Cereals, legumes, oilseeds, fruits, and vegetables are the most important food crops in the world, with cereal grains contributing the bulk of food calories and proteins worldwide. Generally, the supply of grains and other food can be enhanced by increasing production and by reducing postharvest losses. While food production has increased significantly over the last few decades, minimizing huge postharvest losses as well as utilizing their by-products/wastes is the optimal way for a country to become self-sufficient in food. Postharvest Technology and Food Process Engineering combines these two subject areas as it covers both the primary processing of cereals, pulses, fruits, and vegetables and utilization of by-products/biomass.

This book covers postharvest food preservation and processing methods, with an emphasis on grains. It is divided into five parts:

Grain-Properties, Drying and Dryers

Grain Storage

Parboiling and Milling

By-Products/Biomass Utilization

Food Process Engineering

The text covers grain structure and composition, psychrometry, the theory and methods of grain drying, and desig, testing, specification, and selection of grain dryers. It describes processes such as parboiling, of grain, hydrothermal treatment of grain, and milling of rice and other grains and pulses. The text also addresses biomass utilization and conversion technologies for energy, chemicals, food, and feed. The final section on food process engineering examines powtharvest management including cooling and packaging, and discusses preservation and processing, factors that affect deterioration, and various industrial preservation methods of fruits and vegetables. It also provides an overview of food chemistry and covers food engineering operations, including fluid mechanics and heat transfer.

Content - Preface, Introduction, PART I GRAIN PROPERTIES, DRYING, AND DRYERS, 1  Properties of Grains, 2 Psychrometry, 3 Theory of Grain Drying, 4 Methods of Grain Drying, 5 Grain Dryers, 6 Selection, Design, Specifications, and Testing of Grain Dryers, PART II GRAIN STORAGE, 7 Food Grain Storage, PART III PARBOILING AND MILLING, 8 Parboiling of Grain,  9 Parboiling of Wheat, 10 General Grain Milling Operations, 11 Hydrothermal Treatment/Conditioning of Cereal Grains, 12 Rice Milling, 13 Milling of Corn, Wheat, Barley, Rye, Oats, Sorghum, and Pulses, PART IV BY-PRODUCTS/BIOMASS UTILIZATION, 14 Rice Bran, 15 Utilization of Rice Bran, 16 Biomass Conversion Technologies, PART V FOOD PROCESS ENGINEERING, 17 Postharvest Management of Fruits and Vegetables, 18 Food Preservation and Processing of Fruits and Vegetables, 19 Food Chemistry for Technologists, 20 Food Engineering Operations, Appendix, Bibliography,  Index