A survey of water consumption and product output from ten sago factories in India

Most of the tapioca processing units in India separate starch from slurry by employing the gravity settling method. Sedimentation in settling tanks allows the contact of starch with water. This process leads to fermentation in which alcohols and organic acids are formed and polluting the environment. Wastewater from tapioca processing factories contain high chemical oxygen demand (11,077-19, 083 mg t l), low pH (4.33-5.60) and causes pollution. The effluent from tapioca industries is acidic and organic in nature, contributing biological oxygen demand in the range of 1500 to 2000 g mojo Inorganic constituents like phosphate, sulphate, chloride, and several metals are also found in trace quantities. This paper explains the water consumption, product output and effluent generation in tapioca processing industries. The average water requirement was 4.512 ml to process 1000 kg ofcassava tubers. When the tubers are used for starch manufacture, a product yield of 16. 7% starch, 1.6% dirty starch and 7.0% thippi were obtained, and 18.6% sago, 1.8% dirty starch, 19.1% peel and 3.9% thippi were obtained when the tubers are used for sago manufacture. About 95% of the consumed water is leaving the factory as effluent

BRIGHTNESS PRESERVING HISTOGRAM EQUALIZATION (BPHE) TECHNIQUE FOR CLASSIFICATION OF DATES

Brightness preserving histogram equalization (BPHE) technique was used to enhance the features to discriminate three dates varieties (Khalas, Fard and Madina). Mean, entropy and kurtosis features were computed from the enhanced images and used in an Artificial Neural Network classifier. The classification efficiency of 4 sets of hidden neurons (5, 10, 20, and 30) was tested and the network with 5 neurons yielded the highest classification accuracy of 95.2%

Computer Vision Techniques for Quality Assessment of Dates

Computer vision (CV) is a technique in which the image of an object is obtained through any imaging system and the image is analyzed to characterize the quality of the object objectively. The advancement in electronics has made this technique utilized in various fields. In North America, food industry is one of the top ten industries utilizing CV technique for quality monitoring. However, CV technique is not much utilized in the food industries in Asia. Dates is an important fruit crop in Oman and many other Arab countries. The quality assessment of dates during handling and processing are mainly carried out through manual inspection method. But this method has many challenges such as the efficiency of a worker, subjectivity, and so on. There are lots of opportunities to utilize CV technique for measuring and monitoring various quality aspects of dates. Through an Open Research Grant program funded by The Research Council (TRC), Oman, potential of CV technique for various internal and external qualities of dates was determined. This paper describes the efficiency of CV systems for variety identification, surface crack detection, texture and hardness determination

An Experimental Study on Solar Flat Plate Collector Using an Alternative Working Fluid

This paper describes the performance of a solar water heater with an alternative working fluid. A solar flat plate collector of fIxed orientation was fabricated and connected to a heat exchanger, which was kept inside the water storage drum. The developed collector was a low temperature device operating with the temperature range of ambient to 100°C. Acetone was selected as an alternative working fluid and allowed to re-eirculate in a closed loop. A shell and tube type heat exchanger (non-mixing) was designed and fabricated for the heat transfer between acetone and water. The solar intensity increased from 55 mw/cm2 at 8.30 am to 85 mw/cm2 at 1.30 pm and decreased to 64 mw/cm2 at 5.00 pm. The absorber plate temperature, which remained nearly constant for the first two hours, went up to 90°C in the next two hours. It was nearly constant from 11.00 am to 1.30 pm and then dropped down to 72°C in the afternoon. The hot fluid was found to loose heat to the surrounding water at more or less constant rate from 11.30 am to 5.00 pm. The highest temperature of acetone (70°C) was observed during 1.00 pm to 2.00 pm. The temperature of water increased from 30°C to a maximum of 62°C. Overall efficiency of the system was found to be 45% while considering the solar input to the heat gained by the water. Alternative working fluids such as acetone, methanol or ethanol may be considered for substituting water in the flat plate collector in view of the fact that the fluids have low boiling point coupled with high latent heat of evaporation

Sugarcane (Saccharum X officinarum): A Reference Study for the Regulation of Genetically Modified Cultivars in Brazil

Global interest in sugarcane has increased significantly in recent years due to its economic impact on sustainable energy production. Sugarcane breeding and better agronomic practices have contributed to a huge increase in sugarcane yield in the last 30 years. Additional increases in sugarcane yield are expected to result from the use of biotechnology tools in the near future. Genetically modified (GM) sugarcane that incorporates genes to increase resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses could play a major role in achieving this goal. However, to bring GM sugarcane to the market, it is necessary to follow a regulatory process that will evaluate the environmental and health impacts of this crop. The regulatory review process is usually accomplished through a comparison of the biology and composition of the GM cultivar and a non-GM counterpart. This review intends to provide information on non-GM sugarcane biology, genetics, breeding, agronomic management, processing, products and byproducts, as well as the current technologies used to develop GM sugarcane, with the aim of assisting regulators in the decision-making process regarding the commercial release of GM sugarcane cultivars

Reduction of saturated fat in traditional foods by substitution of ghee with olive and sunflower oils – A case study with halwa

Diet related diseases are increasing at an alarming rate all over the world. Restriction in dietary saturated fat intake is one of the major components in healthy diet as a mean of preventing cardiovascular and other associated diseases. Ghee is one of the high saturated fat types (around 60% saturated fat) which is consumed along with many Asian traditional foods. As a model food, halwa, a traditional confection in Oman, which is popular in domestic and many other gulf countries is modified by replacing ghee with healthy vegetable oils and tested for their acceptability. Three types of halwa, olive oil halwa, sunflower oil halwa and ghee halwa (control) were produced in a commercial production facility and their textural and sensorial attributes were determined. In instrumental texture profiles, there were no significant differences in cohesiveness, springiness, chewiness and gumminess between olive oil, sunflower oil and ghee halwa samples. The hardness of olive oil halwa was the highest and sunflower oil halwa was the lowest among three tested samples. In sensory evaluation of developed halwa products, there was no significant difference in the overall acceptability between ghee and sunflower oil halwa. In blind sensory test, 60% of females and 80% of males selected sunflower oil halwa, and only 10% of females and 10% males selected olive oil halwa as their first choice of preferences. But in informed sensory test, the selection of olive oil halwa as the first choice was increased to 55% in females and 30% in males. About 80% of the panelists in informed sensory test were ready to accept non-ghee halwa the way it was prepared or with product improvement. There are opportunities to modify traditional foods which are rich in saturated fat by replacing with healthy oils, and to educate the people about the health benefits of these modifications

Comprehensive ripeness-index for prediction of ripening level in mangoes by multivariate modelling of ripening behaviour

Prediction of ripeness level in climacteric fruits is essential for post-harvest handling. An index capable of predicting ripening level with minimum inputs would be highly beneficial to the handlers, processors and researchers in fruit industry. A study was conducted with Indian mango cultivars to develop a ripeness index and associated model. Changes in physicochemical, colour and textural properties were measured throughout the ripening period and the period was classified into five stages (unripe, early ripe, partially ripe, ripe and over ripe). Multivariate regression techniques like partial least square regression, principal component regression and multi linear regression were compared and evaluated for its prediction. Multi linear regression model with 12 parameters was found more suitable in ripening prediction. Scientific variable reduction method was adopted to simplify the developed model. Better prediction was achieved with either 2 or 3 variables (total soluble solids, colour and acidity). Cross validation was done to increase the robustness and it was found that proposed ripening index was more effective in prediction of ripening stages. Three-variable model would be suitable for commercial applications where reasonable accuracies are sufficient. However, 12-variable model can be used to obtain more precise results in research and development applications

Acceptability of a reformulated grain-based food: Implications for increasing whole grain consumption

AbstractIdli is a popular Indian breakfast dish consumed by many people all over the world, made from white rice (Oryza sativum) (75%–80%) and black gram (Phaseolus mungo) (20%–25%). Idli's wide consumption makes it ideal as a model for studying acceptability of a food reformulated with whole grains. The objective was to compare acceptability regarding texture, color and sensory properties when white rice was replaced with brown rice at 5 replacement levels (0% (control), 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%). Textural attributes and L*a*b* color values were measured by a texture analyzer and a Chroma meter, respectively. Informed and blind sensory tests were conducted. Instrumental hardness and gumminess were proportional to the level of whole grain replacement, while springiness and cohesiveness did not vary by replacement level. Liking ratings for overall acceptability were similar at the three lowest levels of brown rice replacement. Although brown rice replacement reduced the liking score for various sensory attributes, especially for 75% and 100% replacements, more than 90% of the panelists preferred brown-rice-blended idli as their first choice. There are ample opportunities to increase whole grain consumption through reformulation of regularly consumed traditional refined grain foods by partial or complete replacement with whole grains

Contrast Enhancement Using Brightness Preserving Histogram Equalization Technique for Classification of Date Varieties

Computer vision technique is becoming popular for quality assessment of many products in food industries. Image enhancement is the first step in analyzing the images in order to obtain detailed information for the determination of quality. In this study, Brightness preserving histogram equalization technique was used to enhance the features of gray scale images to classify three date varieties (Khalas, Fard and Madina). Mean, entropy, kurtosis and skewness features were extracted from the original and enhanced images. Mean and entropy from original images and kurtosis from the enhanced images were selected based on Lukka's feature selection approach. An overall classification efficiency of 93.72% was achieved with just three features. Brightness preserving histogram equalization technique has great potential to improve the classification in various quality attributes of food and agricultural products with minimum features

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Not AvailableCarriers are added with fruit pulp in several drying methods. The flow behavior of the feedstock is an important property in determining equipment design and drying condition. In this study, the effect of carrier type, carrier percentage, and concentration of date pulp feedstock (DPF) on the rheological properties were investigated. The DPF was prepared with Fardh dates cultivar with maltodextrin (MD), gum arabic (GA), and sodium caseinate (SC) carriers at two levels (dates:carrier 70:30 and 60:40, dry weight basis) and three concentrations (20, 30, and 40 percentage). The carriers were found to be effective in reduction of the shear stress for the shear rate range 1–100 s^-1. At shear rate 1 s^-1, GA-blended DPF and at shear rate 100 s^-1, MD-blended DPF offered the lowest shear stresses. Viscosity was decreasing while increasing the shear rate from 1 to 100 s^-1, and decreasing the concentration from 20 to 40%. MD- and GA carrier-blended DPFs had exhibited similar viscous behavior. Shear-thinning behavior with GA- and MD-blended DPFs and shear-thickening behavior with SC-blended DPF were observed. Yield stresses of Herschel–Bulkley, Casson and Bingham were increasing with increase in concentration. Temperature dependency of the viscosity was found higher in control than in the carrier-blended DPF. The activation energy was calculated using Arrhenius relationship between temperature and viscosity while heating as well as cooling. The activation energy was increasing while increasing the DPF concentration during heating and reciprocal results were found during cooling. No significant influence of carriers or carrier levels (p<0.05) was found on activation energy during heating. But while cooling, the activation energy was found higher for the MD-blended DPF than other two DPFs.Not Availabl