Sustainable Fruit &

Vegetable Processing in

IndiaProf. S. S. Lele

Registrar & Professor of Biochemical Engineering,

Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai

Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT)

NIRF Rank II• ICT (formerly UDCT), is a premier chemical

technology research institute located in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

• Focused on training and research in various branches of chemical engineering and chemical technology.

• A glorious history of 78 years,

• Produced many industrialists, academics, bureaucrats, Padma awardees, secretaries to government departments, directors of CSIR labs

• Over 500 first generation entrepreneurs.

• Dept. of Food Engineering & Technology dedicated to relevant research and offering courses – B.Tech, M.Tech and Ph.D

Food transition

Basic Necessity

Sense of security

Cultural identity

Fashion and Status Symbol

Health and well being

Food Processing in India

• India - one of the top three producers of fruits

and vegetables

Food Processing - we appear in the bottom three !

• Agriculture Based Economy.

• Small Land holdings

• Growing sector – Urbanization, rising demands,

consumer awareness

Source: MOFPI, India

Why processed vegetable are not popular in Indian

Market ?

• Viability of fresh fruits and vegetable

• Cheap domestic labor

• Psychological barriers against processed foods

• Diversity in cooking style and taste

• Cost consciousness rather than quality consciousness

• Limited purchasing capacity of masses

• Marked difference in taxation of unpacked Vs. packed vegetables by the governing bodies

• Ready to serve Vs. Ready to cook.

State wise F & V production

Source : Indian Horticulture Database, 2013

Major F & V grown in Maharashtra

• Leading state for production of grapes.

- 80% of the Grapes exports from India.

• Largest producer of Alphonso Mangoes.

Highlights the top fruits

and vegetable produced in the state.

(Onion, Tomato, Brinjal, Cauliflower, Bhindi)

Source: Ministry of Food Processing Industries

Challenges

Increasing population

Urbanization

Environmental pollution

Reduction in cultivable land

Reduction in water for irrigation

Post harvest losses

Use of conventional methods for cultivation

Lesser income to farmers

Need of the hour

• Simple processing technologies

• Multiple product range

• Multi-Processing Equipment (Tray Driers, Retorts )capable of handling different raw materials

• Small scale plants with capacities of a few tonne of products per month.

• One such plant may be supporting produce from few hundred acres farming for seasonal vegetables

Value added

products

from waste

RTE/RTC

products

Minimal

processed

vegetables

Farmer: Good

price for

producer

Local

Employment

Consumer:

Healthy and safe

food

Processors

Inclusive Growth

Farmers

Processor

Consumers

Society

Growth without exploiting other partner

SSL Group Philosophy

Affordable

Convenient

Tasty

Healthy

.

Sustainability challenges for small scale F& V

industries

• Raw material

o Intermittent and irregular supply throughout the year (high in season, otherwise none)

o Fluctuating market prices

o Effect of weather & climatic conditions on availability & supply

• Technologies suitable for low value low bulk and low scale commodities ???

• Taxation policies

. Sustainability ----

• Packaging

o One of the major costs in a food processing Industry

o Variety of choices in product range and pack size/product quantity with regulatory aspects- nutritional

facts/label (consumer demand)

o Different packaging material for different types of products. (Technological demand)

• Working Capital intensive

This makes fruit and vegetable processing industry‟s “working capital intensive”

compared to other FMCG manufacturers.

Price rather than Quality conscious

Consumer

Where do you put your food waste ?

The wealth can be generated from

the food waste , which contain

many useful bimolecule , which

can be used in pharmaceutical

and neutraceutical application

Wholistic approach for vegetable processing

Value Addition by Waste Utilisation

• Biomolecules can be extracted from medicinal plants and from

food source

• Neutraceuticals can be manufactured using food source

• Food source may be fruits or vegetable itself and/or waste i.e.,

skin, seeds, leaves, roots etc.

Case Study :

Complete

processing of ash

gourd (Kohala)

Gourds

• Belonging to family Cucurbitaceae.

• Family consists of about 700 species and 100 genera.

• Share 5 to 6 % of the total vegetable produce in India.

• Consumed in various forms

• Most are part of traditional Indian medicinal and food systems

• Rich in vitamins, minerals and are also very good source of soluble fibre

• This indicates the huge potential in nutraceutical and value added product

industries

Ash

go

urd

• Large climbing or trailing herb

• Cultivated throughout India and in other South East Asian countries

• Used in a variety of foods, the most common being petha

• Used in Ayurvedic medicines such as Kooshmanda Rasayanam

• The fruit has a tough, waxy skin hence the name wax gourd

• Has a shelf life of one year (if uncut) due to this waxy skin

Extension of shelf life

• Un cut ash gourd has a shelf life of one year

• If cut it deteriorates in two days due to various physiological or biochemical

activities

• Biochemical activities are due to the various indigenous enzymes present in

the fruit itself or those produced by the normal microbial flora.

3rd week test

3rd week control

Process Flow sheet for complete utilization of ash gourd

Fruit & Vegetable Processing

• Perishable items (Almost 40-50% post

harvest losses)

• Adopting various methods of

preservations.

• Many are underutilised in spite of

being Flavourful, Nutritious &

Therapeutic

• Limited availability of fresh produce

(Seasonal, Wild)

• Big industrialists do not venture

Drumstick

Colocasia

Jamun

Jackfruit

Kokum

Tropical Fruit wine tech transfer 2016 @

Sawarde Valley Food Foundation

• Worked for the past 2 decades in developing Holistic or „Wholistic‟ Technologies to process underutilised fruits & vegetables.

• wholistic: complete utilisation of the raw material - seeds, peels, every edible part

• Cauliflower leaves for calcium,

• White pumpkin (Kohala) peels - source of edible wax for fruit coating - increase shelf life of say strawberries

• Cookies from jackfruit seeds or mango kernel

• Makes small scale processing more cost effectiveFarmer-processor-Consumer---Win-Win-Win situation !!

Mango/ Jamun /kokum/ jackfruit

Tech transfer Justsip /Justeat

• With Support from –

• The Department of Science and Technology (DST) and

• Rajiv Gandhi Science & Technology Commission (RGSTC)

• The Technologies developed & transferred for following

• Dehydrated Vegetable Powder mixes (Just Sip™)

• Retorted Ready to Eat (RTE) curries (Just Eat™)

• Tropical Fruit wines (100L Demo plant, Hedgewar trust, Sawantwadi) now transferred to Sahydry Soc. Sawarde, Chiplun

100% Natural, No preservatives, Nutritious

5 --Just Sip : Nutritional Facts

Just Sip Palak

=+

Just Sip Tomato

50 gm fresh palak

+

20 gm carrot

+

20 gm dudhi

+

50 gm tomato

+

5 gm beet

+

5 gm seasonal vegetable

Total 150 gm fresh mixed vegetables

Green, Orange, Red – Natural antioxidants

ANTIAGING

FULL OF VIGOUR

Just sip, a comparison with available products in the market

Per 100gm

JUST SIP

PALAK

KNORR VEG

SOUP

MAGGI

MIX VEG

CHING"S

MIX VEG Comments

energy (Kcal) 319.62 360 318 14.4 High

protein (gm) 12.29 10 9 0.3 V.High

carbohydrate(gm) 64.57 61 56.3 3.3

fat (gm) 1.413 8.2 6.3 0

saturated fat (gm) 0.41 3.8 3.1 0

trans fat 0 0.8 0.1 0 NIL

cholesterol (mg) 0 0.001 6 0 NIL

vitamin A (IU) 2111.4 traces traces 63.6 V.V.High

vitamin C (mg) 12.71 traces traces 0.7 V.V.High

Calcium (mg) 54.51 - - 80.3

Iron (mg) 10.25 - - -

Sodium (mg) 4250 5370 - -

total dietary fibre 13.11 - - - V. high

Just sip, a comparison with available products in the market

100gm

JUST SIP

TOMATO

KNORR THICK

TOMATO SOUP

MAGGI

TOMATO

SOUP MIX

CHING"S

TOMATO

SOUP MIX Comments

energy(Kcal) 330.91 330 307 26 High

protein (gm) 8.78 8 9 0.3

carbo.(gm) 71.31 65 60.8 6.3

fat (gm) 1.16 4 3.2 4 Low

Sat. fat (gm) 0.23 1.3 1.4 0 V.Low

trans fat 0 1 0.1 0 Nil

Chole. (mg) 0 0.001 6 0 Nil

Vit.A (IU) 3116.2 1490.6 - 41.1µg V.V.High

Vit.C (mg) 15.47 29 - 0.8 Ok

Ca (mg) 32.66 - 12.9 12.9 High

Iron (mg) 5.68 - - -

Sodium (mg) 4460 4400 - -

dietary fibre 12.85 - - - High

Why Just sip and Just eat products are good ?

NO PRESERVATIVES, NO CHEMICALS, NO MSG

• Products having shelf life 12 to 18 months @ Rs. 90 - 120 for 300 g

• Processing vegetables from 200 acres of farmland

• 100% natural, nutritionally rich products with a homely appeal

• Products rich in protein, fiber, minerals & vitamins.

• GREEN Technology with zero waste and zero pollution.

Trilok Food India, Satara

• SSI- Partnership Firm with a Plant set up on half-an-acre of land with a built-up area of 5,000sq ft.

• Under PPP model with financial Assistance Received from Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India for the project submitted by Prof. Smita S. Lele, ICT, Mumbai.

• Products (Just Sip, Just Eat and Big Meal) are manufactured in state of art new Facility as per guidelines of Food Safety & standards Act of India ( FSSAI) under the technical guidance of Prof.Smita Lele.

• Sister concerns:

• Trilok Marketing (Marketing Food distribution/Retail network forBranded FMCG products)

• Trilok Foods (FMCG Food retail store in Satara)

Gaurang Kotnis ,

young food technologist,

budding entrepreneur

owner of TFI

Dr. Anil Kakodkar,

Prof S. S. Lele, and Prof G.D. Yadav, Vice

Chancellor, ICT at the Trilok Food India

inauguration event. (Nov-2014)

Major Equipment at TFI

• Two lines

• General purpose F & V processing -- Major

equip –Tray Dryer

• Retort processing line -160kg capacity Retort,

Lab scale Retort, Pressure sealing machine

To Sum up…

• Sub-contract system with 50 local farmers for supply of raw material sourced from 200 acres of farmland at Satara

• Expected to give benefits to over 200 farmers / tribal in Konkan

• Innovative, authentic food products developed with a traditional touch

• Multi purpose machinery and multi product plant to process few tons per day

• Sustainable Wholistic processing using unused fruits (eg juicy jackfruit) and waste (edible wax)

• Modular design to be repeated across state and nation leading to generation of wealth from waste to reduce post harvest losses