Making a difference
Purabi
Naha speaks to Dr V Prakash, Director, CFTRI, about his organisation’s
diverse roles and its incredible contribution to the food-processing
industry
Central
Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore, is planning to
focus on primary processing and utilisation of by-products. Please elaborate
on the same.
Primary processing,
in isolation, may not become a total business proposition. It can lead
to business when combined with value addition. Extending the shelf life
of an agriproduct can be the first step of primary processing. The other
steps such as drying, trimming and grading are among others. Preservation
of produce for a longer time (cold room is one of them) also falls in
the ambit of primary processing. Utilisation of available by-products
and biomass is yet another face of primary processing to complete the
whole cycle. Please throw some light on the present scenario of the
research going on in India for utilisation of by-products formed during
food processing? The by-product is again a very generic subject. Let
me explain by citing two examples. Let us say that one just wants to
have mango pulp. But in the mango-processing industry, when you extract
the pulp you are left with seed, which contains a valuable fat fraction
that can act as cocoa butter substitute in chocolate industry. Another
example is that of tamarind. The tamarind seed is a valuable by-product
of.tamarind
fruit industry. In fact, today, the seed is more valuable because of
its pharmaceutical value. Therefore, the by-product that was considered
low in terms of value has attained a higher value due to the intervention
of high science and high technology.
What
role does CFTRI play in protecting the interests of small and marginal
farmers through its Horticulture mission?
When we talk about small and marginal farmers, obviously, we talk
about one or two acres. In horticulture, obviously they can't have sufficient
raw material to open a processing plant. The mandate for horticulture
is very similar to that of cooperative industry (just like dairy industry).
The small and marginal farmers in dairy industry may produce anywhere
from 5-20 litres of milk. First they take to co-operatives and then
it gets into the chain. Similarly, I think in horticulture one has to
look at from this angle. It is only then that we will be value-adding
science and CFTRI can play a major role in that direction in the horticultural
chain.
Looking
at the 'technology transfer' aspects, how many processes have been released
for commercial exploitation in 2005-06? Please mention some of the breakthrough
processes.
I think technology transfer is an important activity of science.
Lot of effort is made to standardise a technology by a scientist or
group of scientists and engineers to see to it that the same is effectively
transferred to industry where large-scale manufacturing activity takes
place. CFTRI plays a major role in terms of these technology transfers
at appropriate level, depending on small, medium, large or global industries.
More than 400 processes have been successfully transferred to the industry
and examples of small processes of 'know how', 'show how' and 'do how'
percolates down the line to many entrepreneurs. We also do consultancy
projects that involve technology transfer ultimately, especially for
the small-scale industries.
Please
mention some of the breakthrough
processes. Oleoresins from spices is a very important technology
transferred from CFTRI and is very unique to this country. Today, we
use the by-product of oleoresin industry to make natural colours. Hence,
a large amount of value addition takes place. So each area can be a
dynamic technology-transfer area when we include by-products and modify
our approach to value addition. Second thing is grains. If we look at
certain grains like maize, today we can take out the maize germ and
process it for oil, bran and use it also as source of protein and fibre.
The maize is also used for semolina making. So you can see several products
coming out from one raw material and that's high technology with high
engineering component.These
two examples are just to show how value addition can take place in the
system.
Please
explain the role of CFTRI in the fields of 'energy food' and shelf-stable
readyto- eat foods.
The energy food is a
nutritious food, which specially formulated for school-feeding programmes.
The improved amylase-rich energy food is very popular, highly nutritious,
easily digestible and uses local raw materials such as Bengal gram,
groundnut, soya and jaggery. School children like the taste of this
product and enjoy consuming it everyday. In terms of ready-to-eat convenience
foods, I think a lot of these are already in market. In fact, the original
concept of convenience foods started from CFTRI as instant foods'. Therefore,
whatever products you see in the market are essentially the basic components
that have evolved out of these original thinking processes' of CFTRI.
But, course, it takes different shapes through different industries.
The process
developed by CFTRI for developing food for diabetics and the process
developed for quick-cooking, germinated and dehydrated pulse.
It is important to emphasise that there is nothing like a speciality
food that can cure diabetes. Perhaps, one should look at lowcalorie
foods, slow-digesting foods and also foods that have a supplementary
and complimentary effect on the nutrition
