Trends and Innovations in Value Chain Management of Tropical Fruits

India produced about 97.35 million tons of fruits during 2017-18, of which less than 1% fruits were exported. In India, less than 5% of the total fruits produced are sold by the organized supply chain management and E-commerce companies and 3% of the total produce gets processed, indicating that more than 90% of fruits follow the traditional route of supply chain involving farmers, auctioneers, agents/intermediaries, wholesalers, sub-wholesalers, retailers, cart vendors before they reach the consumers. Post-Harvest (PH) losses occur at each stage of the supply chain and are compounded with each operation. A study on PH loss estimation has shown maximum loss of 15.88% in guava among fruits while other studies have reported much higher PH lossesin fruits. Value of tropical fruits, both in monetary terms and quality reduces during harvesting, handling, transportation from the farmer’s field, packaging, storage, retail and even at the consumer’s level. Important interventions that reduce the PH losses and improve the supply chain management are establishment of pre-cooling facilities and short term storage facilities through evaporative cooling/refrigeration mechanisms at the farm gate, primary processing and packaging provision at the farm gate or nearby collection centres, transportation of fruits in refrigerated/evaporative cooled vans with the use of alternate energy sources and provision for low temperature and high humidity storage at the retail centres. Establishment of a Postharvest management system for sorting, washing, partial drying, edible coating, if required and grading at the collection centres will help in reducing the PH losses in the supply chain and help farmers get a better value for their produce. Formation of farmer clusters or Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs) provides farmers a better bargaining power because of higher volumes. Educating and bringing awareness among the farmers about the good agricultural practices (GAP), mechanization in field operations, availability of seeds for different seasons, eliminating the problem of seasonality are also important in production of quality output. Transportation of fruits, such as mango, banana and guava in vans/wagons operating through evaporative cooling/cooling mechanism using phase change material will help in improving the shelf life of such fruits. An integrated radio frequency identification (RFID) system along with the sensors for ethylene, temperature and RH monitoring is likely to help in easy tracking and traceability of the fresh produce. Establishment of primary and secondary processing facility at the farmer cluster/ FPO levels will help in transforming the farmers to primary processors

Screening of probiotic strains for development of ready- to -serve probioticated mango beverage

Out of the thirteen probiotic strains procured from different sources or isolated from the commercially available sachets, seven isolates showed growth in the ready to serve (RTS) mango beverage. Among the seven strains, only three strains, i.e., Lactobacillus helveticus MTCC 5463, L. rhamnosus MTCC 5946 and Saccharomyces boulardii showed significant growth in the mango beverage. These three strains were further evaluated for population build-up, physico-chemical and sensory evaluation parameters in the fermented mango beverage. Based on the results of sensory scores, minimum threshold population required for classification as probioticated beverage and physico-chemical characteristics, L. helveticus was used for probiotication of the RTS mango beverage. Mango beverage fermented with L. helveticus MTCC 5463 showed an average score of 7.34 on a hedonic scale of 9 for overall acceptability, had an acidity of 0.29%, sugar concentration of 7.6% and pH of 4.4. Probioticated mango beverage also had about 20 and 13% higher phenolics and flavonoids, respectively, compared to uninoculated RTS mango beverage. This study has shown that the RTS mango beverage inoculated with L. helveticus MTCC 5463 has potential for developing probioticated mangobeverage

Development and optimization of an in-house heterologous ELISA for detection of prednisolone drug in enzyme conjugates using spacers

The introduction of spacers in coating steroid protein complexes and/or enzyme conjugates or immunogens is known to exert an influence on the sensitivity of steroid enzyme immunoassays. We investigated the impact of different homobifunctional spacers, ranging in atomic length from 3 to 10, on the sensitivity and specificity of prednisolone (PSL) enzyme immunoassays. In this study, four homo-bifunctional spacers, namely, carbohydrazide (CH), adipic acid dihydrazide (ADH), ethylene diamine (EDA), and urea (U), were incorporated between PSL and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) for preparing the enzyme conjugate with an aim to improve the sensitivity of the assay without compromising assay specificity. The assays were developed using these enzymes conjugated with antibodies raised against the PSL-21-HS-BSA immunogen. The sensitivity of the PSL assays after insertion of a bridge in the enzyme conjugate was 1.22 ng/mL, 0.59 ng/mL, 0.48 ng/mL, and 0.018 ng/mL with ADH, CH, EDA, and urea as a spacer, respectively. Among the four combinations, the PSL-21-HS-BSA-antibody with PSL-21-HS-U-HRP-enzyme conjugate gave better sensitivity and less cross-reaction. The percent recovery of PSL from the exogenously spiked human serum pools was in the range of 88.32%-102.50%. The intra and inter-assay CV% was< 8.46%. The PSL concentration was estimated in the serum samples of patients on PSL treatment. The serum PSL values obtained by this method correlated well with the commercially available kit (r2 = 0.98). The present study suggests that the nature of the spacer is related to assay sensitivity and not the spacer length

A Study of Machining Effects on the Surface Integrity, Strength Properties, Damage Evolution and Fatigue Strength of Composite Laminates

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2019A Study of Machining Effects on the Surface Integrity, Strength Properties, Damage Evolution and Fatigue Strength of Composite Laminates Harinder Singh Oberoi Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Dr. Ramulu Mamidala Department of Mechanical Engineering With the increased usage of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastics (CFRP) Composite Laminate Materials in various industries, an understanding of changes in strength properties and fatigue performance due to manufacturing processes is becoming critical to the study of their performance characteristics. As cured laminates almost always require machining of edges and/or drilling of holes, the resultant surface integrity by such post-cure processes influences the residual strength and fatigue performance during the service life. Unfortunately post-cure manufacturing processes also result in surface and sub-surface damage which evolves during service life conditions and result in the deterioration of strength and fatigue performance. The surface conditions of any machined surface are classified as surface texture and usually represent the exterior microscale geometry of the machined surface. Surface Integrity commonly refers to the features that are sub-surface or immediately beneath the surface. In general the surface integrity consists of the structure and the stress conditions within the interior layers and subsequently dictates the surface mechanical properties. This body of work studies the influence of resultant surface integrity from trimming and drilling of composite laminates on their strength properties, damage evolution and fatigue strength. A two phased approach was utilized in this research study. In phase 1, a 10 ply thick balanced symmetric [0/-45/90/45/0]s composite laminate of unidirectional Carbon fibre prepreg tape with an Epoxy resin was used in the study. For Phase 2, a 22 ply thick balanced symmetric [90/-45/0/-45/90/45/0/-45/0/90/0]s composite laminate of unidirectional Carbon fibre prepreg tape with an Epoxy resin was used. Machining processes used in this study included Abrasive Water Jet (AWJ) and Carbide Router Endmilling for the trimming of the laminate material. For drilling of holes in the laminate material, Polycrystalline Diamond (PCD) drills and Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) diamond coated carbide drills were used. Test material was machined with these processes and resultant surface integrity was recorded using a Surface Profilometer, Edge Replication using acetate tape and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Test samples were generated with varying surface integrity along differing machining processes and standard ASTM Tests conducted to study the residual strength properties. Testing was conducted on edge trimmed specimens included Monotonic Strength (Tension & Compression) as well as Cyclic Strength (Tension-Tension Fatigue). For Drilled Hole Specimens testing included Open-Hole Monotonic Strength (Tension & Compression) and Cyclic Strength (Tension-Tension Fatigue). Similar tests were conducted for Pinned-Hole strength testing for static conditions. During Tension-Tension Fatigue Testing a percentage change in stiffness was used to determine resultant fatigue life and it correlation to surface integrity. During the fatigue testing process, damage evolution was studied using Optical Microscopy, Photography and Scanning Electron Microscopy. The analytical modeling of Fatigue Damage composite laminates was based on damage progression. A damage model based on a change in compliance (stiffness) was used as the analytical model in this study based on the utilization of change in stiffness and resultant fatigue life to record the damage progression during the Tension-Tension Fatigue Testing

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Not AvailableBasella alba is an underutilized green leafy vegetable predominantly grown in the Asian subcontinent. It is rich in vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, phenols, and antioxidants. Ferulic acid, gallic acid, caffeic acid, lutein, zeaxanthin, and β-carotene are the major bioactive compounds present in B. alba. However, their potential as ingredients for development of functional foods has not been fully explored. Extraction and encapsulation of bioactive compounds from Basella alba will help in their incorporation into foods imparting functionality to the developed foods. Therefore, it is important to explore the potential of B. alba as functional food perse or as an ingredient in various processed food products for imparting functional attributes to such pro ducts. This review, therefore aims to identify the bioactive compounds pre sent in Basella, in addition to evaluating the nutritional and therapeutic properties of this vegetable and also appraise different methods for extraction and encapsulation of bioactive compounds present in itNot Availabl

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Not AvailableIn this study, comparative evaluation of acid- and alkali pretreatment of sweet sorghum bagasse (SSB) was carried out for sugar production after enzymatic hydrolysis. Results indicated that enzymatic hydrolysis of alkali-pretreated SSB resulted in higher production of glucose, xylose and arabinose, compared to the other alkali concentrations and also acid-pretreated biomass. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was, therefore, used to optimize parameters, such as alkali concentration, temperature and time of pretreatment prior to enzymatic hydrolysis to maximize the production of sugars. The independent variables used during RSM included alkali concentration (1.5–4%), pretreatment temperature (125–140 °C) and pretreatment time (10–30 min) were investigated. Process optimization resulted in glucose and xylose concentration of 57.24 and 10.14 g/L, respectively. Subsequently, second stage optimization was conducted using RSM for optimizing parameters for enzymatic hydrolysis, which included substrate concentration (10–15%), incubation time (24–60 h), incubation temperature (40–60 °C) and Celluclast concentration (10–20 IU/g-dwt). Substrate concentration 15%, (w/v) temperature of 60 °C, Celluclast concentration of 20 IU/g-dwt and incubation time of 58 h led to a glucose concentration of 68.58 g/l. Finally, simultaneous saccharification fermentation (SSF) as well as separated hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) was evaluated using Pichia kudriavzevii HOP-1 for production of ethanol. Significant difference in ethanol concentration was not found using either SSF or SHF; however, ethanol productivity was higher in case of SSF, compared to SHF. This study has established a platform for conducting scale-up studies using the optimized process parameters.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableSolid state fermentation with pea pod waste and Aspergillus niger HN-1 resulted in filter paper cellu-lase (FP) and -glucosidase (BGL) activity of 30 FPU/gds and 270 U/gds, respectively. Validation withthe response surface optimized parameters (moisture content: 65%, pH 6.0, temperature: 33◦C, time:84 h) in a solid-state tray fermentation enhanced FP and BGL activity by about 40 and 28%, respectively.Multi-component enzyme from A. niger HN-1 produced FP, BGL, endoglucanase (EG), cellobiohy-drolase (CBHI), xylanase, -l-arabinofuranosidase, -xylosidase and xylan esterase with activities of41.07 ± 2.11 FPU/gds, 345.69 ± 17.1, 480.3 ± 21.5, 52.1 ± 1.5, 2800.5 ± 88.4, 88.1 ± 9.3, 280.8 ± 11.4 and3321.7 ± 14.8 U/gds, respectively. Enzyme was optimally active at temperature and pH of 55◦C and 5.0,respectively and demonstrated thermostability by retaining >95% activity for 6 h at 55◦C. SDS-PAGEshowed the presence of 11 protein bands with molecular mass ranging between 20 and 200 kDa, whilezymogram revealed the presence of multiple forms of EG, CBH and BGL with varying molecular mass.Hydrolysis of sweet sorghum bagasse at relatively high substrate loading (15%, w/v) with crude enzymeat 20 FPU/gds in thermostatically controlled glass reactor led to conversion of 82–91% of holocellulose tofermentable sugars in just 24 h as evident from HPLC analysis, showing promise for the reported enzymein bioprocessing applications.AMAAS sub-project (NBAIM/AMAAS/2008-09/AMBPH-05/HSO/BG/3/5982) from the Indian Council of Agricul-tural Research (ICAR), Government of India

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Not AvailableThermophilic Aspergillus terreus RWY produced cellulases and xylanases in optimal concentrations at 45 °C in solid state fermentation process, though enzyme production was also observed at 50 and 55 °C. Filter paper cellulase (FP), endoglucanase (EG), b-glucosidase (BGL), cellobiohydrolase (CBH), xylanase, b-xylosidase, a-L-arabinofuranosidase and xylan esterase activities for A. terreus RWY at 45 °C in 72 h were 11.3 0.65, 103 6.4, 122.5 8.7, 10.3 0.66, 872 22.5, 22.1 0.75, 126.4 8.4 and 907 15.5U (g-ds) 1, respectively. Enzyme was optimally active at temperatures and pH ranging between 50–60 °C and 4.0–6.0, respectively. The half life (T1/2) of 270 and 240 min at 70 and 75 °C, respectively for the enzyme indicates its stability at higher temperatures. The addition of MnCl2, CoCl2, and FeCl3 significantly enhanced cellulase activity. Enzyme demonstrated multiplicity by having seven, one and three isoform(s) for EG, CBH and BGL, respectively. Significant production of functionally active consortium of cellulolytic and xylanolytic enzymes from A. terreus RWY makes it a potential candidate in bioprocessing applications.Not Availabl

Variation in Weight of Milled Raw Rice During Storage

A study on storage of rice was conducted to find the effect of moisture content on the weight of milled raw rice for a period of one-year under stacking condition and the correlation between loss or gain in weight of rice on moisture content basis and actual weighment basis was determined. During the period from March to May and September to November there were continuous losses in the weight of rice whereas in the months of January- February and the period from June to August there was continuous gain in weight. The results indicated a positive correlation (0.88) between the losses based on moisture content and actual weighment. It was also found that 89% of the total variation in the loss or gain in the weight of rice (PR-114) could be accounted for by a linear function involving the monthly mean relative humidity of the store room in addition to the difference in moisture content