Protein Quality Characterization of Defatted White Sesame Cake and Its Protein Isolate

Present work evaluated the protein quality of defatted white sesame flour and the protein isolates obtained from sesame cake through the alkaline extraction at a pH 9.5. The study was conducted at Department of Foods and Nutrition, Post Graduate and Research Center (PGRC), College of Community Science and MFPI - Quality Control Laboratory, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad (India) during 2021-2023. Defatted white sesame cake was subjected to alkaline extraction at pH 9.5 and resultant isolates were evaluated for nutrient composition, scanning electron microscope imaging, amino acid composition and sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis. The obtained data was subjected to one-way analysis of variance. The white sesame protein isolates had a protein content of 93.83%, isolate recovery of 37.00 g/100 g and protein yield of 71.77%. The non-essential amino acids (NEAAs) content of the defatted white sesame flour and white sesame protein isolates ranged between 68.06% to 70.60% of the total protein content, while 29.40% to 31.94% was essential amino acids (EAAs). Sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis of defatted white sesame flour WSF and white sesame protein isolate (WSPI) exhibited protein bands within the molecular weight range of 20 to 62 kDa. The protein isolates derived from sesame seed cake has promising potential for integration into diverse food formulations, offering an avenue to combat protein deficiencies.

Constraints Experienced by the Paddy Farmers in Three Agroclimatic Zones of Telangana State, India

The present investigation was conducted during 2021-22 to assess the constraints experienced by the paddy farmers in three agroclimatic zones of farming sustainability in Telangana state. Findings revealed that, constraints such as high cost of seed varieties (I), lack of knowledge and skill for determining economic threshold level of pests and diseases (II), labour scarcity due to Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (I), labour scarcity during peak operations (II), insufficient finance with farmers (I), high rental charges for farm machinery (II), lack of new technologies and uneconomically viable solutions for residue management (I), lack of knowledge about input management (II), lack of information about government schemes (I), lack of information about recent pest-management strategies (II) were the first and second priority constraints under ecological, social, economical, technical and institutional dimensions respectively. Accordingly, Government organisations, NGO’s, ATMA, KVK’s, DAATC’s, SAU’s should look after certain issues such as providing seeds at affordable cost , Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme must give prioritize to agricultural field operations along with other activities, crop loan must be sanctioned to every farmer by considering crop yield assurance and bring out new technologies like happy seeder to remove residues but also allows the farmer to seed the new crop without involving manual labour, which saves time and money for the farmers. Extension education functionaries and line departments experts must use the Situation Based Extension with Participatory Approach (SBEA) in order to effectively overcome constraints and get feedback, which act as source for ATMA action plans to implement at grass root level.

Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture Practices in Rural Communities of Nalgonda District, India

Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture (NSA) is important for rural communities as it promotes the production of diverse, nutrient-rich crops and helps to improve food security, reduce malnutrition, and promote better health outcomes. It also helps to increase the incomes of smallholder farmers and enhance their resilience to climate change and other external shocks.The study indicated that the majority of respondents are between the ages of 20 to 40 (59.50%), have a low level of education (51.70% are illiterate), come from joint families (56.10%), and have an annual income between Rs.50,000-1,50,000 (72.78%).The study provides information on the nutrition and agricultural practices of the respondents. It shows that a high proportion of respondents practice kitchen/nutrition gardening (85.56%) and grow vegetables in their garden (85.56%). Leafy vegetables (51.67%) and fruits (57.22%) are the most commonly grown crops. However, practices such as integrated farming systems (4.44%), the Nutri thali concept (0.00%), and organic farming (7.22%) are not widely adopted.The aim of the study was to know the nutrition sensitive agriculture practices followed by small and marginal women in Nalgonda district of Telangana state. In this study a total number of 180 respondents were selected for the study.This study was an attempt to as there is a need to put attention on the educational aspects by stimulating the small and marginal women farmers and the families of rural communities by adopting farming practices that promote the production and consumption of diverse and nutrient-rich crops, rural farmers can also improve their own nutrition as well as that of their communities.