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Home cooking is all about simple, tasty and healthy food brought from the kitchen to the dining table. But oftentimes, preparing the food can be timeconsuming and tedious. With the right list of basic kitchen tools, utensils and appliances, we can make cooking more enjoyable and a lot easier. These appliances can also motivate us to think of creative new recipes to delight our loved ones.

Kiwifruit (often shortened to kiwi outside Australia and New Zealand), or Chinese gooseberry, is the edible berry of several species of woody vines in the genus Actinidia (Lucas, 2003 and Stirk, 2005). The most common cultivar group of kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa ‘Hayward’) is oval, about the size of a large hen’s egg: 5–8 cm (2.0–3.1 in) in length and 4.5–5.5 cm (1.8–2.2 in) in diameter. In 2017, China produced 50% of the world total of kiwifruit.

Kiwi is among the very few recent introductions which have surpassed in popularity due to its tremendous commercial potential in the Sub Himalayan region of India. In fact, no other fruit has attracted so much attention in such a short period in history of commercial fruit production since 1960s. In India, Kiwi was first planted in the Lal Bagh Garden (1960) at Bangalore as an ornamental tree where bud bursting didn’t take place. Later on for cultivation purpose it was planted at IARI, Regional Station, Shimla (H.P.)

Kiwifruit or Chinese gooseberry (Actinidia deliciosa) is known as ‘China’s miracle fruit, and ‘the horticultural wonder of New Zealand’. From China it spread to New Zealand where it was recognized as a potential fruit and became a popular backyard vine. The name “Kiwifruit” comes from the Kiwi, a brown flightless bird and New Zealand’s national symbol. It has a fibrous, dull brown-green skin and bright green or golden flesh with rows of tiny, black, edible seeds. The fruit has a soft texture and a unique flavour and today it is a commercial crop in countries like Italy, China, and New Zealand. It is native to Southern China, where it was known as Yang Tao (sunny peach). It is known as “Chinese Gooseberry”, because of its visual resemblance to gooseberry.

1. Introduction

Kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa Chev.) is among the most recently domesticated of all fruit plants. The kiwifruit of international commerce are large – fruited selections of Actinidia deliciosa Planch and Actinidia deliciosa (A. Chev.) C F Liang et A. R. Ferguson, belongs to family Acitinidiaceae. A. chinensis has been cultivated commercially for little more than 20 years, however, A. deliciosa for about 70 years. This is known as “China’s miracle fruit” and “Horticulture wonder of New Zealand”. Although this fruit vine originated in China, yet its full economic potential was exploited by the New Zealanders, which accounts for over 70 per cent of world trade (Franco, 1990). Kiwifruit has completely replaced the older name of ‘Chinese gooseberry’. In China, ‘Mihoutao’ (monkey peach) is used for all Actinidia species, but as A. chinensis and A. deliciosa are by far the most important economically of the various Actinidia species in China, they are often simply referred to together as Mithoutao. More explicitly, the two species are sometimes referred to together as Zhonghua (Chinese) Mihoutao. In other countries of the world, its cultivation gained momentum after 1960s and now is cultivated on a commercial scale in USA, Italy China, Japan, France, Germany and Australia.

In India, it was first introduced in 1960 at Lalbagh garden, Bangalore, but the plant did not come into bearing due to lack of chilling requirement during winter for its bud break. Later on, in 1963, it was introduced in Shimla hills, where the plant came into bearing in 1969. In order to assess the performance of kiwifruit cultivation in different agro-climatic conditions of state its plantation were done at different locations. After evaluation, this fruit was recommended for commercial cultivation in mid and low hills of the state. It can also be grown in mid hill of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttrakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Nilgiri hills of south India.

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

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

• Gender change due to bud mutation in the mature male vine.
• Actinidia arguata is acold tolerant species.
• Commercial propagation - Stem cutting, Softwood cutting
• Flowering time is from the last week of April to 3rd week of May.
• Storage rot, a major disease during storage is caused by Botrytis cinerea
• Hayward is one of the a most popular cultivars in the world.
• It is a deciduous wine.
• It was planted for the first time in the Lal Bagh garden at Bangalore around 1960.
• T-bar or Pergola is adopted for training the vines.
• It is a rich source of Vitamin-C.
• The skin of the fruit is a good source of flavoured antioxidant.

Nitrogen, a key component of organic materials like proteins, is analyzed using the Kjeldahl method, which is the global standard for determining protein content in various substances, including human and animal foods, fertilizers, wastewater, and fossil fuels. The Kjeldahl method involves three main steps:

A. Digestion

B. Distillation

C. Titration

Nitrogen, making up 1-4% of a plant’s dry weight, is vital for synthesizing chlorophyll, proteins, and other key compounds. Plants with high nitrogen levels turn dark green due to increased chlorophyll. Understanding nitrogen content in plant tissues is crucial for diagnosing deficiencies or toxicity and for effective nutrient management to improve crop production.

Determining the nitrogen content in plants is crucial for understanding plant nutrition, assessing the efficiency of fertilizer use, and making informed decisions in agricultural practices. Various methods can be used to determine nitrogen in plant tissues, with the most common ones being the Kjeldahl method, the Dumas method, and near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS).

Klebsiella pneumoniae (also known as Friedlander’s bacillus) is a Gramnegative, non-motile, encapsulated, lactose fermenting, facultative anaerobic, rod shaped bacterium found in the normal flora of the mouth, skin, and intestines.
Klebsiella spp. are Gram-negative, nonmotile, usually encapsulated rod-shaped bacteria, belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae. These bacteria produce lysine decarboxylase but not ornithine decarboxylase and are generally positive in the Voges-Proskauer test. Members of the Enterobacteriaceae family are generally facultative anaerobic, and range from 0.3 to 1.0 μm in width and 0.6
to 6.0 μm in length. Klebsiella spp. often occurs in mucoid colonies. The genus consists of 77 capsular antigens (K antigens), leading to different serogroups. Morphology of Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae)
• Shape – Klebsiella pneumoniae is a short, plump, straight rod shape (bacillus) bacterium.
• Size – The size of Klebsiella pneumoniae is about 1–2 μm × 0.5–0.8 μm (micrometer).
• Arrangement Of Cells – K. pneumoniae is arranged singly, in pairs, or in short chains and sometimes in clusters.
• Motility – Klebsiella pneumoniae is a non-motile bacterium.
• Flagella – K. pneumoniae is a non-flagellated bacterium.
• Spores – The Klebsiella pneumoniae is a non–sporing bacterium.
• Capsule – Capsules are present in Klebsiella pneumoniae which can easily be demonstrated using India ink preparation, appear as a clear halo in a dark background.
• Gram Staining Reaction – Klebsiella pneumoniae is a Gram -ve (Negative) bacterium.

SYNOPSIS

We lag in nutritional awareness. The therapeutic values of plant foods, such as vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, herbs, spices and other foods like dairy products, fluids and meats are to be brought to light. The values of important nutrients, may lead to the basis for nutritional education lacking at present. There is need to bring awareness and add to the knowledge of the younger generation. A food is something that provides nutrients. Nutrients are substances that provide: energy for activity, growth, and all functions of the body such as breathing, digesting food, and keeping warm; materials for the growth and repair of the body, and for keeping the immune system healthy.

In this chapter we will look at the Expert system which can guide and assist an individual once it is provided with the enough Knowledge to do so. Here we will discuss about expert system and its architecture with proper steps of making an expert system in any field by several tools which are available to do so. For expert systems the most important is Knowledge Engineering which is the collection of Knowledge from an expert and Engineering it in such a form that a machine could understand it.

Introduction

One of the pioneering fields of AI study is Expert Systems (ES). It is proposed by researchers in the computer science department of Stanford University. An expert system is a computer system which emulates a human expert’s decision-making skills. Expert systems are developed by reasoning through information structures, representing laws, rather than through traditional procedural code, in order to overcome complex problems.

Expert Programs use professional expertise systematically to address human expert problems. An expert is an individual with experience in a specific field. The expert has expertise or special credentials which most people do not learn or care about. An expert can solve or solve problems more effectively than people can solve. Expert System actually emulates all these qualities of expert and solve the problem in a better way and fast.

Today, Expert System (ES) is used in the fields of finance, research, engineering, technology, medicine and many others where there is a well-defined problem area. The fundamental principle is that an expert method should also define the steps to illustrate why a problem can be solved. Unless an individual can justify his reasoning for Expert System.

Financial inclusion, which is the process of accessing and properly utilizing formal financial services, is an important factor in powering economic development and poverty reduction. Study undertakes a broad cross- country analysis of financial inclusion and its impact on social and economic factors. Applying data from respectable bodies like World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Eurostat and United Nations Development Programme, the study applies regression analysis and fixed effects models to determine how income, employment, income inequality, urbanization and human development affect financial inclusion. The outcomes show the complicated interplay between these actors and financial inclusion over various national situations.Financial inclusion is becoming a key component of equitable economic development and poverty alleviation worldwide. The importance of financial inclusion is undisputed, but its causes must be identified. This research article uses a comprehensive cross- country analysis to explain how various civilizations utilize financial services. The study will examine the relationship between financial inclusion and its key socio-economic factors— income levels, employment dynamics, income inequality, urbanization trends, and human development—to inform inclusive economic development policymakers, researchers, and practitioners. The data demonstrates that financial inclusion promotes economic development by helping people save, invest, and manage risk. Additionally, academics have focused on socio-economic issues including income distribution, urban-rural divide, and education level in shaping financial inclusion patterns within and within nations. These characteristics’ effects on financial literacy are yet unknown, thus more empirical study is needed to develop evidence-based policy.

Now days, in every walk of our life, we deal with a lot of information. It can be for personal use or family matters or for official or business matters. We store, process and retrieve variety of information. Information is basically the collection of various facts, records, statistics, formula or methods, which we use for our official work, for our research or for other use. When all these (information, we keep/ accumulate, for possible future use) are put in an organized manner, we find it convenient to use and easy to remember/ apply. Today, as it is rightly said, information is power; information is our knowledge-strength. It is thus important to organize and manage this knowledge that mostly depends on (and derived from) an information pool.

INTRODUCTION

In the current climate of rapid change, whether political, economical, social or technological, the importance of knowledge cannot be ignored. Knowledge plays a crucial role in the development of the society which is based on the development of the individual person of that society. Once society is developed automatically the nation will develop. Developed countries have already realized the importance of knowledge and accordingly collected and organized properly. The developing countries like India are now realizing its importance. It has been felt that without knowledge society and then nation cannot be developed.

On this backdrop someone has to come forward and act as a broker between those who have knowledge and those who may use it. No doubt, knowledge cannot be well managed until some organization or professional takes the clear responsibility of it. Library professionals are the right persons to shoulder this responsibility.

Knowledge is action. It is a value-added behavior and activity. It provides the ability to respond to a novel situation. The person having knowledge can take right decision at right time in any critical situation. Such decisions will definitely get fruitful results. Therefore it should not be neglected. It must be focused and shared.

Abstract

Currently, computers are changing from single, isolated devices into entry points to a worldwide network of information exchange and business transactions called the World Wide Web (WWW).Current web contains billions of documents and has many administrative problems and limitations; in addition to that the web content is still accessible only to humans. For this reason, support in data, information, and knowledge exchange has become a key issue in current computer technology. The success of the WWW has made it increasingly difficult to find, access, present, and maintain the information required by a wide variety of users. In response to this problem, many new research initiatives and commercial enterprises have been set up to enrich available information with machine processable semantics.

Introduction

The world is said to be a global village organizations and people must learn, unlearn and relearn to expand their capacities and survive in the highly competitive market place. In view of rapidly changing socio–economic circumstance, it is a challenge to survive, excel and grow. It is knowledge which can make difference in getting the competitive edge. Thus, organizations need to pool their internal knowledge and find ways to update, enhance, share and create value. Organizations need to analyze their collective knowledge and use them most efficiently. Need for new and new technology is driving people to innovate in every sphere.

Introduction

Knowledge and Knowledge management are concepts, which are debated extensively by managers, analyst and academicians. When we refer to knowledge, most of us mainly tend to think of codified and documented knowledge like patents, databases, manuals, white papers etc. knowledge is intuitive, contextual, linked to experience, past memories and difficult to codify, document and communicate. Unfortunately, there is no universal definition of Knowledge Management (KM), just as there’s no agreement as to what constitutes knowledge in the first place. In broadest context KM is the process through which organizations generate value from their intellectual and knowledge-based assets. It is the practice of harnessing and exploiting intellectual capital to gain competitive advantage and customer commitment through efficiency, innovation and faster and more effective decision-making. Most often, generating value from such assets involves sharing them among employees, departments and even with other companies in an effort to devise best practices.

Today, knowledge is still considered power - an enormous power in fact - but the understanding has changed considerably, particularly from the perspective of organizations. The new paradigm is that within the organization knowledge must be shared in order for it to grow. It has been shown that the organization that shares knowledge among its management and staff grows stronger and becomes more competitive. This is the core of knowledge management - the sharing of knowledge. Knowledge management (KM) is all about managing organization’s knowledge effectively by sharing and having a systematic activity for creation of knowledge and exploiting it for the market and benefit of the organization. KM techniques and processes provide such a structured approach to explicate a significant part of this tactic knowledge document in knowledge repositories and also share in teams, through intensive dialogue and discussions. KM refers to the critical issues of organizational adaptation, survival and competence against discontinuous environmental change.

Introduction

A woman is the nucleus of a family, particularly in rural India. For the rural women, the day starts early in the morning with the responsibilities of fetching water, fodder and fuel, cooking food and looking after the livestock and children. Promila et al. (2003) revealed that farm women spent 15:64 hrs/day and 16:58 hrs/ day for productive work during the slack and peak period, respectively. The time saved by farm women from farm activities during the slack period was diverted towards care of children, family members and household works. Still, there is no recognition for their hard work; just because their work is not evaluated in terms of money.

The contribution of women in agriculture is estimated to be about 50 to 60 per cent. In many places, the entire livestock management is looked after by women only. They help in farm operation, take their animals on distant lands for grazing, washing, milking, fodder, breeding management, sale of milk, if necessary by taking it to the market and so on in addition, perform the functions related to house management. Even though, women are playing a very important role in innovation decision process, they are not allowed to try and see whether they are capable of managing farm and family affairs independently or with the help of family members.Adequate attention is also not being paid for the social and economic development of farm women and to encourage them to avail training facilities on farm and dairy management practices for supplementing their family income through development of occupational skills and proficiency.

Introduction

The Government of India created a historic act, by enacting the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the largest employment generating programme in the world, ensuring the right to work in a country with a population of over one billion. The Government of India passed the NREGA 2005, (Central Act No. 42 of 2005). NREGA was renamed as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) on October 2nd, 2009. MGNREGA is the first ever law, in the world that guarantees wage employment at an unprecedented scale. This Act gives legal guarantee of at least one hundred days of wage employment in a financial year to a rural household, whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled and manual work. The Act is applicable in the Districts notified by the Government of India, the implementation of the Act calls for the formulation of Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme by the State Governments.

The key processes in the implementation of MGNREGA are the adult members of rural households submit their name, age and address with photo to the Gram Panchayat, which in turn registers households after making enquiry and issues a job card which contains the details of adult member enrolled and his/her photo. Registered person can submit an application for work in writing (for at least fourteen days of continuous work) either to Panchayat or to Programme Officer, who will accept the valid application and issue dated receipt of application, letter providing work will be sent to the applicant and displayed at Panchayat office. The employment will be provided within a radius of 5 kilometers and if it is above 5 kilometers extra wage will be paid. If employment under the scheme is not provided within fifteen days of receipt of the application, daily unemployment allowance will be paid to the applicant.

After long back of continuous steep turn down in cropping and consumption pattern of traditional grains, once again time is rolling back for them as is evident from available integrated meal or composite research formulations distributed all around the market. Today’s food market is segmented majorly with them and also emphasize more of healthy consumptions owe to adopted governmental strategy as a promotional trends such as subsidies, mid day meal programmes, selection of grain of the year by FAO, 2014 and revised labeling policies etc. are the real time examples. Present lifestyle, ongoing food habits, hike in grain prices, adulteration practices, demand in functional foods and many more reasons lead to the time which emphasizes on its own for consumption of traditional grains.

Kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum) is a resilient and ancient cereal crop native to the Indian subcontinent. Its cultivation dates back to ancient times, with references found in historical texts such as the Brihad Sanhita. This millet species exhibits remarkable adaptability to various agroclimatic conditions, making it well-suited for cultivation across different regions. Kodo millet thrives in a range of soil types, particularly well-drained and sandy soils, which contribute to its successful growth and yield. In terms of nutritional composition, kodo millet stands out as a significant source of protein, dietary fiber, minerals, and antioxidants. Its bioactive components contribute to potential health benefits, including aiding in diabetes management, improving cardiovascular health, and providing essential nutrients. The processing of kodo millet involves various techniques such as puffing, roasting, milling, and fermentation, each influencing its nutritional profile and culinary applications.

1.1 Introduction Millets are one of the world’s earliest food grains, arguably the first cereal grain utilized for household uses. It has been a cherished crop in India for ages and constitutes a staple food for over one-third of the world’s population. Recently ICAR has designated millets as “Shree Anna”. Several types of small-seeded cereals are grouped together as small millets. These crops offer a reliable and affordable harvest from the regions where the primary cereals fail to produce a sustainable yield. Small millets are insignificant in terms of food production, but they are vital as staple foods in their particular ecosystems. Small millets are more than just finger millet (Eleusine coracana) and include kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum L.), little millet (Panicum sumatrense), foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.), proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) and barnyard millet (Echinochloa frumentaceae). The rest of the two small millets namely, fonio millet (Digitaria exilis) and teff (Eragrostis tef) are of local significance in Africa. Small millets have a high nutritional value, but also their demand has deteriorated due to a lack of standard processing techniques to compete with fine cereals. Small millets have a huge potential to satisfy our nutritional needs, therefore we must push ourselves and make efforts to enhance its utilization by incorporating them into our daily diet.

Kokum (Garcinia indica L.,) is an evergreen tree found in the tropical forests of India. It is a plant in the mangosteen family (Guttiferae), and is a fruit tree that has culinary, pharmaceutical, and industrial uses. The extract/concentrate of this fruit is called aagal in Konkani and Marathi. It is used for preparation of sol kadhi when mixed with coconut milk. The outer cover of fruit is dried in the sun to get aamsul or kokam. It is used as a souring agent in recipes from Maharashtra. It is a preferred substitute for tamarind in curries and other dishes from Konkan. It is also used in Konkani cuisine, in Gujarat, and some cuisines of South India. As kudam puli, it is an essential ingredient of traditional fish recipes of Kerala. It is particularly seen in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Kerala, Assam and West Bengal.

Uses

The acidic sweet fruit is mainly used as souring agent for vegetable curry and dal. Sun drying is practiced for preservation. Dried Kokum fruit rinds are widely used in cooking as they impart a sweetish-tangy flavor to the food. The fruits contain citric acid, acetic acid, malic acid, ascorbic acid, hydroxycitric acid and garcinol. Fresh are cut in to halves and the fleshy portion containing the seeds is removed. The rind which constitutes about 50 per cent of the fruit is repeatedly soaked in the juice of the pulp during sun drying. It makes excellent beverage with pleasant flavour. Kokum butter is a product of commerce obtain from seed. It is also used in soap and candle making and suitable for ointment and other pharmaceutical preparations. This fruit is known to reduce obesity and regulate blood cholesterol level.

Introduction

In geographical location, the observations taken in proximity tend to be more alike than observations made at points that are far apart-that is, the values tend to be correlated. An area of study that takes this sort of spatial consideration into account is called geostatistics. A primary motivation for sampling is to make meaningful estimates of values at nearby positions in space and time. When values are assumed independent, the best estimate for an unmeasured point will be the mean. However, for correlated values nearby values are estimated by interpolation. The simplest interpolation scheme is a nearest neighbor estimate for which the unknown values are based on the closest measured location. Inverse distance is another sort of interpolation technique where weights are estimated based on the inverse distance squared. Kriging is a geostatistical interpolation technique that considers both the distance and the degree of variation between known data points when estimating values in unknown areas.

It makes the best use of existing knowledge by taking account of the way that a property varies in space through the variogram model. In its original formulation a kriged estimate at a place was simply a linear sum or weighted average of the data in its neighbourhood. Weights are based on the distance between the measured points, the prediction locations, and the overall spatial arrangement among the measured points. Since then kriging has been elaborated to tackle increasingly complex problems in mining, petroleum engineering, pollution control and abatement, and public health. The term is now generic, embracing several distinct kinds of kriging, both linear and non-linear.

In this era of information and communication, in a country like India where more than 75% of population live in rural areas, radio is the cheapest medium available in almost all families for entertainment and education.

A community radio (CR), in essence is a type of radio service that caters to the interests of a certain area, broadcasting material that is popular to a local audience but is overlooked by more powerful broadcast groups. It is usually established by the efforts of a specific community, operated by the community and for the community’s welfare. Radio can play an effective role in promoting social change.  Community radio station is one that is operated in the community, for the community, about the community and by the community.  It can play a very important role in bringing about social change. It covers all developmental and rights based issues, and can help to sustain the diversity of the local cultures and languages. It is an effort towards bottom-up approach to address specific requirements or rural Indian population. An attempt has been made to know the profile characteristics of krishi community radio listening farm women, awareness of farm women about FM krishi community radio and to study the usefulness of krishi community radio programmes as perceived by farm women.

Krishi Vigyan Kendra is a Government of India funded Indian Council of Agricultural Research Project implemented at district level for enhancing the productivity and livelihood through scientific extension works. Realizing the importance of technology dissemination in the changing scenario of food and nutritional security, ICAR intervened in a big way. All the first line extension projects were merged and brought under single umbrella of KVK. The major emphasis was to enhance the production and productivity as well as to generate household income and employment of farming community. It was also envisaged that these extension works will be act as model for extension agencies and also catalyzed to improve the existing systems for better delivery mechanism.

Abstract

A Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) is synonymous to farm science center with responsibilities of on- farm technological assessment, front line demonstrations, capacity building, advisory services and mulit-sector support to various private and public initiatives. The KVKs work under the ambit of ICAR, New Delhi with administrative support from local institutions or State Agricultural Universities. There were about 695 KVKs operational in India till October 2018. All KVKs fall under the jurisdiction of one of the 11 Agricultural Technology Application Research Institutes (ATARIs) spread throughout India. 21 KVKs are functioning in Jammu and Kashmir with seven of them in Jammu province namely KVK Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Reasi, Rajouri, Doda and Poonchh. The major thrust areas of hilly district Jammu and Kashmir are as integrated nutrient/pest/weed management in different crops, water management, promoting organic farming, protected cultivation of high value and low volume crops, promotion of aromatic and medicinal plants, increase in the productivity of livestock, drudgery reduction for farm women, promotion of loose flower cultivation, promotion of new single cross hybrids in maize, value addition of agricultural products and promotion of farming system approach. KVK Reasi has been able to motivate farmers of the district to adopt and practice organic farming, floriculture, backyard poultry farming and mushroom production at the commercial level.

Morphological characteristics

Strychnos nux-vomica is a medium sized deciduous tree. The trunk is tall, thick, straight and cylindrical covered with yellowish-grey to dark grey, smooth and thin barks. Wood is dense, hard white and close grained. Branches are irregular and covered with smooth ash colored bark and shiny dark green young shoots. Leaves are broad, opposite, simple and entire, smooth, short-stalked, blade orbicular to broadly elliptical or ovate, base rounded to cordate, apex shortly acuminate or acute, glabrous and shiny above, minutely hairy especially on veins beneath, 3–5-veined from the base.

Floral characteristics

Inflorescence is terminal cymes, many-flowered and appears with young leaves at the end of branchlets or on axillary shoots. Flowers hermaphrodite, actinomorphic, homogamous, greenish-white colored, small in size, nectariferous, funnel-shaped and emits unpleasant odour. Flower are pentamerous; calyx lobes ovate, outside densely hairy. Corolla bears a slender tube of 1 cm long, abruptly widening at the throat, outside glabrous, having pubescence at base, lobes narrowly ovate, of 3 mm long, margin thickened and minutely hairy, greenish white to white; stamens inserted at the mouth of the corolla tube, exserted altering with corolla lobes. Anthers pale cream in color, dithecous, introrse and dehisce longitudinally. Ovary is superior, ovoid, glabrous, bicarpellary with axile placentation. The style is filiform, glabrous and as long as the corolla tube, stigma capitates (head-shaped).

Lactate dehydrogenase: An enzyme that reversibly catalyses conversion of pyruvate to lactate by utilizing NAD as coenzyme. This operates under anaerobic respiratory condition.

Lactate fermentation: Lactic acid fermentation is a biological process by which glucose and six carbon sugars (also, disaccharides of six carbon sugars, e.g. sucrose or lactose) are converted into cellular energy and the metabolite lactate. It is an anaerobic fermentation reaction.

Latent heat: The heat required to convert a solid into a liquid or vapour, or a liquid into a vapour, without change of temperature. It is also called as hidden heat.

Leaching requirement: (LR) The amount of water in excess of the plant requirement that is needed to remove salt from the root zone in order to prevent soil salinity from exceeding a specified value.

Leaf Area Duration (LAD): It is the functional leaf area or estimated photosynthetic area which contributed for the total biomasss. To correlate dry matter yield with Leaf area, Power et al., (1967) integrated the Leaf area with time and called as Leaf Area Duration. LAD taken into account, both the duration and extent of photosynthetic tissue of the crop canopy. The LAD is expressed in m². days.

Laburnum anagyroides Med. (Fabaceae): Eng.- Golden Rain Tree [NI]. An upright, small sized ornamental tree with hairy, grey-green young shoots. Leaves dark- green above and grey-green beneath, having 3-elliptic-obovate leaflets. In late April to early May, produces bright yellow flowers in dense racemes

Latent Structure Analysis: Latent Structure Analysis shares both of the objectives of factor analysis to extract latent factors as well as an express relationship of observed (manifest) variables with the factors as their indicators and to classify a population of respondents into guanine types. This analysis is suitable if the variables involved in the study do not possess dependency relationship and happen to be non-metric.

Lab coat: A loose white coat with deep pockets that is worn in a laboratory or medical office.

Labelling: It means any written, printed or graphic matter that is present on the label, accompanies the food or is displayed near the food, including that for the purpose of promoting its sale or disposal. After packaging, labels are required on the finished products intended for distribution and sale. Labelling can reflect on the quality of the product. It must be clear and informative. Information includes Name of the Manufacturer, Date of Manufacture, Net Weight, Gross Weight, Best before etc. Proper storage is needed for maintenance of the quality. Storage must be done only at recommended temperature, relative humidity, light and air / oxygen and carbon dioxide conditions etc. to maintain the quality of the food product. Label may include tag, brand, and pictorial or descriptive matter, written, printed, embossed, graphic, perforated, stencilled or stamped impressions. It is attached to container, cover, lid, or crown of a food package (Plate 384).

Laboratory: A place equipped for experimental study in a science or for testing and analysis. Broadly, it is a place providing opportunity for experimentation, observation, or practice in a field of study.

Lacquer: It is a colloidal dispersion of a solution of cellulose derivative, resin and plasticizer in solvent and diluents, where in all these constituents dried in air by evaporation of solvents, thus yielding a transparent, hard and water proof film.

Labelling: Process of attaching labels to items to make them identifiable, or the information included on the labels. For foods, information may include barcodes, brand names, trademarks, illustrative matter, and compositional and nutritional details.
Labels: Pieces of paper, plastics or fabric which are attached to and provide information about an item. For foods, this information may include branding or the trademarks of a food company, the geographical origin, date marking, compositional details, health claims, nutritional values and warnings relating to specific ingredients, e.g. nuts. The content of informa- tion on food labels is often governed by legislation.
Lacquers: Liquids consisting of resins, cellulose esters, shellac or similar synthetic substances dissolved in a solvent, such as ethyl alcohol. Dry to form shiny, hard, protective or decorative coatings for plastics, wood, metals and other products.
Lactacins: Bacteriocins synthesized by Lactoba cillus spp. that are inhibitory only to other lactobacilli. Lactacin A is produced by L. delbrueckii subsp. lactis JCM 1106 and 1107. It has a narrow host range and is heat labile. Lactacin B is produced by L. acidophilus N2, and its synthesis is chromosomally linked. This protein forms aggregates of molecular weight 100,000 Da; however, the actual molecular weight of lactacin B is 6000-6500 Da. Lactacin F is produced by L. acidophilus 88, and its synthesis is plasmid linked. It has a broader activity range than lactacin B, and forms ag- gregates of molecular weight 180,000 Da; however, the actual molecular weight of lactacin F is 25,000 Da.

Laboratory animal science (LAS) advances scientific understanding of the care and use of animals that play a key role in research supporting the development of biomedicine. National and provincial laws, regulations, guidelines and standards apply to quality control and licensing, quarantine and infectious disease control, breeding and husbandry, transgenic animals, staff qualifications, animal welfare, imports, exports and transportation.   Regulation and oversight of lab animal use are the responsibility of the National Ministry of Science and Technology, provincial departments of science and technology, and institutional animal care and use committees.

Definition-Importance of keeping a lab record-Features of a lab record - Contents of lab record-Guidelines for keeping a lab record

Definition

It is a primary record of research. Researchers use a lab note book to document their hypotheses, experiments and initial analysis or interpretation of these experiments.

Laboratory Record

The following is a general description of how to keep a proper laboratory notebook. Requirements for different teaching, research, clinical, or industrial labs will most likely vary. Some institutions/labs will require less stringent record keeping, others will hold you to a very strict protocol. A well kept notebook provides a reliable reference for writing up materials and methods and results for a study. It is a legally valid record that preserves your rights or those of an employer or academic investigator to your discoveries. A comprehensive notebook permits one to reproduce any part of a methodology completely and accurately.

13.1. Introduction

Any written, printed, or graphic matter that is present on the label and serves the purpose of promoting the sale of any product is known as food label (WHO). It is believed in general that food packaging and proper labelling plays an important role in food safety as it gives information regarding allergens present, manufacturing site, expiry date, nutritional information etc.

Consumption of unhealthy diet leads to many non-communicable diseases. Therefore, it is the responsibilities of food manufacturers and regulating bodies such as FSSAI and BIS to work hand in hand to provide safe and healthy food to the consumers. Labelling is an important tool useful to disseminate nutritional information to the consumers. Labelling promotes healthy eating among consumers and gives them an option at the time of purchase to choose healthy food. Information in labelling the enables consumers to choose appropriate food according to their diets and lifestyle (Grunert and Wills, 2007). In addition, the information related to nutritional content of the food must be present in such a way that it well understood by every consumer (Wills et al., 2009).

1. Food Labelling

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

Basic Terminology in Food labelling

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

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

A family of about 236 genera and 7,200 species, Labiatae are cosmopolitan in their distribution and their chief centre is the Mediterranean region. About 65 genera and over 400 species have been reported from India, mainly distributed in North Western parts of India and southern parts of India. Some largely represented genera along with the approximate number of their worldover reported species and common names of some of them are Salvia (500-700, sage), Hyptis (400), Thymus (300-400, thyme), Teucrium (300, germander), Stachys (300), Scutellaria (200, skullcap), Coleus (200, Jacob’s coat), Ocimum (150, basil), Nepeta (150, catnip), Lavendula (28, lavender), Mentha (25, mint) and Rosmarinus (3, rosemary).
Salvia is a tender herbaceous annual or perennial plant and cultivated as bedding plant in many countries. Owing to its adaptability, self sowing ability and handsome appearance, it has been introduced and commanded all over the world. Salvia species have long history of utilization as medicinal herbs. The therapeutic value of this crop is widely recognized in traditional Chinese medicine for various ailments. Some species are strongly aromatic having
horticultural, commercial and medicinal values.

A family of about 236 genera and 7,200 species, Labiatae are cosmopolitan in their distribution and their chief centre is the Mediterranean region. About 65 genera and over 400 species have been reported from India, mainly distributed in North Western parts of India and southern parts of India. Some largely represented genera along with the approximate number of their worldover reported species and common names of some of them are Salvia (500-700, sage), Hyptis (400), Thymus (300-400, thyme), Teucrium (300, germander), Stachys (300), Scutellaria (200, skullcap), Coleus (200, Jacob’s coat), Ocimum (150, basil), Nepeta (150, catnip), Lavendula (28, lavender), Mentha (25, mint) and Rosmarinus (3, rosemary).
Salvia is a tender herbaceous annual or perennial plant and cultivated as bedding plant in many countries. Owing to its adaptability, self sowing ability and handsome appearance, it has been introduced and commanded all over the world. Salvia species have long history of utilization as medicinal herbs. The therapeutic value of this crop is widely recognized in traditional Chinese medicine for various ailments. Some species are strongly aromatic having
horticultural, commercial and medicinal values.

Labile fractions of soil carbon (C) refer to the fraction of soil carbon that are easily altered by microbial activities. These fractions serve as sensitive indicators to changes in management induced soil quality and are grouped under active soil C pool. The method described by Weil et al. (2003)estimates changes in biologically active soil C using a dilute KMnO . This is an improvement over the method used by Blair et al (1995), where a very high concentration (0.333 M) of KMnO₄ was used.

Organic carbon present in soil can be very labile, labile or non-labile. This procedure measures the extent of lability of soil organic carbon through relative degree of oxidation by K₂Cr₂O₇.

Lablab purpureus usually knowna s Dolichus bean, Hyacinth bean or Field bean belonging to the family fabaceae, one of the most ancient crops among cultivated plants. It is a bushy, semi-erect, perennial herb, showing no tendency to climb. It is mainly cultivated either as a pure crop or mixed with finger millet, groundnut, castor, corn, bajra or sorghum in Asia and Africa. It is a multipurpose crop grown for pulse, vegetable and forage. The crop is grown for its green pods, while dry seeds are used in various vegetable food preparations.

Season:Seed is very sensitive to weather. A grain crop can be sold for a lower price even if it damaged by rain. But a seed crop, if affected will lead to low seed quality. Hence selecting the right season is necessary. Generally, the seed should mature in cool dry climate. Seasons should be selected with this idea in mind. In Tamil Nadu the best seed crops are grown during March--April and September - October as the seeds mature during the cool months of January - February.

An animal, which has more or less of comparable (similar) physiology and body composition with various biological system as human beings, which are tiny, easy to handle, less expensive and co-operative are called as “Laboratory Animals”. Importance of Laboratory Animal in Bio-Medical Research Laboratory animals are used in basic biological research, disease diagnosis, immunology, virology, applied medicine and demonstration/teaching. Materials collected from diseased animals need confirmation through microbiological and pathological means of diagnosis. Rats, Beagle dogs and primates are engaged in toxicological research. These are used to study the functions of organs, response of a particular organ or the whole system to drug and the method of evolving surgical techniques and demonstration of experimental surgery need experiment animals. Hamster have cheek pouches which may extend to halfway down the length of the body, are used to temporarily store food and, when full, should not be mistaken for a tumor. An entire shelled peanut