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The strawberry plant is an herbaceous perennial and having a shallow root system needs effective nutrient management. The conventional farming system involves the enormous use of chemicals which leads to the degradation of plant and soil health. On the contrary, organic fruit production is more beneficial for plant health and organic fruit production has gained momentum due to increasing the cost of fertilizers and growing ecological concerns. Seaweed extracts are considered an organic farm input as they are environment-friendly and safe for human health. Keeping in view the bio-stimulatory potential of seaweed extracts, a study was conducted to elucidate their effect on the blooming, yield, quality, and runners' production of strawberries under polyhouse conditions during the year 2018-19. The seaweed extract (SWE) was used at variable concentrations viz, 0.75 ml L-1, 1.0 ml L-1, and 1.25 ml L-1 which were applied at the pre-flowering stage (PFS) or Fruit set stages (FSS) or both the stages (PSS and FSS). The study revealed that the foliar spray of seaweed extract at pre-flowering and fruit set enhanced the blooming characteristics and runner production. Furthermore, the plant treated with 1.0-1.25 ml L-1 seaweed extract at the pre-flowering and fruit set stage exhibited the highest cumulative yield and better fruit quality characteristics.

The carrier-based formulation of rhizobial cultures in general, excels to register their effects on various plant growth parameters of Albizia procera seedlings. Carrier based bio-inoculant prepared with rhizobial isolate FA6 of Uttrakhand performed better for all plant growth characteristics. Charcoal based application of rhizobial isolates also increased the N, P, K content of soil. In case of seedlings treated with charcoal-based formulation of rhizobial isolate from Himachal Pradesh maximum available N (323.30 kg/ha), P (38.97 kg/ha) and K (395.9 kg/ha) content was recorded in T2 (Charcoal based formulation of BA2 strain+20kg/ha N) which was significantly superior to T3 and uninoculated control. Among the charcoal-based formulation of rhizobial isolate from Uttrakhand seedlings under treatment T2 (Charcoal based formulation of FA6 strain+20kg/ha N) registered maximum available N (327.7kg/ha), P (39.01 kg/ha) and K (397.4 kg/ha) content in soil. Charcoal based application of rhizobial isolates significantly influenced the activity of soil enzymes (Dehydrogenase and Phosphatase). Application of Carrier based formulation of rhizobial isolate BA2 from Himachal Pradesh showed maximum dehydrogenase (11.20 μg TPF g-1h-1) and phosphatase (536.2 μmolL-1g-1h-1) activity as compare to uninoculated control. Whereas, among the rhizobial isolates from Uttrakhand maximum dehydrogenase (11.39 μg TPFg-1h-1) and phosphatase (545.4 μmol L-1g-1h-1) activity was also recorded with T2 (charcoal-based formulation of strain FA6+20kg/ha N) which was significantly superior to T3 and uninoculated control.

Considering the effect of green revolution technologies in rice wheat system and prospects of maize cultivation, studies on INM in maize (Zea mays. L) in upper gangetic plains region were conducted on sandy loam soil, low in organic carbon and available N, medium available P and K with 9.1 kg S ha-1, 0.82 g Zn ha-1, 0.6 g B ha-1 and slightly alkaline in reaction during kharif 2015 at SVPUAT, Meerut to observe the effect of nutrient management practices on (Plant height, Number of functional leaves per plant, plant population at maturity,initial plant population), yield attributes (Cob length, Number of grain rows per cob, Number of grains per row, Number of grains per cob, Grain weight per cob, Test weight etc.) Crop fertilized with 75% NPK + FYM @ 7.5 t + Zn + B + S registered best growth and consequently highest (48.8 q ha-1) grain yield and attributes. Favorable effect of Zn by Lui et al. (1993), B by Hosseini et al. (2007) [3] and S by Channabasamma et al. (2013) [2] on growth and yield of maize have also been obtained.

Morphological evaluation in Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) was carried out among nine major gene pool areas and three growing conditions, within each major gene pool area of Spiti Valley of Himachal Pradesh. The performance of most morphological traits showed significant variations among different major gene pool areas as well as within different growing conditions. GPA-4 (Schilling) was superior than other major gene pool areas for plant and leaf morphological traits and GPA-3(Sheigo) for fruits parameters among different major gene pool areas. Over all, GC-3 (crop land) was found superior for all morphological traits among different growing conditions and in different major gene pool areas. It emerged from the present study that a large variability exists in the population of Hippophae rhamnoides growing under different growing conditions among different major gene pool areas in Spiti valley of Himachal Pradesh, particularly for morphological traits, which can be harnessed for improved genetic gain. The variability of different characters could be utilized for selection of genotypes suitable for the plantation and utilization in making different non wood forest products and also for utilizing ecological and economical gains in cold desert of Himachal Pradesh.

Amylases are widely distributed and are one of the most studied enzymes. Such enzymes hydrolyze the starch molecules into polymers composed of glucose units. Amylases have potential application in a wide number of industrial processes such as food, fermentation and pharmaceutical industries. Amylases can be obtained from plants, animals and microorganisms. However, enzymes from fungal and bacterial sources have dominated applications in industrial sectors. The microbial source of amylase is preferred to other sources because of its plasticity and vast availability. The production of α-amylase is essential for conversion of starches into oligosaccharides. Starch is an important constituent of the human diet and is a major storage product of many economically important crops such as wheat, rice, maize, tapioca, and potato. The properties of each α-amylase such as thermostability, pH profile, pH stability, and Ca-independency are important in the development of fermentation process. This review focuses on the isolation, substrates of α-amylases, production of bacterial and fungal α-amylases, properties of α-amylases, and the use of these enzymes in industrial applications.

Pre-treatments for drying of wild pomegranate arils were standardized to check discolouration of dried arils. Steam blanching of arils for 30 s followed by sulphur fumigation at 0.3% for 60 min was found suitable as they took minimum time to dry a given tray load, and had minimum non-enzymatic browning, furfural, hydroxyl methyl furfural and moisture contents. The dried arils of the standardized pre-treatment recorded maximum scores for sensory characteristics like colour, texture, taste, aroma and overall acceptability.

The concentration of fruit juices is industrially performed in order to reduce storage, packaging, handling and shipping costs. This paper describes the research efforts to develop and optimise the fortification of apple juice with naturally enriched Vit. C source i.e. kiwifruit, on laboratory scale, for the production of nutritionally ascorbic acid enriched juice concentrate. Preparation of blends of kiwi juice with apple juice for the utilization into concentrates is another outlet for its economic consumption. Apple juice is rich in nutrients but has very low vitamin C content. However, kiwifruit has the highest level of vitamin C (3-5 times more than citrus fruits) and it is a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin E, folic acid and minerals (P, K, Ca, Mg, Mn). On the basis of these characteristics kiwifruit offers benefits for specific health condi- tions and, consequently, it has a great potential for industrial exploitation. Fresh depectinated apple and kiwifruit juice was blended in the ratio of 50:50. The ascorbic acid content increased significantly after blending of the juices (6.64 to 59.63 mg/100g). However, ascorbic acid was found to be retained during evaporative concentration of the juices to 50OB. The blended juices and concentrates were successfully stored after pasteurization for a period of six months with non-significant changes in the quality parameters. The cost of production on laboratory scale of blended juice and 50OB concentrate was Rs 36 and Rs 106 respectively per 650ml bottle.

Nuggets popularly known as warrian is the traditional household food item of India and prepared from black gram but deficit in essential amino acid, lysine. Present study conducted to prepare lysine enriched nuggets using white button mushrooms (WBM) that contain all the essential amino acids. Black gram paste was fortified with WBM 0 (T0) to 50 at 10 % increments (T1 to T5). Moisture, ash, crude protein and fat were increased in T0 to T5 ranged from 10.00 to 13.52 %, 4.00 to 4.18 %, 13.90 to 23.80 % and 0.37 to 1.00 %, respectively. The cooking weight, cooking losses and antioxidant activity (as DPPH) were increased with increase in WBM (lysine enrichment) in nuggets. In textural analysis, hardness decreased with increases fortification from 1.971 to 0.889 kg. Based on physico-chemical, cooking and textural properties, black gram to WBM ratio of 80: 20 was recommended.

Biofuels such as bioethanol are becoming a viable alternative to fossil fuels. Progressive depletion of conventional fossil fuels along with increasing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions has led to a search renewable and sustainable energy sources. Food industry waste such as lignocellulosic biomass provides enormous potential for bioethanol production because of its low cost and huge availability. To produce bioethanol from cellulosic biomass, a pretreatment process is employed to reduce the sample size, break down the hemicelluloses into sugars, and open up the structure of the cellulose component. The cellulose portion is hydrolyzed by acids or enzymes into glucose sugar that is fermented to bioethanol. The sugars from the hemicelluloses are also fermented to bioethanol. As such, ethanol producing microorganisms, mainly Zymomonas mobilis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae are potential candidates for ethanol production. However, the substrates are not cost-effective, as the organisms are not able to hydrolyze complex sugars such as lignocellulose, several Gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Z. mobilis, Klebsiella oxytoca, Gram-positive bacteria such as Clostridium cellulolyticum, Lactobacillus casei, and several yeast strains have been engineered for bioethanol production from cellulosic substrates.

Walnuts (Juglans regia L.) are nutritionally rich finest nut crop of temperate regions having beneficial effect on the human health. Five different walnut cultivars grown in the temperate region of Himachal Pradesh namely; Kotkhai Selection, Govind, Lara, Partap and Maylannise were selected and evaluated for their physical characteristics, nutritional properties and biochemical composition. Among the fruit physical characteristics, the nut length was found in the range of 29.59 – 38.74 mm, nut diameter (26.72 mm-32.82 mm), nut thickness (28.81mm-34.70 mm), nut weight (7.07 g-12.98 g), kernel weight (3.04g-6.70g), kernel ratio (43.26%-51.62%) and shell weight (4.03–6.84 mm). Arnongst the nutritional properties and biochemical composition of walnut cultivars, high protein content were observed in Kotkhai Selection (20%), followed by Partap (19%) cultivar. varied from ranged The fat content was found to range between 32.25–56.40%, total carbohydrates 8.09–14.0%, moisture content 2.71–3.01%, Totalphenol content renged 32.61–80.00mg/g and Scavenging Antioxidantactivity veried between 40–85%. On the basis of aforesaid characteristics, Kotkhai Selection and Partap suitable for culivation was found to be a superior walnut cultivars in temperate region of Himachal Pradesh, India.

Study was conducted to evaluate the functional properties of popularly cultivated mushrooms viz., white button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) and oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus pulmonarius. Both types of mushroom exhibited high moisture, crude protein and amino acid content. The Pleurotus and Agaricus mushrooms contained 3.26% and 1.78% soluble protein, respectively. Further, the qualitative amino acid analysis revealed these proteins to be rich source of essential amino acids. A total of 17 amino acids were qualitatively identified in the fresh samples of both types of mushrooms. The Thin Layer Chromatography separation of amino acids showed that all the nine essential amino acid were present in Agaricus bisporus whereas, only five are present in Pleurotus pulmonarius. Hence, the supplementation of these mushrooms with cereal diet can help to overcome essential amino acids deficiency and reduce the post-harvest losses of this high value perishable crop.

Vegetables are important component of balanced human diet. Advanced production technologies are being followed to measure productivity and quality of produce. Protected cultivation is an improved agro technique being used worldwide to register 3–4 times increase in production. Tomato is grown extensively in the plastic greenhouses for higher productivity. The growing conditions especially light and temperature are known to influence both composition and quality of tomato fruits. Hence, studies have been conducted to estimate the quality parameters of tomato grown both under open and in polyhouse with shade nets during cloudy weather in rainy season The results reveals that the fruits harvested from the field had higher TSS:TA ratio (11.73), acidity (0.49%), total sugar (2.5%), ascorbic acid (14.7 mg 100g−1), TSS (5.76oB) and the lycopene content (8.7mg 100 g−1) than the fruits grown under protected conditions. However, the environment in the polyhouse favour the growth and development of tomato plant through increased plant height (1.4m) and number of branches. The fruit yield obtained from the polyhouse was higher (2.6 kg plant−1) than the open field (1.5 kg plant−1). Hence, both types of environmental conditions are favourable in some aspects. The parameters of economic importance like fruit weight and yield are better under protected conditions but the nutritional parameters like vitamin C and lycopene content are higher in open conditions during rainy season.