Tamarind seed is an underutilized byproduct of the tamarind pulp industry. Only a small portion of the seed, in the form of tamarind kernel powder (TKP), is used as a sizing material in the textile, paper, and jute industries. Though many applications of this seed are possible, there have been hardly any other uses for it including using it as an additive in food formulations. The excellent gelling cum adhesive characteristics of the decorticated seed powder can lead to several applications in food and pharmaceutical industries which are evident by the number of research papers as well as patent applications. This article thus focuses on the possibilities of using the seed in several food and non-food industries with particular reference to physical and engineering properties, hydration behavior, rheological properties, functional and nutritional characteristics, and the processing of the tamarind seed for wider applications.

No abstract

No abstract

Testing of groundwater used for drinking for arsenic has been undertaken more widely by state governments in several states of India in recent years with the support of UNICEF. Available data for five states are collated in this paper and this provides the most up-to-date picture of areas known to be affected by arsenic in groundwater in the Indian portion of the Ganges-Brahmaputra river basin. In West Bengal, water from 132,262 government installed handpumps in 8 districts has been tested and overall 25.5% of samples were found to contain arsenic at concentrations greater than 50 microgL(-1) and 57.9% at concentrations greater than 10 microgL(-1). On the banks of the Brahmaputra in Assam, to date, samples from 5,729 government handpump sources in 22 districts have been tested for arsenic. Overall, samples from 6.3% of sources were found to contain arsenic at concentrations greater than 50 microgL(-1) and 26.1% at concentrations greater than 10 microgL(-1). In Bihar, on the River Ganges upstream of West Bengal, 66,623 sources from 11 districts have been tested and water samples from 10.8% of sources were found to contain arsenic at concentrations greater than 50 microgL(-1) and 28.9% at concentrations greater than 10 microgL(-1). Upstream of Bihar in Uttar Pradesh, home of the Taj Mahal, to date water samples from 20,126 government-installed handpump sources have been tested. As a result 2.4% of the samples tested were found to contain arsenic at concentrations greater than 50 microgL(-1) and 21.5% at concentrations greater than 10 microgL(-1). Finally in one district of Jharkhand, lying on the Ganges alluvial plain between Bihar and West Bengal, 9,007 sources have been tested and water samples from 3.7% of sources were found to contain arsenic at concentrations greater than 50 microgL(-1) and 7.5% at concentrations greater than 10 microgL(-1). State governments have adopted different sampling strategies and these are described in this paper. Testing is ongoing in several states and the complete picture is yet to emerge in some areas.

No abstract

Agglomeration has many applications in food processing and major applications include easy flow table salt, dispersible milk powder and soup mix, instant chocolate mix, beverage powder, compacted cubes for nutritional-intervention program, health bars using expanded/puffed cereals, etc. The main purpose of agglomeration is to improve certain physical properties of food powders such as bulk density, flowability, dispersability, and stability. Agglomerated products are easy to use by the consumers and hence are preferred over the traditional non-agglomerated products that are usually non-flowable in nature. The properties of food agglomerates and the process of agglomeration like employing pressure, extrusion, rewetting, spray-bed drying, steam jet, heat/sintering, and binders have been reviewed. The physical and instant properties of agglomerated food products have also been discussed.

Porphyridium spp. is a red micro alga and is gaining importance as a source of valuable products viz., phycobiliproteins (PB), sulfated exopolysaccharides, and polyunsaturated fatty acids with potential applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries. In the present study, the effects of the major media constituents of Porphyridium species were studied using response surface methodology (RSM) on biomass yield, total PB and the production of phycoerythrin (PE). A second order polynomial can be used to predict the PB and PE production in terms of the independent variables. The independent variables such as the concentrations of sodium chloride, magnesium sulfate, sodium nitrate, and dipotassium hydrogen phosphate influenced the total PB and PE production. The optimum conditions showed that total PB was 4.8% at the concentration of sodium chloride 26.1 g/L, magnesium sulfate 5.23 g/L, sodium nitrate 1.56 g/L, and dipotassium hydrogen phosphate 0.034 g/L. In case of optimum PE production (3.3%), the corresponding values are 29.62, 6.11, 1.59, and 0.076 g/L, respectively. PE production depends greatly on the concentrations of chloride, nitrate, and sulfate as well as phosphate of which the former possess the maximum effect.

Papad is a popular traditional food adjunct in South East Asian countries. The rheology of papad dough is important for the purpose of sheeting and/or rolling. In the present study, two methods for testing the behavior of papad dough (prepared from blackgram flour) have been presented and correlated with the instrumental stickiness values. These consist of an empirical method (puncture testing) and a fundamental procedure (stress relaxation characteristics). In the former method maximum stress during compression was used as an index. In the later method, the parameters determined included the stress decaying constants k1 and k2, the percent relaxation and the initial compressive stress. These tests were conducted on the papad dough with varying moisture content (32–40%) and at different dough holding (resting) times (0–120 min). Stickiness values in the range of 141 and 148° were suitable for machining of the dough to make flat circular papad sheets. The corresponding moisture content was between 35 and 36% when the holding time was in the range of 0‐30 min.