Notes

Jun 28

Climacteric fruits and Ethylene

Climacteric fruit normally ripe after harvest, have higher ethylene production rate response with applied ethylene and result faster and more uniform ripening. Example; mango, apricot, banana, kiwi fruit, avocado, tomato etc. Therefore, climacteric fruits are commercially harvested at their maturity stage before onset of ripening to prevent damage and injury during handling and storage. In other hand, non-climacteric fruits do not ripe if they are harvested before they are ripen. Read more

Jun 27

Fruits and Vegetables : Introduction

A fruit is a seed bearing part of plant and is edible when ripen and fleshy. Many vegetables may be considered fruit in the true botanical sense. Botanically, fruits are those portion of plant which house seeds. Therefore, items such as tomatoes, cucumber, peppers etc. would be classified as fruit on this basis. However, important distinction between fruit and vegetable lies on usage basis. Those items that are generally eaten with main course of meal are considered vegetables. Those that are commonly eaten as deserts are considered fruits. Vegetables are derived from different parts of the plants. Read more

Jun 27

Minimum Reflux (infinite no. of plates)

At any reflux less than total, the number of plates needed for given separation is larger than total reflux. The number of plate increases continuously as reflux ratio is decreased. As the ratio becomes smaller, no. of plates required becomes very large and at definite minimum reflux ratio, number of plate become infinite.

This minimum reflux ratio can be defined as the reflux ratio (Rm) that will require infinite no. of trays for given desired separation of XD and XB. This corresponds to minimum vapor flow in tower and hence minimum reboiler and condenser sizes. Read more

Jun 26

Total Reflux (minimum no. of plates)

The total reflux condition represents operation with no product removal. All the overhead product is condensed and returned as reflux. Consequently D = 0 and reflux ratio becomes infinite. (RD = L/D = ∞). This in turn, makes the operating line, 45° line where V = L and slope = 1. The operating line then coincides with diagonal. This condition is called total reflux. Read more

Jun 25

Why minerals are so important?

Mineral is naturally occurring chemical compound which is not produced by life process. Food contains varying amount of minerals. The mineral may be present as organic or inorganic salt or may be present with the combination with organic materials such as phospho-protein, hemoglobin, vitamin B2, chlorophyll etc. Minerals like calcium and phosphorous are required in large amount in our diet as they constitute major part of bone. Other minerals like zinc, Cobalt, copper, iodine etc. are required in very small amount ranging from few mg to microgram. However, these minerals should not be neglected in our diet as even they are required in very small amount, their inadequate intake leads to several deficiency diseases. Read more

Jun 23

Water Balance and its Importance for Good Health

Water and its importance to health:

Water is the most abundant compound present in most food. Cellular material, whether plant or animal contains a significant amount of water. Green leafy vegetables contains ≥ 90% water. Water content in relation to food material is normally termed as “moisture content”. Meat, Milk and cereals contains 50 -60%, 87- 88% and 11-13% moisture respectively.

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