Experimental investigation on storage of food grains using cow dung-based desiccant as preservative

ABSTRACT

Food grains, produced abundantly during the harvest season, face the challenge of maintaining their quality for extended periods. While immediate consumption is an option, long-term storage offers distinct advantages by ensuring a continuous food supply beyond the harvest season. Proper storage is a critical post-harvest factor that contributes to various benefits, including economic growth and food security. In this context, this paper presents an experimental study focused on the development and evaluation of a hybrid cow dung-based desiccant (HCDD) as a potential preservative for food grains. The study thoroughly examines the impact of this innovative desiccant, HCDD, on the quality of stored rice and wheat grains. Initially, the lipid content of rice grains in C3 and C4 drums was recorded at 1.97%. However, after 8.5 months of storage, a significant decline in quality was observed in C3, where the lipid content decreased to 1.78%. In contrast, C4 maintained a stable lipid content at 1.89%. Similarly, the initial free fatty acid content in rice grains in both C3 and C4 drums was 1.78%, but after 8.5 months, C3 experienced a significant increase to 7.48%, indicating substantial deterioration. Conversely, C4 exhibited a more modest increase, reaching 4.29% over the same period. Regarding wheat quality, the initial gluten content in C1 and C2 drums was 28.12%. After 5.5 months of storage, C1 exhibited a considerable decline, with gluten content decreasing to 17.62%. In contrast, C2, utilizing HCDD, displayed a milder decrease, reaching 19.1% after 13 months. Furthermore, the initial acid value in C1 and C2 drums for wheat grains was 10.2 mg KOH/g fat. After 5.5 months, C1 experienced a substantial increase in the acid value, rising to 26.8 mg KOH/g fat, indicating grain deterioration. Conversely, C2, benefiting from HCDD, exhibited a less pronounced increase, with an acid value of 15.4 mg KOH/g fat after 13 months. This study meticulously monitored the quality of stored grains by measuring crucial parameters such as lipid content, free fatty acids in rice, gluten, and acid values in wheat. The consistent findings revealed that grains stored with HCDD exhibited superior preservation qualities. They retained lower levels of moisture and experienced significantly slower deterioration rates compared to those stored without HCDD. This not only enhances the shelf life of grains but also ensures their nutritional and qualitative integrity.

KEYWORDS:

• Cow dung-based desiccant
• drying
• food preservative
• rice grains
• wheat grains

Acknowledgment

The authors are very thankful to Director, CSIR-CBRI, to permit this research work.

Disclosure Statement

The work reported in this article forms a part of the PhD work of the first author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sanjay

Sanjay received his B.Tech in Mechanial Engineering from Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University Lucknow, India and M.Tech in Energy Technology and Management from Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology,Gorakhpur, India. He is currenlty persuing his PhD program from Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology,Gorakhpur, India in the area of desiccant dehumidification technologies and desiccant cooling.

Sanjay Mishra

Sanjay Mishra is currently Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department of Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology,Gorakhur, India. He received his B.E from Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat (India) M.Tech from BITS Pilani, India and Ph.D from Motilal Nehru National Insitute of Technology Allahabad,India. His research interests are in advance manufacturing processes, laser material processing, finite element method in manufacturing, bybrid machining. He has more than 75 research papers in reputed journals and conference proceedings. He has 20 years of teaching and research experience.

Tabish Alam

Tabish Alam is working as Senior Scientist in the division of Architecture, Planning and Energy Efficiency (APEE) and Centre for Climate Change (4C) at CSIR-Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee. Also, he is an assistant professor in Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, India. He conducted independent research as Post-Doctoral Fellow in School of Mechanical Engineering at Kyungpook National University, Republic of Korea. He also worked as Post- Doctoral Fellow in Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. He received his PhD and M.Tech degree form Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee in 2015 and 2010, respectively. He received his B.Tech degree in Mechanical Engineering from Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India in 2007. His Research area includes Heat Transfer Enhancement, Artificial Roughness/Turbulators, Solar Air Heater, Green Building, Building Physics, Thermal Insulation, Solar Thermal System, and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). He has published more than 50 research papers to his credit in reputed peer-review national and international journals. His research papers have more than 1070 Google scholar citations along with 17 h-index and 27 i10-index. He is a reviewer of more than 50 International SCI journals. He is Awards Obtained: (Shrimati Saroma Sanyal Memorial Award (India) 2017; Best Paper Award in 7th Internal Conference in Advances in Renewable Energy, (IIT Bombay) 2019. Currently he serves as Guest Editor for the Special Issue Integration of Renewable Energy in Buildings for Sustainable Development in the international journal Energies. He is Associate Editor in Frontiers in Thermal Engineering, and Review Editor in Frontiers in Solar Energy.