It cannot be denied that acceptance of food science and technology will motivate the adoption of new types of food habits. Better health can be achieved through scientific analysis and enlightened thought and this will open the way for food fusarism.
Protein (Photo: Pixabay)
Image Credit source: pixabay
Protein day 2022India has come a long way since the famous Green Revolution of 1960s. This revolution transformed India from a food-deficient country to a food-secure country. Till two decades before this, India was dependent on the import of food grains, but due to the scientific methods adopted in the Green Revolution, it helped in increasing the production. Unfortunately, even today, about 190 million people in India, about 14 percent of the total population, are malnourished. Distribution-related inequality and low agricultural productivity are responsible for this sad situation, but nutritional poverty cannot be ignored in the context of lack of proteins, vitamins, and minerals, which badly affected a large population of the country.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, an average adult needs 0.8 to 1 gram of protein (per kg body weight) daily. Whereas, the average Indian consumption is less than this and it is around 0.6 grams. Due to lack of protein in youth, problems like loss of muscle mass, weak immunity and slow recovery of diseases have to be faced. Indian children are also suffering from Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM), due to which about 38.4% children were found to be stunted, 21% weak and 35.6% children were found to be underweight for age. The excessive focus on the consumption of staple cereals, such as rice and wheat, resulted in poor diet diversity and low intake of other nutrients needed to balance bodily functions.
60% protein is obtained from cereals
The National Nutrition Monitoring Board survey suggests that nearly 60 per cent of the protein in Indian diet is derived from cereals, which are relatively less digestible and of low quality. The importance of a good nutrition cannot be ignored, especially at a time when a disease like coronavirus has taken such a bad effect on health. Now is the time to use science to reshape India’s food environment and diversify the food sources. As Charles Darwin famously said, “Among the species that have managed to survive, it is not the species that were the strongest, nor the species that were the most intelligent, but the ones that have been the ones most resistant to change. Was reactive.” The development of food processing technology and engineering plays a vital role in creating delicious and nutritious and packaged food items that are available throughout the year. Genetic changes, advanced technologies to increase soil fertility and greater procurement of the right proteins can help in increasing the availability of nutritious food.
More than 70 percent of people in India are non-vegetarian
Even though more than 70 percent of the people in India are non-vegetarian, but due to their costly meat consumption is still low here. The primary sources of protein are milk and pulses. However, the demand for pulses in India is much higher than its production and not all pulses contain high quality proteins. This deficiency can be overcome through food science, under which protein-fortified foods and protein supplements can be used. Also other high quality products can be prepared in substitute of protein. India’s crop diversity is excellent, but only 10 per cent of agricultural products are produced. Food products that have less use, less protein extracted and higher micronutrient content, should only be processed and new methods of product development should be used so that consumers can see them as finished products. to be made available.
Advanced methods can prevent nutrient loss
Rice fortification is an example of how commonly used cereals can be improved through food fortification, another science technique, to provide essential micro and macronutrients. Through this, the by-products obtained from the food processing industry can also be converted into high quality nutritional products. The broken pulses obtained as a by-product can be added to pulses containing amino acids. A variety of protein-rich plants such as peanuts, soy, mushrooms, mycelium, etc. can be combined to produce products such as high-protein vegetable meats. These advanced technologies and products will increase the availability of better quality proteins for the growing population, as well as reduce carbon emissions. New and improved methods in post-harvest operations and processing of agricultural products and animal products can prevent nutrient loss. Creating new products by combining essential nutrients and better utilization of proteins, vitamins and minerals that are wasted by the food industry as byproducts can pave the way for achieving nutrition security.
It cannot be denied that acceptance of food science and technology will motivate the adoption of new types of food habits. Better health can be achieved through scientific analysis and enlightened thought and this will open the way for food fusarism.
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