Hydration characteristics of wheat grain

The hydration characteristic of wheat was studied by soaking in water at temperatures of 30 (room temperature) 50, 60 and 70 oC in constant temperature water bath.  The weight gain due to the hydration process was determined in terms of moisture content (% d.b).  Water absorption rate was high at the early stage of hydration (10-30 min depending on temperature) followed by a decreased rate and finally approaching equilibrium condition.  Peleg's equation adequately described the hydration characteristics of wheat under the experimental condition (R2 = 0.95 to 0.99).  The Peleg rate constant k1 decreased while Peleg capacity constant k2 increased significantly with an increase in temperature from room temperature to 70 oC, demonstrating that the water absorption rate increased and water absorption capacity decreased with increase in temperature.  The agreement between experimental and estimated values of the hydration data (R2 = 0.97 to 0.99) confirmed that Peleg's equation could be used to describe the hydration characteristics of wheat under the experimental conditions considered

Development and Evaluation of Palmyrah (Borassus Flabellifer L.) Fruit Pulp

Palmyrah(Borassus flabellifer L) fruit pulp is available abundantly and has high potential for food in rural areas, useful for pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications, however, the main hindrance for these pulp is lack of mechanisation and availability of pulp in sufficient quantity at one place. The pulp of this fruit is usually used by rural communities where the processors use manual pulping, which are not only time-consuming but yields seasonal during July and August in India. Therefore, the objective of this work was to develop and evaluate the efficiency of fruit pulp extractor. The pulper was developed to be compact and easy to operate, consisting of main housing with stainless steel teeth on rotating shaft and pulping performed by beating and shearing. The performance evaluation of the machine was carried out with different rpm (320, 360, 410) input capacity(8,10 and 12 kg) for fixed time of operation is 6 minutes.. The pulp weight was evaluated during the pulping process period. The highest pulping efficiency (84.78%) and pulp recovery (33.9%) was obtained rpm of 410, with 6 minutes of pulping, and batch capacity of 10 kg of fruits which resulted in a capacity of 50 kg fruits per hour. This high efficiency makes this mechanized effective for pulping palmyrah fruits and, thus, it can replace manual pulping, especially in rural communities involved with the palmyrah fruit pulping. &nbsp

Jaggery from Palmyrah palm (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Borassus flabellifer </i>L.)- Present status and scope

714-717Jaggery is a sugar rich product and medicine obtained by evaporation of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) juice or sap obtained from Palmyrah palm (Borassus flabellifer L.), Date palm (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Phoenix dactylifera L.) or Coconut palm (Cocos nucifera L.). Among all Jaggery, palm Jaggery having its own importance. It usually contains 65-85% sucrose and 5-15% reducing sugars, and is consumed directly or used for preparation of sweet confectionary items and ayurvedic/traditional medicines, and it may have a role to reduce the chance of lung cancer. It is a good source of minerals like calcium, phosphorous and iron. Jaggery industry is one of the most important cottage level industries in India since ancient times and it is prepared mostly by small and marginal farmers. Besides India, countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Burma and Philippines are also manufacturing Jaggery

<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Chironji</i> nut (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Buchanania lanzan)</i> processing, present practices and scope<span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"> </span>

202-204Buchanania lanzan (Chironji) is a tree species which belongs to the family Anacardiaceae and is commercially very useful. The fruit of chironji contains a hard nut that on decortication yields kernel containing about 52% oil. The kernel oil is used mostly in the cosmetic manufacturing and as a substitute for olive and almond oil while the whole kernel is used in sweet-meals as a substitute for almond kernel. Although, the chironji nuts and kernels have been used extensively but there is no machinery for processing of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">chironji nut. At present shelling of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">chironji nut is done manually and some time by locally made machine. This traditional process involves soaking in the water for 24 hrs, skin removal by hand rubbing followed by drying. Dried nut is broken by rubbing between a pair of stone-slab or hammer followed by separation of kernel from the hull. In some areas local artesian developed motorized machines for breaking and separating, but the machines were not specifically designed. So they are again manually separating. Therefore there is need for developing the machinery for chironji decorticating

Oleoresins from Capsicum spp.: Extraction Methods and Bioactivity

Capsicum spp. fruit is one of the most produced vegetables around the world, and it is consumed both as fresh vegetable and as a spice like a food additive for their characteristic red color and, in many cases, its pungency. In addition to its economic importance, the bioactivity of some important compounds such as capsaicinoids and carotenoids has promoted its research. The use of Capsicum oleoresins has been increased due to its advantages comparing with the traditional dry spice. These include obtaining higher quality products with the desired content of bioactive and flavored substances. The wide diversity of extraction methods including water extraction, organic solvent extraction, microwave-assisted extraction, and ultrasound assisted extraction as well as supercritical fluid extraction among others are discussed in the present review. Moreover, pretreatments such as chemical treatments, osmotic dehydration, sun and oven drying, and freeze-drying commonly used before the extraction are also presented. Due to its importance, Capsicum oleoresins produced with “green” solvents and the improvement of fractional extraction techniques that allow to obtain separately the various bioactive fractions will continue under research for further development