Academic institutions have been working on developing healthier and sustainable
alternatives in terms of developing healthier foods, packaging, labelling, waste reduction and increasing the shelf life of foods. Some of the technologies have been transferred to the industry that has been implanted and some of the technologies are in the early or late stages of development. Let’s examine the impact of Academia-Industry collaboration on the food industry.
Food is very crucial to our existence and people, today, are becoming more mindful of what they consume. Consumer awareness is on the rise and demands for healthy foods are surging. The food industry has risen to the occasion, innovating in terms of technology, packaging and processing. With newer technologies, there is further scope for sustainable foods, improved quality, waste reduction and increased accessibility of foods.
For the industry to reach its potential and meet the rising demand, the industry is considering viable options, one of which is a collaborative approach between industry and academia. Academic institutions have been working independently as well as in collaboration with the industry to help improve the technologies and initiate the development of newer sustainable products.
Academic institutions have been working on developing healthier and sustainable alternatives in terms of developing healthier foods, packaging, labelling, waste reduction and increasing the shelf life of foods. Some of the technologies have been transferred to the industry that has been implanted and some of the technologies are in the early or late stages of development.
Great leaps in food tech
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)−Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysuru is one such institute that is actively working on alternative packaging materials for food, food fortification, increasing the shelf life of millets, and retaining the nutritional value of cut fruits and vegetables which is marketed by Big Basket.
Sharing her views on the developments, Dr Sridevi Annapurna Singh, Director − Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysuru commented, “With millets, CFTRI has developed many technologies be it puffing, flaking, or ready to eat foods. One of the important factors that need to be considered is the high amounts of polyphenols as well, as the very active life base will reduce the shelf life.”
She further added, “We have developed fortification of atta (flour), for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) who are using chakkis or the roller flour mills. Just a small machine has been added for fortification and this can be used by self-help groups also. This atta can also go into the government intervention programmes where these nutrients are going to make a huge impact for children, teenage girls and pregnant women. This technology has already been transferred to 60 entrepreneurs, and in Himachal Pradesh, the government is also doing it in a big way.”
The CFTRI is working with the governments of Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh in the collection of Mahua and the development of Mahua products. The institute will soon be transferring the technology to self-help groups as well as the companies. It will help increase the incomes of the tribals in the regions of Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, who are involved in the collection of Mahua and the production of Mahua products.
The institute is developing plant-based proteins where they have a headway in getting the texture right. They are now working on getting the sensory quality right that mimics the quality of animal proteins.
National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM), the brainchild of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), Government of India has developed an advanced ecosystem for entrepreneurship and training which is very crucial in the present-day context. The institute has an incubation facility for foods, vegetables, meat and poultry, milk and dairy, and ready to eat products. Recently, they have also set up a bakery.
With a laboratory for food research and analysis, three centres of excellence have been created. NIFTEM is working on cold chain technology and management in collaboration with three-four international organisations, there is ongoing work in the department of logistics with the involvement of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The institute has also collaborated with Hexagon and The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) on food fortification. It is also working on addressing issues related to packaging through bio or nanobiotechnology.
The institute has published 132 Scopus indexed articles addressing various issues of food science and technology. Also, around 10 books were published in 2020. NIFTEM has patented anti-microbial layered nanocomposite, one trademark on Cocoshreshth in 2020 and copyright on the Structural Analysis of Tool Version-1. The institute also has seven-eight patents under submission.
Elaborating on the ongoing developments and achievements of NIFTEM, Dr C Vasudevappa, Vice-Chancellor, NIFTEM, Sonepat, Haryana mentioned, “A lot of progress has been made in Cereals and millets technology. With millets we have two projects, one is from the Government of Madhya Pradesh and another from the Government of Uttarakhand. Since we have a ready to eat plant, a lot of products are coming up.”
“With regard to fortification, we have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Hexagon Nutrition and GAIN. Hexagon has supported with equipment and GAIN is supporting technically and it is going on very well, especially for the fortification of edible oil with natural antioxidants and vitamin D fortified milk-based beverages, especially lassi, technological advancement of instant probiotic fruit juice powder, biodiesel production and food industry waste utilisation is where we are focussing including biotic compounds and seaweed tea infusion rich in polyphenols,” said Dr Vasudevappa.
Academic institutions have been working on developing technologies addressing the challenges faced by the food industry and aiding the industry in incorporating innovative efficient technologies to boost the sector. One such issue that the industry currently faces is the storage of millets as millets are insect magnets. NIFTEM, Thanjavur, formerly Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology (IIFPT) has been working extensively on resolving this issue. They have even developed a non-dairy millet ice cream and transferred the technology to more than five companies and other companies are in the pipeline. The institute is working on developing more millets-based products, NIFTEM, Thanjavur, has a strong focus on the development of food ingredients, spice principles, commodities mainly for their delivery system, micro delivery systems and nano delivery systems. They are also pioneering different delivery systems, encapsulation, multi-layered encapsulation. Working in close association with industries in developing delivery systems they will implement rice fortification in the country.
Dr C Anandharamakrishnan, Director, NIFTEM, Thanjavur sheds light on some of the work that is being helmed by the institute. He shared, “Technology-wise India’s first 3D printing scientific papers have been published by the institute and we are also working on the development of the machine itself. Moving onto 4D printing we would be able to get some good impact on that system and we are starting to commercially produce small type 3D printer machines and a variety of the products are complete including vegan meat from the 3D food printer.”
“We have created an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled sensory lab where a product is tasted, facial expression and eyeball movement can be tracked along with colour and how it influences the taste perception, appearance of the food can be analysed. We are also working with other institutions on developing alternatives to single-use plastics like cornstarch-based packaging films and we have done an extruder packaging film from jackfruit. We have not been able to do this at a mass level and industry participation is still lagging, industry and academia need to address the bottlenecks,” he concluded.
Addressing academia, industry challenges
Academia and industry are faced with challenges that are independent of each other. Some of the challenges cannot be easily resolved but their impacts can be reduced by developing more efficient solutions. A collaboration between the industry and academia can help eradicate certain challenges that exist both in academia as well as the industry.
“We are in the business of knowledge management, some of us are knowledge generators and some of us are knowledge utilisers. It is in this area that we need to have a close collaboration in bringing in those technologies and areas of interest that are mutually beneficial. The industry and the industrial R&D with the amount of interaction with the consumer and the consumer facing activity that we do can bring in a lot of information which otherwise is not available with the organisations and the institutional R&Ds,” remarked Gourinandan Tonpe, Co-Founder & CEO, Thinking Forks Consulting.
He further mentioned, “Another big opportunity is utilising the talent and coming from these institutes. There are many technologies that we are working on with some institutional R&D where we are trying to learn from their experience and expertise to create certain products which bring in the technology and expertise which we don’t have for creating products for some of our clients. These are the areas for industrial R&D and institutional R&D to have a firm handshake and bring that collaborative approach to solving problems.
Moving forward
R&D led by academia and industry have helped resolve certain challenging issues with shorter resolution time. Newer technologies have helped the industry fare better and become more efficient. With more emphasis on R&D and collaborations, the food industry can further its growth.
Earlier academic institutions were limited both in terms of resources and courses. This is changing as institutions are adopting and developing newer technologies that are beneficial for academia and industry. With further collaborations, newer heights can be scaled and gargantuan challenges can be overcome with collective efforts. A partnership between academia and industry could bolster the growth of the food industry and help achieve the potential of the Indian food industry.
Prabhat Prakash
prabhat.prakash@mmactiv.com