Papers by Kandeeparoopan Prasannath
A study was undertaken to examine the influence of different pre-treatments on drying rate and qu... more A study was undertaken to examine the influence of different pre-treatments on drying rate and quality of ripe banana. The effects of pretreatments such as blanching, chilling, freezing and combination treatments on the quality of bananas (Musa acuminata cv. Embul) were investigated. The banana fruits were dehydrated at 40ºC in a heat pump dehumidifier dryer at the air velocity of 3.0 m/s until the final moisture content of approximately 20% of dry weight basis was achieved. The drying rates of all treatments were high initially when the moisture content was highest then decreased rapidly. The blanched samples had the highest moisture content whereas the frozen fruit samples resulted in the shortest drying time compared to other treatments. The overall drying rate of banana after application of freezing was found to be significantly (P<0.05) faster than those of freezing not involved. The level of total sugars, vitamin C and pH were significantly higher in the blanching process followed by the combined blanching and freezing. The vitamin C content of the blanched sample was 41.7 mg/100g which was significantly highest among the treatments. The results of the sensory evaluation revealed that the preference rating of colour of the blanched fruits was found to be significantly higher than that of blanching was not involved. Combined blanched and frozen bananas before drying improved their overall acceptability as a result of inactivating the enzymes responsible for browning. Therefore, combined blanching and freezing could be used as a pre-treatment to produce high quality dried banana where the banana fruits are produced in surplus annually.
Plant pathogenic bacteria have evolved specialized strategies to exploit their respective hosts. ... more Plant pathogenic bacteria have evolved specialized strategies to exploit their respective hosts. Most of them are Gram-negative, of which biotropic pathogenic bacteria fundamentally possess a type III secretion system encoded by hrp genes and a variable group of genes encoding Avr effector proteins that seem to be delivered into host plant cells through this pathway to suppress plant defense responses and develop diseases symptoms. An exclusive infection tactic is provoked by Agrobacterium tumefaciens, which genetically transfers its T-DNA from its Ti plasmid to host plant cell via T-pilus belonging to the type IV secretion apparatus. Other key virulence factors of phytopathogenic bacteria are plant cell wall degrading enzymes, phytotoxins, extracellular polysaccharides and phytohormones, which are central for the pathogenesis of necrotrophic bacteria. In general, plant pathogenic bacterial strains mutated in any virulence factor comparatively reduce their virulence, while their pathogenicity remains unchanged. This review summarizes the facts of how bacteria manipulate plant physiology to infect their hosts.
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Papers by Kandeeparoopan Prasannath