EPAP, Post Harvest Engg. of Horticultural, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants

Classification and importance of engineering properties of Agricultural Produce, shape, size, roundness, sphericity, volume, density, porosity, specific gravity, surface area of grains, fruits and vegetables, Thermal properties, Heat capacity, Specific heat, Thermal conductivity, Thermal diffusivity, Heat of respiration; Co-efficient of thermal expansion, Friction in agricultural materials; Static friction, Kinetic friction, rolling resistance, angle of internal friction, angle of repose, Flow of bulk granular materials, Aero dynamics of agricultural products, drag coefficients, terminal velocity.

Rheological properties; force, deformation, stress, strain, elastic, plastic and viscous behaviour, Newtonian and Non-Newtonian liquid, Visco-elasticity, Newtonian and Non- Newtonian fluid, Pseudo-plastic, Dilatant, Thixotropic, Rheopectic and Bingham Plastic Foods, Flow curves. Electrical properties; dielectric loss factor, loss tangent, A.C. conductivity and dielectric constant, method of determination. Application of engineering properties in handling processing machines and storage structure.

Importance of processing of fruits and vegetables, spices, condiments and flowers. Characteristics and properties of horticultural crops important for processing, Peeling: Different peeling methods and devices (manual peeling, mechanical peeling, chemical peeling, and thermal peeling), Slicing of horticultural crops: equipment for slicing, shredding, crushing, chopping, juice extraction, etc.

Blanching: Importance and objectives; blanching methods, effects on food (nutrition, colour, pigment, texture), Chilling and freezing: Application of refrigeration in different perishable food products, Thermophilic, mesophilic & Psychrophilic micro-organisms, Chilling requirements of different fruits and vegetables, Freezing of food, freezing time calculations, slow and fast freezing, Equipment for chilling and freezing (mechanical & cryogenic), Effect on food during chilling and freezing.

History, scope, opportunities and constraints in the cultivation and utilization of medicinal And aromatic plants in India. Importance, origin, distribution, area, production, climatic and Soil requirements, Propagation and nursery techniques, planting and aftercare, training and pruning, nutritional and water requirements. Harvesting, processing and economics of under mentioned important medicinal and aromatic plants. Medicinal Plants: Pepper, Cardamom, Clove, Ginger, Turmeric, Betelvine, Periwinkle, Rauvolfia, Dioscorea, Isabgol, Ammimajus, belladonna, Cinchona, pyrethrum and other species relevant to local conditions. Study of chemical composition of a few important medicinal and aromatic plants, their extraction and use. Therapeutic and pharmaceutical uses of important species.