Statement of Research

It is not often that a young girl growing up aspires to pursue a career in Food and Agricultural Sciences. I spent my formative years in an area afflicted by repeated droughts over the last two decades. The realization that more than any other technology, my region, and many such regions in my country needed Food Science, became a conviction in my teenage, and guided me through career decisions that have brought me to the highest pedestal - a graduate program in Agricultural Sciences. At University of New Hampshire, which boasts of one of the most reputed Agricultural Sciences programs focused at industry, built through its intricate network with the large number of Food Companies in mid-Western United States, and a research strength leveraged by the food industry of the region, I look forward to developing expertise in Food Processing, Food Safety and Food Systems that will help tackle problems in developing countries like India. Through research work at Food Processing, Food Safety and Food Systems Support Services Laboratory at University of New Hampshire, I will get the perfect mix of theory and practice of food science.

This is precisely why I chose a teaching career instead of an industry job after my undergraduate studies. I served as an Assistant Professor in College of Food Technology, Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapith, Dapoli, where besides assisting in subjects such as Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulics, I took lectures and tutorials in Food Processing Equipments-I, Food Processing Equipments-II, Post-Harvest Technology and Greenhouse Management. Teaching is a preferred career option because it helps me leverage my two strengths - Research and Communication Skills. The involvement in creating lecture notes and presentations helped me read extensively through various sources so as to be factually correct with my lectures.

Similar to a student research on Brewing science and student managed cream herd at University of New Hampshire, and in alignment with UNH’s efforts towards Global Food Security, my project during my final year was a research project titled “Development of Egg free mix using jackfruit seed starch”. The main aim of the project was value addition of jackfruit seeds which are always thrown away without investigating their conceivable use and nutritional enrichment. The use of jackfruit seed starch as a thickener and stabilizer indicated its utilization in preparation of egg free mix for baking egg-less cupcakes. For our study, we prepared two egg free mixes with jackfruit seed starch in combination with xanthun gum as well as guar gum. The effect of jackfruit seed starch and egg mix incorporation percentage on the quality of cupcake was studied. Mechanical dependents like adhesiveness, cohesiveness, gumminess, springiness, chewiness and hardness whereas sensory dependents like texture, flavor, taste, mouthfeel and overall acceptability were taken into consideration while determining the quality of cupcakes. As a part of the project, I developed good expertise in dealing with equipment such as Hunter Calorimeter, Textural Analyzer, Planetary Mixer, Convection oven, tray dryer.

Equally challenging tasks were my trainings. I underwent a summer training at Central Institute of Post-harvest Engineering and Technology, Ludhiana. During this training, I completed a project titled “Development and quality evaluation of developed coconut de- oiled cake based biscuits”. I prepared the coconut de-oiled cake with 20.12% protein,

35.57% fat, 3.79% crude fiber, 12.75% dietary fiber and 6.08% ash. In this formulation the level of incorporation of coconut de-oiled cake was 15, 30, 45 and 60%. Further, the

biscuits developed were evaluated for their physical characteristics viz. diameter, thickness, spread ratio and weight; colour attributes – L, a, and b values and also for their organoleptic characteristics like appearance, texture, flavor and overall acceptability. Followed by this project, I also determined the pasting properties of gluten free flour blends using Rapid-Visco Analyzer.

I also finished an in-plant training at M/s. Sagar Engineering Works, specialist in manufacturing of food processing machineries. This training gave me opportunity to learn the basic stages of manufacturing machinery parts, maintenance of different workshop machineries and industrial disaster management.

Food Science is a community focused science and I have been regularly involved with community engagement activities, developing my teamwork and leadership activities during my master’s in Agriculture Extension Education at Colorado State University. I volunteered in Governor’s Ag Forum, 4H Youth development programs, Sustainable Lifestyle Expo, Colorado Future Farmers of America Foundation. During my bachelor’s I took leadership in organizing events like - Annual Gathering, Blood Donation Camp, Clean India Mission at our college. I represented Women Chess Team of my college at SPORTEX Sports Tournament and won Gold Medal consecutively for two years which gave me opportunity to represent University Women Chess Team at Indian Council of Agricultural Research 14th National Sports Meet.

Through PhD at University of New Hampshire, one of the few IFT accredited programs, I intend to further develop my understanding of food systems. Simultaneously, through community involvement, I would improve my cross-cultural understanding, knowing that culture and food practices go hand in hand. I will gain the necessary expertise to identify solutions to food problems of developing countries. In the long run, I look forward to alleviating some part of the huge gamut of problems that threatens mankind like no other threat currently. I hope that my work till date, my vision and my passion for food space will convince the admissions committee of my candidature, and allow me an opportunity to be a part of the one of the brightest communities of agricultural scientists.