.

Cohn (1875) first observed and described a branching filamentous microorganism in the ‘concretions’ (coagulated mass) taken from a lacrimal canal, later identified as Actinomyces israelii. Bollinger first reported the yellow granules in jaw tissues of the cattle in 1877 and established the significance of the bacteria as the etiological agent. In 1878, Israel described the first human case. In 1879, Hartz observed the microscopic appearance of granules of Actinomyces and suggested the name Actinomyces bovis. Mosselman & Lihnaux (1890) and Wolf & Israel (1891) first isolated the bacteria in artificial laboratory media from lumpy jaw cases of cattle and human actinomycosis, respectively.

The genus Clostridium belongs to the family Clostridiaceae. The genus name was originated from the Greek word ‘klo ster’, which means ‘spindle’ referring to their individual rod shape. Clostridia are gram positive, large, sporulating anaerobic rods (except C. piliforme which is gram negative). At present, there are more than 200 numbers of species under the genus Clostridium. Among them, 15 species can produce potent toxins and are considered as pathogenic for animals and human. The animal pathogenic clostridia can be classified as neurotoxic, histotoxic and enteric.

In 1882, Robert Koch first isolated the bacterium, stained with alkaline methylene blue and vesuvin as counter stain and showed its etiologic relationship with tuberculosis. Ehrlich first developed acid-fast stain in 1882 and used for better staining of the bacteria which was adopted by Robert Koch. The acid-fast staining technique was modified later by Franz Ziehl and Friedrich Neelsen, accordingly, it is known as Ziehl-Neelsen (Z-N) staining. In 1890, Koch prepared a glycerine broth extract of the tubercle bacillus, known as ‘tuberculin’. He tried to prepare it as a curative agent; but it was used later in diagnosis. In 1895, Johne and Frothingham described the first case of paratuberculosis in cattle which became known as ‘Johne’s disease’. The causative bacterium was later isolated by Twort and Ingram in 1910.

In India, bovine tuberculosis is reported from several states since 1959 (Dhanda and Lall, 1959). The bovine paratuberculosis in India was first reported by Nanda and Singh (1940) from Haryana.

In 1850, Bacillus anthracis was first reported by three individuals in two different countries i.e. Delafond and Davaine in France, and Pollender in Germany. They could not establish the relationship of the bacterium with the infection. Absolute proof of the anthrax etiology as B. anthracis was established by Robert Koch during 1876-77. The name Bacillus anthracis was first coined by Cohn (1875) and the disease ‘anthrax’ was first named by Hippocrates (5th century B.C.). In Greek language meaning of ‘anthrax’ is ‘coal’ referring to the black coloured skin or blood in affected animals.

Murray (1926) and Pirie (1927) first described Listeria independently. In India, animal listeriosis in sheep was first reported by Mahajan (1936) in Andhra Pradesh.

Robert Koch first isolated Erysipelothrix in 1876 from a mouse he inoculated with putrefying blood. Koch initially named the bacterium “Bacillus of mouse septicemia”. Pasteur and Dumas (1882) first isolated Erysipelothrix from the infected pigs. Friedrich Loffler (1886) first experimentally produced the infection in pigs. Rosenbach (1909) first described human erysipeloid. The nomenclature of the bacterium is changed several times and Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae was finally accepted by the scientific community in 1966. The name is originated from Greek words such as ‘erysipelas’ (red skin), ‘trix’ (hair), ‘rhusius’ (reddening) and ‘pathus’ (disease).

Corynebacterium diptheriae was first observed by Klebs in 1883 and was described in details by Loeffler in 1884. So it is also known as ‘Klebs- Loeffler bacillus’. In 1888, Nocard isolated a similar type of bacteria from cases of bovine farcy. In 1894, Preisz described it completely and revealed its similarities with the diphtheria bacilli. Later it was named as Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis (Preisz-Nocard bacillus). Bollinger (1890) first reported C. renale from the cases of pyelonephritis in cows.

The genus Trueperella was proposed by Yassin and others (2011) to describe T. pyogenes previously known as Arcanobacterium pyogenes or Actinomyces pyogenes or Corynebacterium pyogenes. The genus Arcanobacterium was first described (Collins and others, 1982) to include the bacteria originally isolated as Corynebacterium haemolyticum from the wounds of American soldiers. On the basis of 16S rRNA comparisons and menaquinone and phospholipid compositions it is proposed that the species Arcanobacterium pyogenes should be reclassified as members of the new genus Trueperella.

The genus Rhodococcus was first introduced by Zopf (1891) as a soil bacterium used in horticulture. Magnusson (1923) described C. equi (Rhodococcus equi) from suppurative pneumonia of a foal.

Rivolta (1873) first described the chain forming cocci in pus collected from the equine infection. Rosenbach (1884) established the genus Streptococcus’ Nocard and Mollereau (1887) first observed the relationship between the bovine mastitis and Streptococcus agalactiae. Lancefield (1933) classified beta-haemolytic streptococci on the basis of group specific-carbohydrate antigens.

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(Figure 1 & 22). The chain formation and the chain length are variable. Streptococcus equi ssp. equi is a constant chain producer. Young cultures are gram positive whereas bacteria present in the pus and older cultures in the laboratory are often stained as gram negative.

Sir Alexander Ogston, a physician from Scotland, first elucidated the role of Micrococcus in formation of pus. He proposed the name ‘Staphylococcus’ (In Greek ‘staphyle’ means bunch of grapes and ‘kokkos’ means berry). Anton J. Rosenbach isolated two different species of Staphylococcus and named them according to the pigmented appearance of colonies i.e. Staphylococcus aureus (in Latin ‘aurum’ means gold) and Staphylococcus albus (in Latin ‘albus’ means white). The studies of Bumm (1885) established the relationship of Staphylococcus with human infections. Nocard (1887) and Guillebeau (1890) isolated Staphylococcus from mastitis in sheep and cattle, respectively and established its pathogenic role in animals.

The genetics is the study of inheritance and variability of organisms. Bacterial genetics is a sub-field which specifically studies transmission of genetic information from one bacterium to its progeny or between the interbreeding bacteria and the expression of genetic information.

Mutation

Hugo de Vries (1848-1935, Dutch botanist) coined the term ‘mutation’. It is originated from a Latin word which means ‘to change’. The heritable change in bacterial DNA sequences is known as bacterial mutation. The mutation will generate a new type of bacteria with altered genotypical and phenotypical characteristics, known as ‘mutant’. The parent bacterial cell from which the mutants are generated is known as ‘wild type’. In nature bacterial mutation is a rare incidence. The spontaneous mutation occurs at a rate of 1 in 10⁵ to 10⁸. The phenotypical expression of mutation occurs quickly as the bacteria are haploid with shorter generation time.

Normal bacterial flora is the bacteria which live on another living being (human or animals) or inanimate object without causing infection

Opportunistic bacteria are part of normal bacterial flora which can produce infection during lowered immunity (immunosuppression) of host or when transferred into other parts of the body

Saprophytic bacteria live on dead or decaying organic matter Infection

Infection can be defined as a pathological condition occurred due to multiplication of microbes.

Intoxication can be defined as pathological condition due to ingestion of microbial toxin (e.g. aflatoxin produced by Aspergillus fungus).

Mycetism is the pathological condition due to ingestion of fungus (e.g. toxic mushroom) which produces toxicity within the body of the host

Growth of bacteria can be defined as change of total population mass, not individual increase in size or mass. Macroscopically visible growth of bacteria on the solid medium is known as ‘colony’. It is estimated that if Escherichia coli are allowed to grow, a single bacterial cell can produce a daughter population with the mass of the whole earth within 2 days! In the environment the bacteria are not actively growing all the time. The mechanisms behind the growth-arrested states of environmental bacteria are not well understood.

Bacterial reproduction

Bacterial reproduction is an asexual process which occurs by binary fission, budding, fragmentation and condiospore or sporangiospore formation. There is no possibility of genetic exchange (reassortment) as it is originated from a single parent cell. Bacterial gene transfer occurs by transformation, transduction and conjugation methods (discussed later in details). These are one-directional DNA transfer methods and are not associated with reproduction. The donor bacteria can give the genetic material to the recipient and the vice-versa does not occur.

Binary fission: In binary fission, bacterial DNA is replicated first and then the parent cell separates. Each daughter cell receives a complete genome, identical to the parent cell. Bacterial DNA replication begins when the cells reach a specific mass. If the cell diameter is constant, longer cells will begin DNA replication earlier than the shorter cells. The shorter cells need time to reach a critical mass required for the initiation of DNA replication. The ugtP proteins were identified to be associated with shorter cells and delayed DNA replication in Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus subtilis). It was confirmed later that the ugtP act as inhibitor for Z-ring formation.

Bacteria can be defined as a group of diverse and ubiquitous prokaryotic single cell microorganisms. The size of bacteria varies with genera/species. In cocci the diameter varies between 0.5-1 µm. The measurement of bacillus / rod shaped bacteria is 4-8 µm ? 1-1.25 µm. The surface area and volume ratio of bacteria is very high. The nutrients are absorbed through a large surface area and it is rapidly distributed into a small volume. So the growth rate and metabolism of bacteria is very high. The bacterial cell mass is packed near the surface and no circulatory system is required to distribute the nutrients. The growth and metabolism rate of bacilli are more than cocci because surface area and volume ratio of a sphere (cocci) is lowest among all the geometrical forms.

Shape of bacteria

The shape of bacteria is mostly regulated by the rigid cell wall covering the bacteria. Different shapes of bacteria are observed.

Microscope is the primary instrument of a microbiology laboratory and it produces enlarged images of small objects which are invisible by naked eye. With a microscope the operator can get a close view of minute structures which helps in examination and analysis. Examination of minute objects with a microscope is called ‘microscopy’. In microbiology, measurement of the microbial dimension observed under microscope is known as ‘micrometry’.

Types of microscopes

There are two types of microscopes i.e. light / optical and electron microscope depending on the sources of energy to create the image. The optical microscopes use the lenses and light (artificial or sunlight) to make an image. Following types of optical microscopes are available.

Taxonomy (biological systematics) is the branch of science which deals with classification of units or individuals on the basis of similarities and differences. The classification, nomenclature, and identification are three interrelated components of bacterial taxonomy (Cowan, 1965).

Classification: Classification is the arrangement of bacteria into groups (taxa) based on the similarities of certain characteristics. Presently 11,000 bacterial species is classified. At the current rate of 600 bacterial species / year it is estimated to take 1000 years to classify all the bacteria!

Nomenclature: It is the assignment of specific names to the taxonomic groups following the regulations mentioned in ‘International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria’ (Euzeby, 1997). International committee on systematic bacteriology (International committee on systematics of prokaryotes, ICSP) standardizes the code. The committee is helped by a number of taxonomic subcommittees on different groups of bacteria. The Code can be amended by the Judicial Commission. The Code contains general considerations, principles, rules and recommendations on the naming of prokaryotes (bacteria) up to the rank of ‘Class’.

Microbiology is the branch of science which deals with the diverse minute forms of life such as bacteria, archaea, viruses, fungi, prions, protozoa and algae. The study includes structure, classification, growth and nutrition, natural habitat, genome, antigenic characteristics, virulence determinants, types of toxins produced, pathogenesis, diagnosis and ways to combat the infection caused by the microbes.

7.1. Summary of Findings

This study dealing with the examination of various advantages of commodity futures market to farmers, RMC traders and RMC officials along with the level of awareness about this market among these selected beneficiaries is presented in brief. This chapter summarizes the findings. It begins with the interpretation of the significant findings derived from both secondary and primary analysis. This is followed by suggestions, the section on major contributions of the present study to the existing body of knowledge, on the role of commodity futures market in agricultural development of the state.

6.1. Introduction

This chapter deals with the sample survey conducted on cotton, turmeric and castor seed farmers and recorded various benefits observed by them by using Futures market as a platform for price information. Further, it tries to examine the price discovery efficiency of commodity futures market with the help of secondary data.

It is often believed that future price is a forecast of the price of a commodity during the maturity month of its futures contracts. It is far from true. The futures price of a commodity traded at an exchange market is not so much determined by the anticipated supply of and demand for that commodity in the maturity month of its futures contracts as by the cost of carrying the commodity till the maturity of such contract. That means the spot and future prices of any commodity are always determined by the same basic forces of the present and prospective demand and supply. The difference between the two prices represents merely the cost of carrying the commodity from the present to the future. Such cost may be positive or negative depending on whether the current (not the future) supplies are abundant or scarce respectively when the price of futures contracts of any commodity is in reality relied upon by the physical market functionaries in that commodity as a “reference” price for executing their forward transactions in either the domestic or export market, that price may deem to be “discovered” in the true sense. The application of such reference price for transacting a forward transaction in the physical market in that commodity, in fact facilitates the use of the same future contract for managing price risk for such forward transaction. Hence, the price discovery and price risk management are the two sides of the same coin and efficiency of price discovery is directly related to the price risk management. A commodity exchange or a derivative market is not a mechanism for controlling prices. An efficient futures market is one that discovers prices and provides effective mechanism for managing price risk arising from unavoidable price variations owing to shifts in demand and supply schedule. Prices are determined by the basic demand and supply forces and not the market. Markets reflect the supply and demand conditions from time to time through variation in prices.

5.1. Introduction

This chapter deals with the sample survey conducted on cotton, turmeric and castor seed farmers and RMC traders and Officials and recorded the awareness level about futures, user status, the reason for not using futures and perception about futures.

The research work was planned to understand the level of awareness of agri-commodity futures market among the farmers, RMC traders and Officials of Odisha. The methodology adopted for the awareness assessment was to collect related answers to the questions which helped to evaluate the level of awareness among the beneficiaries i.e. farmers, RMC traders and officials. Quantitative and qualitative data was collected from sample respondents. The study has been completed by collecting data from farmers, RMC traders and officials of Kalahandi and Kandhamal districts which are the highest producers of three sample commodities i.e. cotton, castor seed and turmeric in Odisha. The research was conducted with 150 farmers (50 each for cotton, turmeric and castor seed), 30 RMC traders and 30 RMC officials of Kalahandi and Kandhamal districts of Odisha. The profile of sample farmers is depicted below.

4.1 Introduction

The present chapter starts with a brief description about the history of commodity futures market and emergence of commodity futures market in India. There after it highlights various functions of commodity futures market and their impact on farmers and various other stake holders in the supply chain. Finally, it tries to evaluate the utility of futures from the platform of commodity exchanges especially from MCX and NCDEX of India.

A simple definition of a commodity is a physical substance that can be extracted directly from the environment, processed and sold commercially. Natural resource is another term often used to describe commodities which occur naturally in or on the ground. Commodities fall into three main categories such as energy, metals and agriculture. As commodities can be sold, they have a price which is governed by supply and demand. Compared to many manufactured items, for example flat screen TVs, the question of supply and demand is paramount to how commodities are priced. The commodities that have always been a part of our day-to-day existence are also one of the finest investment avenues available. The wheat in our bread, the cotton in our clothes, our gold jewels, the oil that runs our vehicles etc are all traded across the world in major exchanges. Commodities can be traded on either spot markets, or in the form of futures. Spot markets are those in which the commodity is traded immediately in exchange for cash or some other good. In the form of futures (or options), what is traded is not the goods itself, but a contract to buy or sell the commodity for a certain price by a stated date in the future. Over the ages, commodities have been the basis for trade and industry. They have prompted commerce, encouraged exploration and altered the histories of nations. Today, they play a very important role in the world economy with billions of dollars of these commodities traded each day on exchanges across the world. Commodities today have become an attractive investment vehicle. In the current investment scenario, it is increasingly getting difficult for individuals and institutions to create a well-balanced investment portfolio. With uncertainty in interest ratio, it is tough for the investor to beat the ever-rising inflation. Averse to being over exposed to equity markets, the investors are left with limited choices… well no more!