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This study aims to encapsulate the crude carotene pigment isolated from waste portion of Cucurbita maxima with the help of different encapsulating agents through lyophilization to transform crude pigment into stable form for further utilization.

This paper opted for encapsulation of extracted carotene pigment by lyophilization using various carrier materials such as maltodextrin 20 dextrose equivalent (DE), maltodextrin 10 DE and tapioca starch along with emulsifier polysorbate-80. After encapsulation of crude carotene pigment, prepared encapsulated powder was subjected to chemical analysis. The data was analysed statistically by a complete randomized design.

Maximum encapsulation efficiency, carotene content, antioxidant activity and water solubility index were achieved when 0.06% of crude carotene pigment was emulsified with same quantity of polysorbate-80, followed by encapsulation with 20% of maltodextrin 20 DE during lyophilization.

Even though few researchers have worked on the encapsulation of colour pigments, no researcher has reported encapsulation of carotene pigment extracted from waste of C. maxima.

Internal fluffy portion along with fibrous strands of ripe pumpkin is considered as waste in processing industries though it contains sufficient amount of ß-carotene pigment. The purpose of this paper is to use the leftover fluffy portion of ripe pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) after the use of its flesh for the purpose of processing.

The data were analyzed statistically by following a complete randomized design (CRD). All analysis were performed using the software OPSTAT.

One hour pre-enzymatic treatment before solvent extraction showed significant improvement in extraction yield in comparison to the isolation of ß-carotene pigment through solvent only. Temperature time combination was optimized as 40°C for 2 h during solvent extraction to obtain maximum yield irrespective of the type of extraction method used.

Extracted carotene pigment can further be used as a natural food colorant in processed food products not only to enhance the color appeal but also it improves the nutritional value of the product as ß-carotene acts as a precursor of vitamin A.

Coloring agents of natural origin are becoming famous among society due to their health benefits. Consumers are becoming reluctant to use synthetic colors because of the undesirable allergic reactions caused by them, so carotene bio-pigment produced is a natural coloring compound with wide application in the food sector.

Even though few researchers have worked on the extraction of carotene pigment from pumpkin, but no researcher has reported the use of a waste fluffy portion of C. maxima for extraction of ß-carotene pigment.

Soybean is potentially a rich source of protein and lipids along with isoflavone. However, the use of soybean is limited due to presence of anti-nutritional factors such as trypsin inhibitor, phytic acid, etc. The present study aimed at evaluation of Harit soya seeds of different treatments such as soaking, dehulling, germination, soaking+roasting and roasting in order to enhance its quality.

Harit soya seeds were utilized were soaked overnight and subjected for dehulling, germination for 3 days as well as roasting followed by drying to obtain fine powder for quality evaluation.

Dehulling and germination produce significant (p < 0.01) increase in protein, crude fiber, total chlorophyll, ascorbic acid, total phenolics, flavonoids and isoflavones while fat was decreased non-significantly. The highest value of 12.4 mg/100g, 5.3 mgGAE/g and 6.6 mg/g for ascorbic acid, total phenolics and isoflavones was found in germinated seeds. Also, the effect of soaking, roasting and their combination lead to significant decrease in the functional properties of the seeds. Anti-nutritional factors were significantly (p < 0.01) reduced in all forms of treated seeds while pepsin and trysin digestibility was enhanced during soaking, dehulling and germination with maximum value of 72.6 and 25.8%, respectively in germinated seeds.

Improvement in quality of evergreen variety of soybean using cost effective traditional methods

In a globalized environment, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are facing formidable challenges. Not only do they have to keep up their profitability, but there is also a pressure from various stakeholders to add to their environmental and quality performance .The solution obviously lies in continuously adopting and improving upon lean-green practices in their operations. This work aims at identifying, classifying and building up a duly tested robust ranked-order model of such “enablers”, related to lean-green practices, that puts them (the enablers) in an order of being the most significant to being the least significant further to be accorded the same or similar weight in strategy formulation and implementation stage by Indian SMEs for enhancing their overall organizational performance.

The study identifies 20 enablers (12 lean and 08 green manufacturing enablers) through extensive literature review and experts' opinion survey and classifies them into three main categories. The ranking and significance of each of the main and subcategory enablers is evaluated according to its weight which is determined by the best-worst method (BWM) approach, one of the novel multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods. Further, the results have been drawn after running accuracy check of the rankings (based upon optimal weights) and testing the robustness of the ranked-order model through sensitivity analysis.

The results of this study reveal that out of the three main category enablers, “operational performance enablers (E1)” and “quality performance enablers (E3)” are the most and the least significant enablers, while in the group of 20 subcategory enablers, “Kaizen (E17)” and “environment emission control (E28)” are the most and the least significant subcategory enablers, respectively.

The prioritization model or ranked-order model of the lean-green manufacturing enablers proposed through this study may serve as a standard model to managers to help them decide and allocate their efforts and resources accordingly in managing their operations. This will also help them adopt high-ranking lean-green manufacturing enablers in their firms and benchmark and standardize their existing practices accordingly, leading to greater competitive advantage.

The study identifies various green-lean manufacturing enablers in SMEs, classifies them into three main categories and ranks them using BWM approach. The findings of this study should be extremely relevant to managers, manufacturing engineers and practitioners in Indian SMEs from the perspective of developing deeper appreciation of these enablers as per their relative ranked importance to further formulating an effective and efficient strategy for their implementation resulting in optimal results.