This document discusses various aspects of post-harvest technology and food processing in India. It notes that agriculture contributes 14.5% of India's GDP but post-harvest losses are estimated at Rs. 45,000 crores annually. It highlights opportunities for value addition through food processing and minimizing post-harvest losses using appropriate harvesting, handling, storage and processing techniques. Various technologies developed by CIPHET for grading, drying, packaging and value-added product development from fruits, vegetables and grains are also summarized.

1. POST HARVEST TECHNOLOGY-HERBINGER
OF NATIONS PROSPERITY
Dr. R. T. Patil,
Ex Director CIPHET, Ludhiana; Group Director, TIT-MBA,
and Director, Technocrats Institute of
Technology, Chairman Benevole for PHT
Bhopal (MP), India

2. Production & Post Harvest Scenario
•Agriculture contributes about 14.5% of GDP,
employees 57% workforce and sustains approx
over 75% of the population
•India produces about 257.44 million tons of food
grains and 267 million tons of fruits and
vegetables and ranks second in the world
•Post harvest losses are 3-18% amounting to Rs.
45000 crores
•Low level of processing of fruits and vegetables
at only 2% .
•Food processing is employment intensive,
creates 1.8 jobs directly and 6.4 indirectly for
every Rs. 10 lakh investment

3. Price Difference
Wheat - Rs 12/kg Wheat Flour Rs. 16-18/kg
Fortified Flour Rs. 20-25/kg
Oil seed – Rs 35/kg Oil Rs. 70/kg
Paddy – Rs 12/kg Rice – Rs. 25/kg
Mung- Rs. 20/kg Mung dal – Rs. 60/kg
Maize-Rs.13/kg Maize flour-Rs. 16/kg
Tomato-Rs. 5/kg Tomato ketchup-Rs 50-80/kg
Fruit- Rs. 15-20/kg Fruits Bar-Rs. 200/kg
Fruit Juice- Rs. 35/litre
Coriander -Rs. 80/kg Coriander Powder-Rs. 200/kg
Turmeric-Rs.65/kg Turmeric Powder –Rs. 200/kg
Chili- Rs. 200/kg Chili Powder-Rs. 300/kg
Black pepper-Rs. 100/kg B Pepper Powder- Rs.300/kg
Chana - Rs. 28/kg Chana Dal-Rs. 35/kg
Besan- Rs. 40/kg
Vegetables-Rs.3-5/kg Minimal Processed/Ready to Cook
Rs. 25-30/kg

4. High Value Products from Wastes
• Pectin from fruit and vegetable peels
• Lycopene from tomato peel and oil from seeds
• Bio-colour from arhar husk and used flowers
• A low calorie sweetner (xyletol) from corn cob and
bagasse
• Beta amylase and Xylanase from cereal bran and husk
• Enzymes (protease, laccase, peroxidase and polyphenol
oxidase) from green gram husk and wheat germ
• Gelatin / Peptides from slaughter house waste
• Dietary fibres from fruit pomace
• Bio-plastics from tapioca
• Aniti oxidents and phenolic compounds from cereal
brans and pulse husks

5. Reasons for Losses
1. Handling of raw produce through many stages of
middlemen.
2. Processing is mostly controlled by urban rather than rural
entrepreneurs which leads to losses in valuable by
products.
3. Non availability of adequate and efficient equipment and
machinery to be used in catchment areas.
4. Low level of entrepreneurial urge in rural areas due to
constraints of finance, assured market and proper training
on technology
5. On the whole, there exists a fragmented and inefficient
value chain
Higher the processing- - Better the Post Harvest
Management - - Lower Will Be Losses

6. Post Harvest Activities in SITU
1. Can provide processed food of highest quality at
affordable cost to consumers
2. Help environment by processing food in production
catchment with least food miles
3. Ensure traceability of raw materials used for
processed product hence great for export and elite
urban market.
4. Help effective backward linkage with farmers for
processing their raw produce
5. Shorten the supply chain, increase the profitability of
farmers and ultimately increase in GDP from
agriculture and reduce poverty
6. Reduce post harvest losses and increased
availability of by products for further processing.

7. Unit Operations in Post Harvest
Management
Food Grains
•Harvesting at Maturity
•Proper threshing
•Post thresh cleaning
•Proper drying
•Safe storage
Fruits and Vegetables
•Preharvest treatment
•Harvesting at Maturity
•Safe harvesting
•Pre cooling & washing
•Surface drying
•Cool/cold storage
•Safe transport
•Safe handling
•Value Addition to Main
& Byproducts

8. Agro Entrepreneurship

9. Agro Entrepreneurship

10. Agro Entrepreneurship

11. Equipment and
Gadgets

12. Method of Determining Maturity of
Mango in Tree
• Eating quality and postharvest shelf life
of ripe mango depends on its maturity
at harvest
• Change of peel color and total soluble
solids (TSS) are indicative parameters
to measure maturity of mango.
• A maturity index was defined based on
TSS and colour values.
• The model was developed to predict
maturity using colourimeter
• Colour and maturity index chart were
also developed to determine maturity
• This technique can be employed to
sort the mangoes at export port, big
mandies and in processing plant.
Capacity
About 100 mangoes per hour

13. Fruit Saving Gadgets
After plucking
from tree, fruit is
thrown in the
trough of fruit
saver and
collected in a
box/container.
The fruits are graded on size basis at
appropriate places. Smallest grade fruit is
collected first and largest grade is collected in
last

14. Banana-Comb (Hand) Cutter
It is an useful to de-stem the comb from the banana bunch. It
replaces the use of sickle, which was much labor and time
consuming.
It is safe for human and banana hands and can be used for faster
work. 100 to 120 banana bunches can be de-handed per hour.
Saves 10 to 15 banana-fingers per bunch (i. e. 2 to 8 % reduction
in cutting losses of banana fruits)

15. CIPHET Tomato Grader
• The tomatoes roll down the pipes
due to gravity and fall immediately
wherever they find the space of their
diameter.
• Grades 3: 25-40 mm, 40-55 mm, 55-
70 mm and > 70 mm
• The collector is inclined at 10° so
that the tomatoes slide directly in
crates.
• The important feature of grader is its
ability to adjust the gap between the
pipes and inclination of grading table
and hopper.
• It can also be used for other round
fruits and vegetables.
Capacity: of 325 kg/hr
Overall grading efficiency: 66%.
Cost: Rs.25000.00

16. Mechanical Pomegranate Aril Extractor
including Hand Tool
Capacity 10 kg/h
•Higher aril extraction capacity; around 5.0 quintal per hour
•Aril extraction/separation efficiency is in the range of 90-94%
•Mechanical damage received by arils is only 1-2%

17. Heat Pump Dryer for High Value
Products
•Micro-processor based temperature
controller to regulates the drying
temperature.
•Minimises the loss of vitamins and
essential oil of the products and save
energy in drying.
•For blanched Amla drying, the dryer
reduced vitamin-C loss up to 87% as
compared to the open sun drying.
•The products such as sliced fruits and
vegetables is dried in 20-25 h and
medicinal herbs and leaf crops are 12-
20 h.
•The cost of the prototype is Rs.
1,50,000 and capacity is 30 kg/batch.

18. Sitaphal Peeling Machine
Removing the sitaphal seeds and pulp automatically without
disturbing the pulp texture. Capacity: 120Kg/hr, Efficiency: 94%
pulp recovery, Coarse / Intact Pulp recovery: 70-72%; Fine Pulp
recovery: 28-30%. The machine is licensed to NEXTGEN Drying
System, Pune

19. Emerging
Technologies

20. Emerging Technologies in Food
Processing
•High Pressure Processing
•Microwave heat processing
•Ohmic heat processing
•Micronisation
•Irradiation
•Extrusion Processing
•Biotechnology

21. High Pressure Processing
•HPP can replace conventional
processes, while maintaining
safety and quality.
•Effects of HPP are generally
marked as retention of color,
flavor and fresh appearance

22. Microwave heat processing
•Effective for inactivating enzymes, reduced indirect heating
requirement and water use
•Result in improved product flavour, colour, texture and nutritive
value.

23. Ohmic heat processing
•Alternating electrical current is passed through a food sample.
•Internal energy generation in foods.
•Produces an inside-out heating pattern at different
frequencies than MW.
•Uniformly heats foods with different densities.

24. Micronisation
•Short time exposure of electromagnetic radiation at a wavelength
of 1.8-3.4 mm,
•Promotes internal heating and increased digestibility
•Instantized product due to increased ability to uptake of water.
•Starch is gelatinized, seed microstructure becomes more
penetrable and thus short cooking times.

25. Irradiation
•Gamma - irradiation reduces antinutritional factors
•Reduces the phytic acid content and flatulence causing
oligosaccharides in leguminous crops
•Helps improved keeping quality of food grains and flours

26. Extrusion Processing

27. Extruded Products from Coarse Cereals
• Extrusion is a high
temperature short time
processed to produce
expanded & textured
products
• CIPHET has modified the low
cost collet extruder to
produce expanded ready to
eat snacks using rice and
pulse brokens.
• The cost of the unit is Rs 2
Lakh, capacity 25 kg/h, cost
of accessories Rs. 2 lakh and
thus earn about minimum of
Rs. 50,000 per month

28. Biotechnology
Fermenter of 30 litre capacity with
controls for temperature, pH, DO and
CO2 monitoring installed at CIPHET,
Ludhiana

29. Bioprocessing Technologies
for Crop Residues
• Efficient process for production of
ethanol
• Production of enzymes such as
cellulase, xylanase, pectinase and
protease
• Production of industrially important
products such as citric acid
• Single Cell Protein (SCP) production

30. Safe Transport
and Storage

31. Mobile Cool Chamber
• The insulated box was
designed such that it could
hold 8 plastic crates of size
540x360x295 mm in two
layer of four each
• Capacity of storage was
100 kg of fruits with 80%
filling of each plastic crates
• Costs around Rs. 18,000-
20,000/-
Low cost unit saves the fruits from exposure to
sunlight and preserves the quality.

32. Ventilated Rail Transport
• Ventilated rail cars have been
developed by NHB where the
slotted holes were provided on
front bottom, front and rear ends
to accommodate vertical forced
air and natural convection due to
holes at the bottom.
• At least 15% of total floor area
was perforated and labyrinths
provided for the protection from
rain where ever essential.
• The design provides 5% area at
the bottom and 10% area on the
top at both from and rear ends.
• The rail trasnports the material as
fresh over very long distances

33. Evaporatively Cooled Room for Storage of
Fruits and Vegetables
•An evaporatively cooled (EC) room (3x3x3m. size) was developed
for on-farm storage of fruits and vegetables.
•The summer temperature inside the EC room was 5-8C lower than
that inside the ordinary room and winter temperature was 5-8 C
higher than that inside the ordinary room.
Compared on the basis of 10%
physiological loss in weight (PLW) the
shelf life inside the room was 34 days
for early kinnow, 23 days for late
kinnow, 11 days for cauliflower and 4
days for spinach as compared to 21,
11, 5 and 2 days respectively in an
ordinary room at the same time.
The cost of the chamber is Rs. 75000 and capacity is 2 tonnes.

34. CIPHET Evaporative Cooled Storage Structure
• Storage of fruits and vegetables
• Evaporatively Cooled Structure (ECS)
maintains a moderate low temperature
and sufficiently high relative humidity for
short term storage of fresh fruits and
vegetables.
• Advantages
 Low level consumption of
electricity
 Less initial investment
 Negligible maintenance cost
• Features
– Special design of roof, orientation
– Uses wetted pad as cooling medium
– 20oC below the outside temperature
– An ECS of about 5 -7 tonne storage
capacity may cost about Rs. 1.5 –
1.8 lakh.

35. Technology
Packages

36. Minimal Processing of Vegetables

37. Shrink Packaging of Fruits and Vegetables
Storage life
Ambient Cold store
Commodity
Shrink wrapped Unwrapped Shrink wrapped Unwrapped
Kinnow 27 13 70 41
Tomato 19 10 39 23
Capsicum 25 4 46 21

38. Process Technology for Guava Bar
• Guava is perishable in nature
and cannot be stored for
more than two days during
peak season.
• Guava can be processed into
a number of products like
fruits bar and beverage
• Fruits, which are rich in
nutrients can be blended to
improve its acceptability and
flavor
• Guava bar acceptable even
after 6 month of storage
Composition: Moisture: 15%, Vitamin C: 120 mg/100g, Acidity:
1.08%, Reducing sugar: 14%, Non-reducing sugar: 46%, Weight
of each bar: 5-10 g, KSM: 0.2%

39. OSMO-CONVECTIVE DEHYDRATION OF KINNOW
SEGMENTS
PROCESS
KINNOW
PEELING
SEPARATING OF SEGMENTS
REMOVAL OF SEEDS
DIPPING IN 60 % SUGAR
SYRUP FOR 6 h
DRAINING OF SYRUP
DRIED SEGMENTS
(60 OC FOR 10-12 h)

40. Ready to Constitute Mustard Saag
•The green leaves are washed, drained
and cut. The cut leaves are taken in the
known proportion.
•The mixture of cut leaves and spices is
cooked and then mashed to get smooth
curry. The curry is then processed
through various steps involving
crushing, cooking, pulping, addition of
edible flour, cold extrusion, drying, size
reduction and packaging to attain
mustard saag powder.
•The dried powder on mixing with
lukewarm / hot water yield the inherent
taste and odor of staple ingredients.

41. Green chili processing into powder and
puree
•Chilies powder has higher nutrition and
controlled pungency. The green chilies
have more Vitamin C & A and antioxidant
properties.
•About 130 g of green Chilies powder and
300 ml puree could be prepared from one
kilogram of fresh green Chilies.
•The cost of the plant for the processing
200kg of green chilies per day is
estimated at 713000/-.
•The break even point comes be 49.15%
and pay back period 1.91 years
•1kg of green chilies costing Rs. 15/-, the
value added product of Rs. 70/- could be
marketed.
Chili Puree
Green Chili Powder

42. Ready to Eat Vegetable Blended Meat
Products
Ready to Eat Chicken-Vegetables Sandwich
Ready to Eat Chicken-Vegetables Nuggets
The major cost factors in the chicken meat
based value added products like fried-chicken,
chicken nuggets are the price of raw
meat, ingredients and imported equipment.
The reduction in cost of production to more
affordable level can be achieved by careful
selection of ingredients, reformulation with
unconventional food ingredients and using
indigenously available equipment.
Salient features of this technology are; 1) Utilization
of indigenous equipment, 2) Efficient and economic
use of vegetable by-products, 3) Substantive cost
reduction of chicken products, 4) Improved products
quality, sensory attributes and stability, 5) Low-cost
and low fat chicken products could be prepared and
6) Increase in dietary fiber and natural antioxidants
in the meat products

43. Use of Kinnow Peels for Face
Care Products
Kinnow Peel Face Toner
Kinnow Peel Face Pack
Kinnow peel is a major (30- 34 %)
processing waste generated during
Kinnow processing into juices.
Rich source of Vitamin C, Carotenoids,
limonene, antioxidants, micronutrients
and antibacterial limonoids.
The face mask/pack and face toner are a
rich blend of major concentration of
Kinnow peel extracts and other minor
components as preservatives and
sticking agents.
The products possess very effective
deep cleansing properties along with
stringent, disinfectant and antiseptic
action to protect facial skin from
unwanted blemishes

44. Examples

45. Chowdhary Made Agriculture Profitable
with Value Addition in Rajasthan
Kailash Chaudhary, Age 60 years
Products: Aamla juice, amla
powder, aloe vera juice, candies,
squashes, pickles, sweets
Exports to many countries
Employment: Direct 30;Indirect 40
Established: 2004
Training and Technologies by
CIPHET
Turnover: > 1 crore
Web: www.ksbiofoods.com

46. Evaporative Cooled Room
Surinder Singh
Vill Jalalabad, Moga Punjab
Profession: Vegetable Farmer
Cold Room used for on-farm
short term storage of fruits
and vegetables
Cost of structure: Rs 75,000

47. Recommendations
• Formulate National Post Harvest Management
Policy with incentives for small scale units in rural
areas.
• Unleash the vast entrepreneurial talent of our rural
population by providing training and credit.
• Forge Public Private partnerships in this sector to
develop infrastructure including food parks, cold
storage, rural godowns, warehouses etc.
• Facilitate direct marketing by rural entrepreneurs &
processors to consumers though modern Haats
• Reach international standards of food packaging,
safety and quality and by compulsory appointment
of food engg/tech in each food business.

48. The Post Harvest Industries in Production
Catchment has potential to Provide Urban-amenities
in Rural Areas (PURA) through
employment and income generation for the
youth.