Ultrasound Pre-treated Osmotic Dehydration of Elephant Apple (Dillenia indica) Slices

17-22Osmotic dehydration of elephant apple fruit slices was optimized using a Box-Behnken design. Sugar concentration, immersion time and drying air temperature were chosen as the experimental input variables. These were optimized by estimating the desirable osmotic properties and by evaluating the phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity and rehydration ability. The regression coefficients of all the valid response models have been determined and the possible effect of variables at individual and interactive levels has been analyzed. Osmo-air dried elephant apple slices with acceptable quality could be produced by subjecting the raw slices to sugar syrup dipping at 60°Brix, for 4h followed by air drying at a temperature of 55°C

Ultrasound Pre-treated Osmotic Dehydration of Elephant Apple (Dillenia indica) Slices

Osmotic dehydration of elephant apple fruit slices was optimized using a Box-Behnken design. Sugar concentration, immersion time and drying air temperature were chosen as the experimental input variables. These were optimized by estimating the desirable osmotic properties and by evaluating the phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity and rehydration ability. The regression coefficients of all the valid response models have been determined and the possible effect of variables at individual and interactive levels has been analyzed. Osmo-air dried elephant apple slices with acceptable quality could be produced by subjecting the raw slices to sugar syrup dipping at 60°Brix, for 4h followed by air drying at a temperature of 55°C.

Artificial Neural Network Modeling of Hot-air Drying Kinetics of Mango Kernel

Large quantities of mango seeds are generated as waste during extraction of mango pulp. The mango kernels are nutritionally rich and can be used as food in the form of flour and starch. Present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of blanching and convective drying air temperature of 50, 60 and 70°C on drying characteristics of mango kernel in splitted and shredded form. The drying characteristics of prepared samples were studied in terms of moisture ratio, drying time, and effective moisture diffusivity. The colour  parameters (‘L’, ‘a', ‘b’) of dried samples, were also estimated separately. Drying kinetics (moisture ratio vs drying time) of mango kernels modelled using three transfer functions (Tansig, Logsig and Purelin) of Artificial Neural Network (ANN). A reduction in the total drying time was observed with decrease in size of kernel but with rise in drying air temperature. The splitted and shredded kernels took about 450 to 840 min and 210 to 600 min respectively to be dried to final moisture content of 9 ± 1% (d.b.). Blanching did not show any significant influence on drying time. The drying process of mango kernels for all the conditions was observed to follow the falling rate. Modeling of drying kinetics of mango kernels was carried out using experimental results through artificial neural network. Results showed that the developed ANN model using logsig transfer function could predict the moisture ratio with high coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.99) and low root mean square error (0.01) within the range of tested operating conditions. The established ANN model can be used for online prediction of moisture content of splitted and shredded mango kernels during hot air drying process which has relevance to the food and pharmaceutical industry to produce dried mango kernels at desired moisture content

Optimization of the Ohmic Heating Parameters for Pasteurization of Mango Pulp using Response Surface Methodology

The present investigation optimized the ohmic heating variables influencing the quality parameters of mango pulp during pasteurization. Three independent variables such as voltage gradients (10–20 V/cm) of ohmic heating, pulp temperature (60–80℃) and pulp concentration (6–14 °Brix) were experimented using Box-Behnken experimental design of response surface methodology. The models generated for the quality parameters as responses such as ascorbic acid, total phenol content, overall acceptability, mold load and bacterial load were tested for their validity using ANOVA. The optimum conditions for pasteurization of mango pulp through ohmic heating were found to be 19.5 V/cm, 75°C and 9.96 °Brix respectively for voltage gradient, pulp temperature and pulp concentration. The values of corresponding quality parameters of ascorbic acid content, total phenolics content, overall acceptability, yeast/mold load and bacterial load were estimated to be 129.39 mg/100g dm, 288.006 mg GAE/100 g dm, 7.40, 11.01 cfu/ml and 162.299 cfu/ml respectively. The results were experimentally verified within a deviation of ±0.5%. Structural variations and functional compounds of fresh, conventionally heated and ohmic heated samples at optimum conditions were analyzed through SEM and FTIR respectively. The ohmic heated sample was found superior over conventionally heated sample with maximum retention of quality parameters. Further, the rheological analysis depicted the closeness of ohmic heated (optimum) sample with the fresh sample

Studies on Dehumidified Refrigerated Storage of Groundnut Seeds

Groundrut (Arachis hypogaea) is one of the major potential sources of edible oil in Orissa because of its yield economics. But the unavailability of seeds stands as a major constraint for extensive coverage. This problem can be solved only if groundnut seeds, which are harvested at the end of May, are preserved, so that seeds can be made available to the farmers at the right time during October sowing without losing the available residual moisture. This becomes significant during the period from June to November due to prevailing high temperature and high relative humidity. Storage experiments were carried out to store groundnut seeds under dehumidified refrigerated storage conditions of temperature 15 to 25+l "C and relative humidity 60 to 8k2%. During storage of seeds the prevailing atmospheric temperature and relative humidity were recorded regularly. Performance of the storage system was evaluated at one month interval through the standard tests for moisture content, germination percentage, viability percentage and seed health. Analysis of observations on seeds stored under different conditions for a period of one year has been made. The, seed quality of the samples was comparable at 15\u27 and 20°C with 60% RH. The samples stored at 80% RH irrespective of temperature deteriorated significantly after four months of storage. Similarly the samples stored under ambient condition showed highly unacceptable seed qualities with higher infection percentage after two months of storage. It is evident that the selection of storage conditions will depend on both quality and economic considerations of the end user

Adequacy of Blanching on Quality Characteristics of Medicinal Indian Borage Leaves

Leaves of Indian borage (Coleus aromaticus) are rich in medicinal qualities, and need to be preserved immediately after harvest. Blanching is a prerequisite for preservation of green leafy vegetables. However, it may cause partial destruction of some active ingredients. The objective of the present study was to identify a suitable blanching treatment (hot water, chemical, microwave) and condition (temperature, time and power) for Coleus aromaticus leaves that ensures enzyme inactivation and maximum retention of therapeutic value (total phenolics and antioxidant properties) with desirable sensory properties (colour and shape). Retention of therapeutic value and sensory score was comparatively higher in microwave blanched sample over both hot water and chemically blanched samples. Blanching time of 80 s and 60 s was adequate for hot water and chemically blanched samples, respectively. Microwave blanching at 900,720,540,360 and 180 W power required 30,40,50,70,80 s, respectively, for complete inactivation of peroxidase. As the microwave power decreased, blanching time increased. However, the increase was significant at 360 and 180W power. Retention of total phenolics and antioxidant properties was better in samples blanched at 540W. From the sensory point of view, microwave blanching proved to be better than hot water and chemical blanching for flatness to the shape of dried leave

Development and Performance Evaluation of Manually Operated Star Fruit Slicer

Star fruit (Averrhoa carambola) is one of the underutilized tropical fruits, which contains large amount of therapeutic components in form of antioxidants, total phenolics, vitamin-C, minerals and dietary fibres. For commercial value-addition of the fruit, a hand-operated star fruit slicer suitable for small-scale processing was designed and developed. The slicer was evaluated for three fruit-slice thickness. The capacity, efficiency, loss percentage and standard slice percentage of the slicer varied with thickness. The slicer had slicing efficiency of 86 to 96% with effective capacity of about 30.18 - 7.46 kg.h-1 against 31 to 34% and 6.9 - 1.61 kg.h-1 by manual operation. The loss percentage and standard slice yield percentages were 9.53% to 15.11%, 83% to 91%, respectively, for mechanical; and 9.21% to 10.45%, 26% to 31%, respectively, for manual slicing. The results suggested that the developed star fruit slicer is simple, economical and more efficient with higher capacity than manual slicing for the range of fruit slice thickness required by small-scale processing units

Effect of Storage on Quality of Stone Apple Ready-to-Serve Beverage

The present study is an effort to explore the possibility of effective utilization of the raw stone apple (Aegle marmelos correa), an indigenous fruit rich in nutritional as well as medicinal qualities. As the keeping quality of the whole fruit is very less, improvement in the post harvest processing and other relevant aspects need to be studied. Value added nutraceutical ready-to-serve (RTS) have been prepared. The process parameters have been standardized with respect to biochemical, microbial and sensory acceptance. Storage experiments for RTS with treatments (control, preservative and ginger) were conducted for 8 months and quality analysis was carried out to assess the storability. The ready to serve beverage with 13% pulp, 14Brix and 0.3% acidity was considered standard based on organoleptic evaluation. The RTS blended with ginger juice fetched higher sensory acceptability. Five hundred numbers of bottles of RTS of 200 ml. capacity each could be prepared from 25 kg of stone apple. During storage of the beverage all the biochemical qualities changed with storage period irrespective ofthe treatments. The total sugar, pH and ascorbic acid ofthe RTS got reduced with storage period where as an increasing trend was observed in acidity and TSS. However, the changes were maximum in control samples. The results suggest the use of ginger juice as a source of natural preservative. After four months of storage, there was an indication of presence of total mould count and total bacterial count in the stored samples, but the population was well within the safe limits till the end of a storage period of eight months

Optimization of Machine Parameters for the Peeling of Taro (Colocasia esculenta) Mother Corm in a Commercial Abrasive Peeler

Aims: The purpose of this study was to optimize the machine parameters of a commercially available tuber peeler for the peeling of mother corms. Study Design: CCRD (Central composite rotatable design) method of the response surface methodology (RSM) technique. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Agricultural Processing and Food Engineering, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, Odisha (India), between June 2021 and December 2021. Methodology: For maximum yield with minimum loss, the process was conducted with three different variables such as rotating disc speed (350, 450 and 550 rpm), peeling duration (60, 120 and 180 sec) and batch load (1, 1.5 and 2 kg) for responses such as peeling efficiency (ηp), material loss (ML) and peeling effectiveness (PE). Results: The results showed that peeling performance was influenced by variations in disc speed, peeling duration, and batch load of the peeling process. Rotating disc speed of 455 rpm, peeling duration of 115 sec and 1.35 kg of batch load were found to be the optimum condition for taro corm peeling. The corresponding peeling efficiency, peeling effectiveness and material loss were 92.64 %, 84.87 % and 8.21% respectively. Conclusion: This study showed that the method can be successfully utilized in the commercial processing of mother corms

Optimization of the Ohmic Heating Parameters for Pasteurization of Mango Pulp using Response Surface Methodology

1087-1097The present investigation optimized the ohmic heating variables influencing the quality parameters of mango pulp during pasteurization. Three independent variables such as voltage gradients (10–20 V/cm) of ohmic heating, pulp temperature (60–80℃) and pulp concentration (6–14 °Brix) were experimented using Box-Behnken experimental design of response surface methodology. The models generated for the quality parameters as responses such as ascorbic acid, total phenol content, overall acceptability, mold load and bacterial load were tested for their validity using ANOVA. The optimum conditions for pasteurization of mango pulp through ohmic heating were found to be 19.5 V/cm, 75°C and 9.96 °Brix respectively for voltage gradient, pulp temperature and pulp concentration. The values of corresponding quality parameters of ascorbic acid content, total phenolics content, overall acceptability, yeast/mold load and bacterial load were estimated to be 129.39 mg/100g dm, 288.006 mg GAE/100 g dm, 7.40, 11.01 cfu/ml and 162.299 cfu/ml respectively. The results were experimentally verified within a deviation of ±0.5%. Structural variations and functional compounds of fresh, conventionally heated and ohmic heated samples at optimum conditions were analyzed through SEM and FTIR respectively. The ohmic heated sample was found superior over conventionally heated sample with maximum retention of quality parameters. Further, the rheological analysis depicted the closeness of ohmic heated (optimum) sample with the fresh sample