Banana is one of the largest produced fruit in the country and mainly consumed as fresh. It is a good source of carbohydrates, carotenoids, soluble and insoluble dietary fiber. Banana pulp extracted from mature ripe banana can be used for the manufacture of banana bar. The excess production of banana results in drop in prices and difficulty in marketing, hence there is a need for development of value added product from banana. Banana bar is highly acceptable with chewy texture, color and overall quality. The bar can be consumed as confectionary product and can be used as a concentrated source of energy in special rations designed for mid-day meal, expeditions and defense. It is suitable for consumption by children, adults, teenagers and aged people. Shelf life of the product is about 6 months. Banana bar is a good source of energy and micro nutrients.

CFTRI has commercialized Shelf stable muffins and bread technologies that have natural ingredients as preservatives which function as anti-microbial and antioxidants. These technologies have been transferred to 2 well known companies in the global market. Muffins otherwise called cupcakes have high water content and low shelf-life, the muffins can be kept for 8-10 days without any preservatives. Bread has a shelf life of 2-3 days. Preservatives such as antimicrobials, antioxidants, chelating agents, and calcium propionate / sorbic acid are used to last longer and keeping their colour, taste and nutrients intact. Because of its non-toxic nature and lack of adverse side effects, the use of natural preservatives is gaining importance in recent years. The shelf stable muffins and bread with natural ingredients as preservatives prevent the muffins from going bad and the bread has good volume, soft texture and free from moulds. Therefore, the use of natural ingredients as preservatives is microbiologically healthy for 3 weeks in muffins and mould-free bread shelf life of 5 days.

Gluten is a storage protein of wheat, it has visco-elasticity in nature and gives shape to the bakery, traditional and pasta products. Gluten causes various health problems in sufferers of gluten-related disorders such as celiac disease (CD), non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), gluten ataxia, dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) and wheat allergy. “Gluten-Free Diet” is a life-long treatment for gluten sensitive patients. In India, prevalence of rate of CD is around 1% which is more prevalent in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. CFTRI developed various Gluten Free Bakery Products such as Gluten Free Cookies, Bread, Muffins and Biscuits to cater the need of CD patients.

Carbonated beverage market is dominated by carbonated beverages with synthetic colors and flavors with no fruit juice. Preliminary investigations conducted at CSIR-CFTRI, Mysore indicated that the fruit juices of selected fruits can be carbonated to yield highly acceptable beverages. Since, the beverage market is growing every year by more than 30% it is necessary to develop technology for carbonation of fruit juice beverages with assured quality. Technology for carbonated fruit juice beverages from fruit juice of grape, mango, pomegranate, lime, orange, amla are being developed. The technology enables to manufacture carbonated fruit juice beverages with a fruit juice content required as per the FSSA regulations. These carbonated fruit juice beverages were highly acceptable and further studies on the shelf life and nutritional quality are in progress. These beverages can be bottled in 200 ml to 500 ml bottles and marketed.

Osmo-drying is a novel approach to get quality product with retention of good color and characteristics flavor. Due to osmosis process, there is a reduction in energy consumption in subsequent drying operations. Reduction in bulk density after osmo-drying and product will have firm texture. The osmo-dried fruit segments are ready to eat (RTE) kind of product with good chew ability. The product has less moisture content and water activity so they are microbiologically safe and stable product with longer shelf life in packed form. It provides high calorific value (Kcal energy) due to enhancement in solid density and good nutrition. The osmo-dried products are good source of minerals like potassium and calcium.

Banana pseudostem is the flower stalk is an agricultural waste after harvesting the fruit. The outer sheath of the stem has been used for fibre extraction. The inner central core packed with phenolics and minerals can be used for the development of different products. Juice from banana stem is a well-known remedy for urinary disorders. It has been found to be of great help in the treatment for the removal of stones in the kidney, gall bladder and prostate. Availability of the stem and extraction of juice are cumbersome and hence a technology has been developed for the preparation of a ready to serve beverage with a shelf life of 3 to 6 months depending on the packaging material. The product could be consumed for its medicinal value. Due to its high content of phenolics, tannins and minerals its consumption is limited. Its astringent taste has been masked by blending it with suitable fruit juices or spices to render the product more palatable.

The concept of eating grain based food more as a source of functional food ingredients is gaining importance. For example coarse cereals like sorghum, maize and bajra are rich in high content of insoluble fibre, non – starch polysaccharide, hydrophobic proteins which are most suitable for obese population. Millets like foxtail, proso and barnyard millets are potential sources of micronutrients like carotenoids, tocopherols, polyphenols and flavonoids. For example, barnyard millet contains serotonin derivative which is known to exhibit anti – inflammatory properties. More attention is given to cereals and millets whereas legumes are largely neglected. Horse gram, moth bean, kidney bean and rice bean are examples of a few lesser known pulses which are rich in bioactive components. Consumption of whole grains is more beneficial than processed grains. The institute is therefore working on development of a variety of grain based functional and nutritious foods, which is the need of the hour.

The naive and engineered bacterial systems such as Lactococcus, Kluveromyces, and E.coli for production of therapeutic and nutritionally important proteins are used. Also the indigenous protein rich plant fruits (papaya for papain), and seeds (ground nuts for butter, and for hydrolysates, concentrate, etc) for the production of certain food additives as well as rich nutrients are utilized.
The development pertaining to pleomorphism in bifidobacteria is likely revolutionize the bifidobacteria research in the country. Bifidobacteria specifically accepts probiotic microbes as a feed but not E. coli. Therefore, the preference goes for useful bacteria, but not for others. Few pictures have been enclosed for the viewers.

Green coffee extract rich in bioactive molecules are used for preparation of natural polyphenol rich carbonated and non carbonated beverages. The polyphenol enriched carbonated and non carbonated beverages with health benefits can be used as a refreshing drink with enhanced antioxidant properties.

Polyphenol enriched cold coffee containing viable count of >10⁷ CFU/gm of a Lactobacillus pure culture is formulated. The composition and nutritional benefit of green coffee will be good for consumers .

A new form of instant coffee with health benefits of dietary polyphenols from green coffee is prepared. The product is light weight, portable, low in calories pre-sweetened, without any artificial flavours, chemicals or additives. Drop a cube into boiled water, stir, and enjoy a smooth, bold coffee you can brew wherever you want.

Beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. When you think of good-for-you beverages, water immediately comes to mind, but there are others worth adding to your diet. Some drinks have tremendous health benefits, from relieving minor ailments like indigestion to protecting against diseases.  Such beverages like sugarcane, neera, ginger etc..have been developed by CFTRI and transferred to many industries. Fresh ginger has a juicy, refreshing and sweet pleasant ginger aroma. Fresh ginger is converted to candies by syruping in sugar syrup of incremental increase in degree brix. The ginger pieces (cubes/slices/titbits) are removed from syrup and rolled or coated in powdered sugar and air dried. The left over syrup after removing the ginger pieces diluted with water appropriately and carbonated to obtain ready to drink ginger beverage.
A 25 g of beverage concentrate dissolved in 75 ml of water/carbonated water gives to drink refreshing RTS ginger beverage. Ginger drinks have tremendous health benefits, from relieving minor ailments like indigestion to protecting against diseases. Several health components present in fresh ginger makes it a useful candidate for preparation of functional food products.

Zerumbone a nutraceutical and reported to possess physiological health benefits. Simple process for the preparation of pure Zerumbone crystals. Zerumbone crystals find application in Food & Pharma Industries. Zingiber Zerumbet Smith is a tall upright ginger growing up to 3m tall with long, narrow leaves grown in Southeast Asia, but has been widely cultivated in tropical and sub tropical area around the world. Zerumbone is a sesquiterpene phytochemical from Zingiber Zerumbet and has been subjected for biochemical studies because of its high medicinal values. Zerumbone is chemically known as a sesquiterpene had a characteristic of colorless, white crystals, typical aroma, with M.P. 62-65°C and its authenticity was established by structural elucidation with NMR spectra. Purity established by Gas Chromatography. CSIR-CFTRI developed a facile process for the preparation of pure Zerumbone crystals, which results in the pharmaceutical benefits such as antitumour, anti-inflammatory, anti-pyretic, analgesic etc.

Decalepis hamiltonii Wight & Arn, an aromatic root commonly known as swallow root finds potential application in food preparations and in traditional medicines. In particular, it is used for the preparation of pickles wherein, it provides the characteristic aroma and shelf life to the product. Traditionally it has been used for the treatment of various health disorders and it acts as a blood purifier. The root also contain other bioactive compounds such as α & β-amyrins , lupeol and their respective acetates along with some of the phyto sterols etc. The essential oil from these roots can be isolated by the steam-hydro distillation method which gave the maximum yield of volatile oil (0.68 %) and facilitates the separation of volatile white crystalline compound, 2-hydroxy, 4-methoxy benzaldehyde (HMB) which constitutes about 96% in its volatile oil. This is a unique feature observed in essential oils.
Also this component, being an isomer of vanillin has been explored as flavourant in various food products such as flavoured milk, flavoured ice cream and flavoured tea etc. The studies revealed that the flavoured compound at 10-40 ppm levels gave pleasant aroma to the products. Swallow roots are subjected to steam / hydro distillation. The organic fraction of the distillate contains HMB as the major volatile is extracted into a solvent employing the preferential solubility of the volatiles in a non-polar solvent followed by crystallization. The crystallized product can be used as a natural flavourant in foods.

Swallow root

HMB Crystals

Flavoured Milk

2-hydroxy,4-methoxy benzaldehyde