A Network For Promoting Research And Development in Fermented Foods
Fermentation is a
process of food preservation with great potential. It is an envioronment
friendly process, consumes less energy and produces less waste. It is easy to
manage both under simple house hold conditions and in asn industrial scale. It
could be applied to a wide variety of raw matierials to produce a variety
of different finished foods products. it has the advantage of being generally
regarded as safe (GRAS) and offers immense opportunities for production of novel
products which can be classified as " organic foods" , "health foods" ,
"convenience foods" , "ethnic foods" , "neutraceuticals" , "functionals foods "
and not to forget "foods for clinical nutrition". Cereals , pulses , root
crops , vegetables , fruits , meat and fish are preseved by one or other
method of fermentation in some part of the world. The knowledge of making
traditional fermented foods has been recognised to be of immense value to the
future generations by FAO , WHO and another related agencies.
In 1908 , Dr Eli Metchnikoff who was
awarded one of the earliest Nobel prizes summariesed his observations on the
effect of fermented foods on the health status and well-being of humans beings,
In his books "Prolongation of Life ". Now , after all thee years ,
the positive effects of prebiotic substances and probiotic organisms in
synbiotic foods is a matter of great attention among the researchers, medical
practitioners, food companies, and marketing agencies, because the demand
for such products is enormous and it is growing fast day by day.
Research and development is considered
to be an expensive item in the economy of a foods company. However
research and development could be less expensive and more effective when it is
carried out as collaborative network projects where various universities ,
industries , institutions , faculties and researchers work together
towards a common goal. Developmentof modern food products may also require input
from many different specialised areas of science and technology. Each step ,
starting from cultivation , harvesting , quality of the raw materials ,
processing , storage , nutritive value and safety before consumption , immediate
effects on well-being and long term efects on health is too complex to be
understood well by a single scientist. Moreover a number of specialists
can work togther more efficiently and create a lot of new knowledge about a
product or a process in a relatively shor period of time.
In this context , an International
Seminar and Workshop was organized on " Fermented Foods , Health Status and
Social Well-being" in November 2003 at Anand , Gujarat State , India with
basic support from SASNET - Lund Universtiy , GAU-Gujarat Agricultural
Univercity and NABARD - National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development ,
India in all 168 delegates participated in the Programme , representing
different parts of India and also Sweden , Denmark , Nepal , SriLanka ,
Bangladesh , USA and Australia.
In the final Joint Session , the
participants unanimously resolved under the chairmanship of Dr. Baboo M.
Nair to establish a Network on Fermented Foods asking the organizing committee
of the seminar to be the interim coordinating committee for development of
proposals and for entrusting Dr. JB Prajapati as the co-ordinator of this
network during thios period. At present SASNET - Fermented Foods is a non -
governmental organisation registered under the charitable societies act of 1956.
The main aim of the network is to
promote research and development of fermented foods products in collaboration
with scientists , students , industrialists , producers and consumers.
For moredetails go to www.fermented-foods.net