BITS Faculty Publications

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    Solar drying systems for domestic/industrial purposes: A state-of-the-art review on topical progress and feasibility assessments.
    (Elsevier, 2024-01) Bhattacharyya, Suvanjan
    In this era of commercialization, energy scarcity and food security are two of the major global challenges owing to the continuously growing population. The significant post-harvest food loss witnessing alarming hunger statistics have motivated the contributors and several decision-makers to put their serious efforts towards promoting food security globally. Solar drying is identified as a widely accepted, qualitative, and sustainable food preservation scheme. This article aims to review various strategic advancements of different solar energy-based drying systems comprehensively; those are being utilized globally for domestic and commercial purposes.The article explores various parameters affecting the solar dryer performance and details different methods used for performance improvement. In addition to the comprehensive discussions on the pre-eminent qualitative impacts of solar dryers, this article takes an opportunity to highlight their socio-economic and environmental aspects, provides comparative assessment through case studies and discusses the current challenges associated with solar dryer. The solar irradiation intensity, air-flow, dryer geometry, and mode of operations are recognized as crucial parameters affecting the performance of solar dryers.Amongst various categories of solar drying methods, the forced convection-assisted mixed-mode dryers are observed as most efficient ones.Application of latent heat energy storage materials is suggested as suitably efficient performance enhancement techniques for different solar drying systems, enabling their applications in remote areas with extended operational periods during nights or cloudy seasons also. The favourable qualitative, environmental, and social aspects of several solar drying strategies confirm their viability to different domestic as well as industrial applications. However, higher initial costs, and hence; extended payback periods may limit their adoptions by smallholder farmers. However, the multiple-season applications of these equipment may result in improved payback scenarios by more than 50%.
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    Adventitious root formation in crops—Potato as an example
    (Wiley, 2020-12) Joshi, Mukul
    The root system of potato is made up of adventitious roots (AR) that form at the base of a sprout once it emerges from the mother tuber. By definition, AR originate from dormant preformed meristems, or from cells neighboring vascular tissues in stems or leaves. This may occur as part of the developmental program of the plant (e.g., potato), or when replacing the embryonic primary roots in response to stress conditions, such as flooding, nutrient deprivation, or wounding. AR formation is studied mainly in cereals and model plants, and less is known about its developmental program in root and tuber crops. In this review, we summarize the recent data on AR development in potato and relate this knowledge to what is known from model plants. For example, AR formation following stem cutting in potato follows a pattern of initiation, expression, and emergence phases that are known for other plants and involves auxin, the master regulator of AR induction and development. Molecular regulation of AR formation and the effect of environmental stresses are discussed. Understanding the origin and nature of AR systems in important crops will contribute to increased production and improve global food security.
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    Matters of the desert: A perspective on achieving food and nutrition security through plants of the (semi) arid regions
    (Elsevier, 2023-12) Deepa, P.R.; Sharma, Pankaj Kumar; Joshi, Mukul
    The semi- and arid agro-climatic zones of India harbor numerous plants, many occurring as wild and neglected inhabitants of the desert landscape, that bear edible fruits. They are capable of growing in extreme temperatures, on marginal lands and water-scarce conditions. These also represent sustainable food sources for the future. The benefits that they confer to the ecosystems and communities can be manifold: (a) as influencers of agricultural productivity for other crops (like cereals) in agroforestry systems; (b) as balanced functional foods by way of providing high quality protein, macro- and micronutrients to target protein-calorie malnutrition; (c) as sources of antioxidants, nutraceuticals and bioactive leads to target the ever-increasing burden of non-communicable diseases like obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disorders. A few representative examples of the promising desert plants include: Prosopis cineraria, Acacia senegal, Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (cluster bean), Capparis decidua, Ziziphus mauritiana (Indian jujube), Cordia dichotoma, Leptadenia pyrotechnica, Calligonum polygonoides, and millets. Even though the potential of such plants has been recognized by food and agricultural scientists, research gaps like low yield, disease vulnerability, presence of anti-nutrients, unavailable genomic sequence information, exclusion from the formal food value chain, and poor marketing strategies, prevent the realization of their full potential. The current perspective looks at the promise afforded by underutilized plants of the Indian desert regions in ensuring food and nutrition security as well as the possibility of developing value-added agri-food products from them. The complementary role that food processing technologies can play in achieving the desired goals would also be highlighted so as to transform the desert plants from traditional to ‘climate-smart’ future foods.
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    ML-based technologies in sustainable agro-food production and beyond: Tapping the (semi) arid landscape for bioactives-based product development
    (Elsevier, 2024-08) Joshi, Mukul; Deepa, P.R.; Sharma, Pankaj Kumar; Mahapatra, Tanmaya
    The current era of rapid climate change necessitates greater emphasis on wild, often underutilized yet sturdy, edible plants that are capable of growing in harsh arid lands. When compared to more popular crops like rice, these are often of traditional significance and more region-specific; but needing less chemical fertilizers, pesticides and irrigation water, they can not only provide food and nutrition in a sustainable manner but also medicinally valuable compounds (nutraceuticals) to target various communicable and non-communicable diseases. These bioactive metabolites could also serve as markers for in-process quality control of herbal formulations and as metabolic biomarkers. Of late, a few of the common food crops across the world have benefited from the use of technological interventions, employing various Internet of Things (IoT) devices and sensors to collect data on the farm and conduct agro-food specific analytics. Machine Learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) have found application in numerous facets of agriculture, particularly in tasks such as yield prediction, disease detection, weed detection, crop recognition, and assessing crop quality at pre-harvest, harvest, and post-harvest stages. ML technology also has shown potential to be effectively employed at various stages of bioactives discovery, encompassing target identification, compound screening, lead discovery, as well as pre-clinical and clinical development phases. However, the usage of these modern technologies has been less explored in the desert plants of the world. The current article reviews a few available examples and highlights the potential of employing ML and DL technologies in edible plants of the world, with a focus on sustainable desert flora, for achievement of multidisciplinary objectives, that is, agro-food production, food safety and bioactives discovery.
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    Applications of Nano-Biotechnological Approaches in Diagnosis and Protection of Wheat Diseases
    (Springer, 2022-10) Rana, Anirudh
    Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is a major staple food crop, plays a crucial role in food security, and is grown on an area of 221.6 million hectares (Mha) in multi-environments throughout the globe. Annual wheat production was recorded at 778.6 million metric tons in the years 2020–2021. Regardless of the abundant growth of wheat, people are facing food crises in some parts of the world because of the unavailability of food grains. The ever-growing population of the world is creating a new challenge for farmers and researchers. By the year 2050, the global need for agricultural products will have risen by 50%. To make it more challenging, biotic and abiotic factors become constant reasons for wheat yield losses. Continuously, the wheat crop suffers from a plethora of diseases (pests, insects, fungi, and bacteria). To deal with the challenges given above and meet future food needs, there is a strong need for new and cutting-edge technologies that can keep wheat farming sustainable and boost wheat production from current cropping systems and changing climates.