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Recombined milk (RM) can be prepared by blending of butteroil, skim milk powder and water and used for variety of purposes in dairy industry. The present work was undertaken to investigate the feasibility of a custom designed and fabricated universal disperser unit for the preparation of recombined milk. Water, SMP and butteroil were used to manufacture the recombined milk. Three levels of fat viz 1.5%, 3.0% and 4.5% were evaluated to study the effect of fat content on the recombination efficiency of the universal disperser using a high shear saw tooth impeller to impart the required shear and disperse the fat in water-SMP matrix to form a stable emulsion. Two independent parameters i.e. temperature at three different levels (20, 35 and 50 °C) and impeller speed (10,000, 15,000 and 20,000 rpm) were selected for the study. All operations were carried out in heating cum process vessel having working capacity of 3 L. The efficiency of the operation was judged based on the dependent parameters namely, mixing time, mixing index, creaming index, power consumption and overall acceptability. Experiments were designed as per RSM in Design Expert V.10.0 software and results obtained were optimized and predicted solutions were compared with observed data. From the study, the optimal combinations for preparation of recombined milk were obtained as 1.5% Fat RM (17,820 rpm, 48 °C), 3.0% Fat RM (15,701 rpm, 48 °C) and 4.5% Fat RM (15,459 rpm, 48 °C)., (© Association of Food Scientists & Technologists (India) 2020.)

An attempt was made to design, fabricate and evaluate a heat exchanger for controlling the matting temperature of Paneer during pressing. Based on preliminary investigations, the range of process parameters to be evaluated during the pressing of Paneer was selected as: pressure (2, 3, and 4 kg/cm 2 ), matting temperature (63, 66 and 69 °C) for pressing time of 8, 10 and 12 min. Experiments were designed in a central composite design for 20 runs and the Paneer was evaluated for its moisture content, hardness, springiness, chewiness, cohesiveness, bulk density, porosity and sensory attributes. It was observed that with increasing pressure and matting temperature, the hardness of the product increased; this corresponded with reduced moisture content and porosity of the product. The springiness of the samples correlated linearly with increasing matting temperature and pressing time. Increasing the pressure during pressing resulted in poorer sensory scores. The process conditions for pressing of Paneer under controlled matting conditions were optimised using Response Surface Methodology for moisture content, overall acceptability, hardness and springiness of the pressed product. It was observed that the moisture content of Paneer pressed under controlled matting temperature was marginally lower than the control Paneer , the overall acceptability for the experimental samples was higher with superior body and texture scores.

The present study was undertaken to develop a protocol for acquisition and analysis of images of ghee samples to derive mathematical parameters related to adulteration of cow ghee with vegetable fat and to develop a model to predict the adulteration levels. The images acquired using a flatbed scanner were quantified in terms of their pixel intensity, colour, morphological, textural and skeleton parameters using ImageJ software. The selected parameters were measured for images of pure cow ghee and compared with that obtained for ghee adulterated with 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% vegetable fat. The parameters were assessed for their ability to detect the fixed adulteration levels on a discrete scale was assessed using discriminant analysis and the adulteration levels of the samples were correctly classified to the extent of 92.2%. An equation for predicting adulteration levels on a continuous scale using regression analysis (adjusted R 2 value 0.94) was developed, tested and further validated using a fresh data set including a commercially popular market sample of ghee giving a good fit ( R 2 value of 0.85).

Storage quality of shelled green peas (Pisum sativum var. sativum L) was investigated under modified atmosphere packaging (MAP: perforated and non perforated) compared to unsealed samples, respectively, at T1 (4 ± 1 °C and 94 ± 2 % RH) and T2 (10 ± 1 °C and 90 ± 2 % RH) for each sample and during period of storage (8, 16 and 24 days). Modified atmosphere (MA) was created using low density polyethylene (LDPE) film packages having 107 μm of film thickness and package size of 0.022 m(2). Quality parameters viz., weight loss (WL), total phenolic content (TPC), instrumental colour, ascorbic acid (AA) and sensory characteristics were evaluated during storage period. Weight loss was in the range of 0.18 to 3.54 (zero perforation at T1), 0.21 to 6.48(unsealed samples at T2) and 0.31 to 9.64 % (zero perforation at T1) after 8, 16 and 24 days of storage, respectively. Total phenolic content significantly increased to 102.47-161.54 mg/100 g from an initial value of 91.53 mg/100 g for all the samples and treatments studied. The MAP non perforated sample stored at T2 recorded maximum Hunter 'L' and '-a' colour values than all other samples. A significant decrease in AA content was observed in all the samples with maximum loss (53.77 %) in unsealed sample stored at T2, whereas MAP (3 perforations) sample stored at T1 retained maximum AA (90.50 %). Sensory quality analysis revealed that MAP (3 perforations) sample stored at T1 was in acceptable quality, with good appearance and overall acceptance. The study shows that shelled green peas can be stored in MAP with 3 perforations (0.4 mm dia) in the temperature range of 4 to 10 °C and 90-94 % RH to extend shelf life with marketable quality for 24 days.

Antioxidant activities of butylatedhydroxyanisole (BHA) and orange peel powder extract in ghee stored at different storage temperatures (T1:6 ± 2 °C; T2: 32 ± 2 °C; T3:60 ± 2 °C) were evaluated during storage period of 21 days. Peroxide value (PV), thiobarbituric acid (TBA), radical scavenging activity (RSA) and free fatty acids (FFA) of ghee samples were analyzed during the study. PV, TBA and FFA of ghee samples increased significantly while radical scavenging activity (RSA) of ghee samples decreased significantly at accelerated temperature (T3) as compared to the temperatures at T1 and T2. Effect of storage temperature on development of peroxides and TBA of ghee samples was significantly higher than the effect of treatment and storage period while treatment had more significant effect on the change in FFA and RSA as compared to storage temperature and storage period. Ghee incorporated with orange peel extract (OPE) showed stronger activity in quenching DPPH radicals and least development of PV, TBA and FFA than ghee incorporated with BHA and control. The study revealed that orange peel could be a good natural source of antioxidants which can be used in fat rich food products like ghee to retard oxidative deterioration.

Cucumbers (Cucumis sativus L.) stored in perforated modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) under cold room (4 ± 1 °C and 90 ± 2 % RH) and ambient condition (23-26 °C and 63-66 % RH) were evaluated for firmness, weight loss (WL), colour, chilling injury and sensory characteristics. The firmness of cucumbers was decreased to 0.333 and 0.326 N on 6th and 12th day of storage, respectively from initial value of 0.38 N. After 12 days of storage, the WL was in the range of 1.62-12.89 % whereas the cucumber stored under MAP having 2 perforations at 4 ± 1 °C and 90 ± 2 % RH recorded least WL of 1.62 %. The minimum change in colour (Hunter L, a and b values) was observed in the cucumber samples stored at cold room condition. The increase in 'b' values (yellowness) was more in the sample stored at ambient condition with unsealed sample registered highest 'b' values (35.82). On 12th day of storage, sensory quality evaluation revealed that samples stored under perforated MAP at 4 ± 1 °C and 90 ± 2 % RH were acceptable in condition with sensory score of 7.1 and 7.5. Chilling injury was severe in sample unsealed (4.4 chilling injury score) and slight to moderate chilling injury was observed in 2 and 4 perforated package samples stored under cold room condition. The study revealed that cucumber can be stored under MAP with 2 perforations at 4 ± 1 °C and 90 ± 2 % RH and ambient condition (23-26 °C and 63-66 % RH) for 12 and 6 days, respectively.

Garlic peeling is a tedious, key, costly and time consuming unit operation in garlic processing. A power operated garlic peeler having a cylinder-concave mechanism was developed with an intention to reduce cost and time. Physical properties of garlic relevant for peeler development were identified and measured. The average length, width, thickness, geometric mean diameter, sphericity, weight of garlic segment and weight of 1,000 garlic segment were measured as 26.3 mm, 10.4 mm, 8.7 mm, 13.3 mm, 0.5, 1.8 g and 1,813 g, respectively. An experimental garlic peeler having cylinder covered with 10 mm thick rubber was fabricated and evaluated for its performance with crop-machine parameters viz., cylinder speed (29, 36 and 42 rpm), cylinder-concave clearance (8, 10 and 12 mm), moisture content (23.1, 27.7, 33.4 and 40.5 % wet basis) and concave mechanisms. Crop-machine parameters were optimized based peeling efficiency and they found to be cylinder speed of 36 rpm, cylinder-concave clearance of 10 mm, mild steel square (8 × 8 screen). Prototype garlic peeler was evaluated with the optimized crop-machine parameters. The peeling efficiency, yield of peeled garlic and unpeeled garlic, damage and peel separation were 86.6, 86.2, 4.7, 9.15 and 96 %, respectively with a machine throughput capacity of 27 kg/h and the energy requirement of 1.15 kw-h. Operation cost of the peeler was determined on the basis of fixed and variable cost and found to be INR 22.9/h. The developed garlic peeler saved INR 16.11/kg (94.99 %) and 1.63 (97 %) man hours in comparison to the hand peeling of garlic.

The effect of vacuum packaging and pomegranate peel extract on ground goat meat and cooked nuggets during refrigerated storage (4 ± 1 °C) was evaluated. Three different treatments evaluated were: I). Aerobic packaging (AP); II) Vacuum packaging (VP) and III). Vacuum packaging along with 1 % pomegranate peel extract (VP + PPE). Results of quality evaluation showed that VP and VP + PPE maintained a more stable colour than AP. In all treatments, a significant (P < 0.05) increase in hardness and gumminess of nuggets was observed during the storage. But, VP nuggets showed minimum changes in texture parameters. TBARS values were significantly (P < 0.05) lower in VP and VP + PPE than AP. In ground meat, VP reduced the TBARS by 27 % and PPE reduced the TBARS by 41 %. In nuggets, TBARS was decreased by 17 % and 40 % in VP and VP + PPE respectively. Total plate counts were significantly higher (>log 7) in AP than VP meat and nuggets. Thus VP and PPE have a synergistic antioxidant effect and VP extended the refrigerated shelf life of goat meat and nuggets.

Chicken meat emulsions prepared using food processor (FP), an indigenous meat cutter (MC) and bowl chopper (BC) were evaluated for physicochemical, texture and electron microscopic studies (SEM). Product yield, emulsion stability, hydration properties and gel strength (N) were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in BC. Total fluid release (TFR), water release (WR) and fat release (FR) was lowest in BC. Significantly (P < 0.05) higher lightness (L) in BC and redness (a) in FP emulsion were observed. Higher firmness, gumminess, chewiness and cohesiveness were observed in BC emulsion. SEM studies revealed a dense and compact protein matrix characteristic of heat induced protein gels. All micrographs showed structures that are compatible with fat globules, muscle fiber, meat protein matrix and heat induced gel/protein matrix. Sensory evaluation showed no significant difference between three treatments for colour, flavour, texture and acceptability scores. Thus, food processor and indigenously developed meat cutter found suitable for producing a stable chicken meat emulsion required for indigenous meat products.

Antioxidant properties and use of aqueous extracts of curry leaves (Murraya koenigii) and fenugreek leaves (Trigonella foenum-graecum) as source of natural antioxidant in raw chicken meat were evaluated. Four treatments viz., I. Control (meat +2% salt), II.BHT (meat +2% salt +0.1% BHT), III. CLE (meat +2% salt +2% curry leaves extract) and IV. FLE (meat +2% salt +2% fenugreek leaves extract) were compared for lipid oxidation during eight days refrigerated storage. The average phenolic content was 59.2 and 52.8 mg/g gallic acid equivalent in CLE and FLE respectively. Free radical scavenging activity was 61.4 and 64.2% in CLE and FLE, respectively. CLE had significantly (P < 0.05) higher reducing activity (2.4) as compared to FLE (2.2). Observation on lipid oxidation showed a significant (p < 0.05) higher TBARS values in control patties than other patties containing BHT, CLE and FLE. Overall percent increase during storage period was highest in control followed by BHT, CLE and FLE. Both synthetic antioxidants and natural extracts significantly (p < 0.05) decreased the TBARS values. The average percent decrease in TBARS values during storage was 18, 25.5 and 27.5 in BHT, CLE and FLE treatments, respectively. Therefore, it was concluded that water extracts obtained from curry leaves and fenugreek leaves could be explored as natural antioxidants in poultry meat and meat products.