SUPER-FRUIT: AS A POTENTIAL OPTION TO MITIGATE MALNUTRITION IN INDIAN SUBCONTINENT

Health and wellness are key drivers of new product development, globally. Obesity and excess calories are issues on one extreme and lack of nutrients is an issue at the other extreme. Consumers are also seeking out new kinds of indulgence, driving demand for new ethnic and exotic flavours and authentic regional products. The health benefits of super-fruits have made them successful as ingredients for food companies and as a source of exciting new flavours for consumers. The super-fruits deemed super by nutrition scientists are packed with antioxidants, fibre, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that improve health condition. The importance of super-fruits as a necessary part of the human diet and as cash crops is well recognized. They help to prevent a number of extremely chronic human diseases. In recent years this term - originally used by the food industry to indicate fruit having an exceptional nutrient richness and nutritional qualities, including high concentration of phytochemicals - has been increasingly and generically utilized, mainly for marketing purposes. In, India traditional fruits like bael, aonla, pomegranate, guava, pineapple, coconut, grapefruit, litchi, jackfruit, papaya, grape and so many indigenous minor fruits are rich in above mentioned phyto-chemicals & anti- oxidant compound that include them in the list of super fruit. In this present paper we critically review the extraordinary-therapeutic characteristics of Super-fruit, mainly to aware the common people and to speed-up the super-fruit cultivation. Keywords: Super-fruits, Phyto-chemicals, Antioxidant, Malnutrition, Human healt

Zinc Fertilization in Potato: A Physiological and Bio-chemical Study

Aims: More than 54% of soils in West Bengal are Zinc (Zn) deficient and therefore, Zn−fertilization is assumed to play a key role not only for increasing potato yield but also for combating wide spread deficiency of micronutrients (mainly Zn) in many potato growing areas of the state. Place and Duration of Study: A two-year field experiment was conducted during winter 2013-14 and 2014-15 at to assess the advantages of Zn nutrition in potato cv. Kufri Jyoti under alluvial soil (Entisols) of West Bengal, India Methodology: The experiment was laid out in randomized block design (RBD) having five treatments and four replications The potato was fertilized with five zinc levels (0, 1.5, 3.0, 4.5 and 6.0 kg Zn ha−1) through zinc sulphate heptahydrate i.e. ZnSO4, 7H2O (commercial grade Multi-Zn contained 21% Zn) at the time of planting. A uniform dose of NPK at 200:150:150 kg ha−1 RDF was applied in all the plots in the form of urea (46% N), single super phosphate (16% P2O5), and muriate of potash (60% K2O). Results: Application Zn fertilizer at 4.5 kg ha−1 recorded significantly higher germination %, plant height, leaf area index (LAI), dry matter accumulation (DMA) and number of tubers hill−1. Total number and yield of tuber ha−1 were also changed significantly (P≤ .05) with the levels of Zn-fertilization. Quality parameters like total soluble solids (TSS), total acidity, ascorbic acid, starch and amount of total sugar contents of fresh potato tuber as well as organoleptic quality of chips (colour) also influenced significantly (P≤ .05) with varied levels of Zn fertilization. Conclusion: Results suggest that application of 4.5 kg Zn ha−1 in combination with recommended dose fertilizer (RDF) of NPK (i.e. 200:150:150 kg ha−1) is vital for optimizing yield components, yield and quality of potato (cv. Kufri Jyoti) in trans-Gangetic plains of West Bengal, India

Response of growth regulators and micronutrients on yield and physico-chemical quality of Ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk) cv. BAU Kul-1

Ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk.) is an indigenous delicious, nourishing fruit grown widely throughout the India but faces heavy fruit drop due to several biotic and abiotic stress factors resulted in declining trend of ber pro-duction over the year. Keeping these facts in foreground, replicated field experiment was conducted during 2013-14 and 2014-15 at HRS, Mondouri, BCKV, West Bengal with eleven treatments consist two different levels of NAA, GA3, 2,4-D, ZnSO4 and H3BO3 along with a control (water spray). Results of investigation revealed that application of 2,4-D @ 10 mg/l recorded highest fruit set (48.80%). Maximum fruit retention (42.83%) and total no. of fruits/tree (514) were obtained with the application of NAA @ 20 mg/l. Application of GA3 @ 20 mg/l recorded significantly (p?0.05) higher yield (30.67 kg/tree), fruit weight (60.5 g), fruit length (5.8 cm), fruit breadth (5.1 cm), pulp to seed ratio (13.9) and specific gravity (1.104) as well as economic returns over control during both the year of experiment. Among the treatments H3BO3 at 0.4% recorded the highest TSS (11.7°Brix), total sugar (8.33%), reducing sugar (5.21%) and TSS: Acid (107.36) ratio with lowest fruit acidity (0.10 %) whereas highest vitamin-C content of fruit was recorded with GA3 at 20 mg/l (64.68 mg / 100 g) followed by NAA at 20 mg/l. Results suggest that twice spraying of GA3 @ 20 mg/l and H3BO3 at 0.4% is vital for optimizing yield components, yield and quality of ber (cv. BAU Kul-1) in trans-Gangetic plains of West Bengal