Home Science: Class 12 (Book 1) — Chapter 4: Food Processing and Technology

Since times immemorial, agricultural produce has been processed to extend shelf life, improve digestibility, and ensure continuous supply. Traditional Indian preserved foods include pickles, murabbas, and papads. Modern consumer demands have shifted towards diverse, fresh, organic, safe, and shelf-stable foods with high nutrient retention.

• Economic Impact: India has transitioned from an agro-deficit to an agro-surplus nation. The Indian food industry ranks fifth in size globally, contributing nearly 6% of the national GDP.
• Food Fortification: Process of adding deficient nutrients to staple foods to prevent deficiency disorders. FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) regulates standards for fortifying staples like salt (iodised), wheat flour (folic acid), milk, and oils/fats (vitamins A and D).
• Nutritional Alteration: Modifying food composition for health and wellness, such as reducing calorie content using artificial sweeteners or replacing fat in ice creams with specially treated proteins.

• Food Science: A distinct field involving the application of basic sciences (chemistry, physics, culinary arts, agronomics, and microbiology) to study the physical, chemical, and biochemical nature of food across all stages from harvest to consumption.
• Food Processing: The set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into finished or semi-finished marketable products with extended shelf life.
• Food Technology: The science and application of scientific, socio-economic knowledge, and legal rules for food production, preservation, processing, packaging, and distribution.
• Food Manufacturing: The mass production of food products using principles of food technology to meet the diverse needs of growing populations.

• Nicolas Appert (1810): Developed the canning process, a decisive event in food preservation history.
• Louis Pasteur (1864): Researched wine spoilage and developed pasteurisation (treating milk with heat to destroy disease-producing pathogens), establishing food technology on a scientific basis.
• 20th Century Drivers: Military requirements, space exploration, and the rise of working women catalyzed the development of instant soup mixes, ready-to-cook meals, and automated processing.
• 21st Century Challenges: Focus on health, wellness, functional foods, and sustainable processing practices to minimize waste.

Foods undergo physical, chemical, and biological deterioration. Key factors causing spoilage include:

• Infestation by pests and insects.
• Inappropriate processing and storage temperatures.
• Excessive exposure to light, oxygen, and moisture.
• Contamination by microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, yeasts, moulds).
• Degradation by naturally present enzymes acting as biological catalysts.

1. Application of heat
2. Removal of water moisture
3. Lowering of temperature during storage
4. Reduction of pH
5. Controlling the availability of oxygen

• High Risk Foods: Protein-rich foods preferred by bacteria (e.g., meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy).
• Danger Zone: The temperature range between $5^\text{o}\text{C}$ and $60^\text{o}\text{C}$ where bacteria grow rapidly.

Professionals require expertise in food science, food chemistry, microbiology, safety/quality assurance, sensory evaluation, packaging, and IT-supported product design.

• Short-term certificate, craft, and diploma courses after 10+2.
• Courses at the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore.
• Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees in Food Technology.
• Specialized postgraduate institutes like the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) at Sonepat.

• Production Managers
• Project Implementation & Appraisal
• Marketing and Sales Personnel
• Sensory Evaluation & Quality Assurance
• Research and Development (R&D)
• Project Financing
• Teaching and Research
• Entrepreneurship Development
• Consultancy
• Technical Marketing of products

• Self-Employment Avenues: Household or cottage-scale activities (sweets, papads, pickles, salted peanuts, drinking water pouches). Supported by government incentives, bank finances, and training.
• Indian Food Industry Stats: Valued at 61 billion USD; ranks 5th in size globally; contributes 6% of GDP, 13% of exports, and 6% of total industrial investment; growing at 20% annually.

1. Identify and prepare a product that can be preserved (e.g., pickles, jams, squash, murabba, papad).
2. Incorporate innovative ingredients (e.g., watermelon rind, orange/lemon/sweet lime rind, pumpkin/melon seeds, dudhi peel) or artificial sweeteners.
3. Evaluate the product for acceptability (texture, taste, colour, quality).
4. Prepare a comprehensive product label.

• Name of the product and visual representation.
• Name and address of the manufacturer.
• List of ingredients in descending order of proportion, and net weight/volume.
• Instructions for use and storage.
• 'Use By' or 'Best Before' date.