Secretary’s Message:
India is a country where the major source of livelihood is agriculture. Farmers of the nation, after independence, have swiftly managed to produce grain and milk in abundance. However, the rapid rise of agriculture production has led to increasing marketable surplus of various agricultural produce particularly of perishables. Unfortunately this has resulted in a situation, where there is an unfavourable price regime for farmers. Further, lack of proper storage facility, shortcomings in handling, inadequate transport and less attention to processing have become a reason for massive level of wastage and value loss. Simultaneously today, there is a planned diversification of agriculture from non-perishable cereals to perishables like fruits and vegetables, milk, meat and fish. There is an urgent need, therefore, for focused attention to food processing, preservation and value addition to agricultural produce through cleaning, sorting, grading and packaging etc., to be able to provide remunerative prices to farmers to increase export potential and improve national economy.
The situation depends on further development of linkages between existing academic research with users like farmers and industry in order to increase the commercial significance of R&D and flow of technology to enable the nation to meet global challenges. It is required that the country chanellizes all the required energies in this direction with focus on the principle that a gram of food saved is equivalent to a gram of food produced. With this in mind, Cosmopolitan Educational and Welfare Society has decided to establish Queen’s College of Food Technology in Aurangabad (M.S.) in affiliation to Marathwada Agricultural University, Parbhani. The college shall endeavour to make its small contribution to the massive cause of national significance by qualitatively training 96 students every year in Food Technology.

President’s Message:
It is wisely said; Let food be your medicine, rather than medicine be your food. QCFT is indeed a wise step ahead in making this belief stronger in the old saying, Food is the best healer and correct food habits can definitely be decisive in one's progress in health and career. A healthy body houses a healthy mind, thus a progressive society and a stronger nation. Food Science deals with physical and chemical properties of food and finds application in food processing industry, teaching and research. Our aim will be to produce dedicated, dutiful, hardworking and well-groomed managers, technicians, dieticians, nutritionists, researchers and other professionals, to serve society and the nation. QCFT helps to place students internationally through a very dedicated placement cell situated in our campus at Aurangabad and Pune. We also believe in international student exchange programmes and intend to organize summer training of students with various Food Technology companies situated in different countries.

What is Food Technology?
What is Food Science all about?
Well, obviously food is an important subject and something we all need in order to live. So, it's not surprising that the science of food is an academic subject. Food Science is the application of science and engineering principles to the processing, preservation, storage, handling and distribution of food. Academically, it draws from the basic disciplines of chemistry, microbiology, engineering and economics, among others, and applies these principles to food and food components. It can also be divided amongst the various commodities, such as cereal science, dairy science, or meat science. But, Food Science is not food preparation, home economics, dietetics or nutrition; it is a separate and independent subject covering everything that occurs from the time raw agriculture products, for example grains or vegetables, leave the farm until they are consumed in such products as flour, bread, pasta, or canned corn. In order to prepare for a career in Food Science, students take courses in food chemis try, food processing, food engineering and food microbiology as well as basic science courses. After completing a four-year B.Sc. degree, graduates find employment in the food industry involving such activities as quality control, product development, production supervision and plant management, or in various levels of government serving as inspectors and formulating food legislation. Food scientists can also be found in food ingredient companies, commercial laboratories, packaging firms and other food related businesses. In this Department, we also teach courses leading to M.Sc. or Ph.D. degrees in Food Science, and do research related to various aspects of food science.
Why must food be processed?
Foods are processed in order to make them more palatable and safe to eat, to increase their shelf life and to add variety and convenience to our diets. Food processing is an important and necessary step to convert raw agricultural products into foods that are both economical and convenient. Unfortunately, agricultural production is a seasonal activity while food consumption occurs year round. This is another important reason to process foods, but even in tropical countries where crops can be grown at any time the best storage conditions offer only a limited extension of shelf life; chemical, enzymatic and microbiological deterioration all take their toll as do rodent and insect infestations.
What is food made up of anyway?
Actually, the major component of most foods is water. Water, along with protein, carbohydrate, fat, fiber and ash, constitute the macro-components of food, accounting for 99+% of all food material. Vitamins and other minor constituents are called micro-components. Calories are a way of expressing the fuel value of food. More recently, the unit of choice has become the joule which equals 0.239 calories. Proteins, carbohydrates and fats all contribute to the caloric value of a food, but fat carries more than twice the calories of the other two components, about 9 calories per gram.
Is it possible to determine the chemical composition of food?
Food analysis is a significant part of Food Science. There are standardized tests for all the major and minor components found in food. For example, a common way to measure water in a food sample is to remove the water by drying and express the weight loss as moisture. For certain micro-components of food, advanced analytical instrumentation allows nanogram (10 exp-9 g) quantities to be measured. This degree of accuracy is needed to make sure foods comply with government regulations.
How can we avoid getting food poisoning?
Sure, no food is totally sterile. It is the job of the food scientist to manage the microbiological content of food to ensure public safety. It is important to acknowledge that not all bacteria are harmful. In fact, without the bacteria responsible for fermentation, we wouldn't have yogurt, alcoholic beverages, some kinds of pickles and sausages, and many other food products. Practical ways to control the growth of potentially harmful organisms in food include heat processing, dehydration, chilling, freezing and ionizing radiation. All of these techniques are used commercially and all are effective when properly applied. The first rule of food microbiology is cleanliness. Thus, food plant sanitation is an important part of the Food Science curriculum. Also, it is critical that food which has been adequately processed not be re-contaminated during storage and transportation. This means that food science students include a food packaging course in their studies.
Scope of Food Technology
Food Science and Technology developed as a discipline to systematically organize and link the various kinds of knowledge which are necessary to inform human activity in food handling, processing, distribution and marketing. Food science draws on research and applies principles and practices from a broad spectrum of applied and basic sciences, including: biology (botany, bacteriology, microbiology, and mycology), chemistry (biochemistry; physical, analytical, and organic chemistry), physics (rheology, thermodynamics, cryogenics, radiophysics & ultrasonic), nutrition, psychology (sensory behaviors), medicine (metabolism, toxicology, heart diseases), and economics. Food technology applies the principles and concepts of engineering to problems of food handling and processing, and studies the interrelationships between the properties of materials and the changing methods of handling and manufacturing them. The food business and food technology are practically inseparable. The food business may be cha racterized as: vulnerable to spoilage, high volume, low margin, multiple products, transportation intensive; and end user marketing intensive. Since WWII the value added part of the food industry has increased steadily, and in 1980 surpassed agriculture's contribution. There is great emphasis on speed and efficiency in production, and on optimization of the food system from production through consumption. It has even been predicted that "nutrient delivery packages", customized for particular situations, will be developed to take the place of traditional "meals". Related research areas include: biotechnology to produce new strains of plants for foods and more efficient manufacture of food components; molecular and structural properties of foods and how they affect the conversion, processing, distribution, storage and acceptance of foods; biosensors to monitor food operations; and development of robot technology in food manufacturing. Publications on the following specific topics comprising food science and technology are collected at Mann Library at a Research Level (4) unless otherwise noted:

Publications:

Food analysis and chemistry Physical, organic and biochemical properties of food constituents at the molecular level. Techniques (gravimetric, volumetric and spectro-photometric) used by food analysts for proteins; carbohydrates; lipids, fats oils; colloids; enzymes; vitamins, emulsifiers, acids, oxidants, antioxidants, pigments and flavors; secondary plant metabolites in food.

Food quality factors and their measurement Appearance, textural, flavor, nutritional, sanitary, and keeping factors; quality standards; sensory evaluation techniques and programs; consumer acceptance; taste panels.

Nutritive aspects of food constituents and effect of processing and handling Nutrient stability; effects on nutrients of agricultural practices, handling, processing, and storage on raw and processed foods; includes effects of cultivation, harvest, cleaning, freeze preservation, heat processing, baking, extrusion, moisture removal, fermentation, food additives, ionizing radiation; effects of home preparation and commercial foodservice practices; enrichment and protein complementation of foods; improvement of nutritional quality through plant breeding; role of the government in regulating nutritional value of the food supply.

Food microbiology, mycology, and toxicology. Use of yeasts, molds, and bacteria in production of foods and food ingredients; microbes in fermentation, processing and preservation; spoilage microorganisms; indicator and food borne pathogens; detection, identification and physiology of microorganisms of importance in foods; microbiological culture, monitoring, testing, and sampling methods; tools of molecular biology in detection of microbes; psychotrophs, thermofiles and radiation-resistant microorganisms; biology, culture and isolation, and identification of important fungi; quantification of fungal toxins; food toxins and toxicity. A list of yeast and bacteria families in which Mann collects systematic and biology is available in the Systematic policy.

Food processing and engineering (general engineering aspects collected by the Engineering Library, specific food engineering applications collected by Mann; see 5.0 below) Fundamental engineering concepts, such as: momentum, heat, and mass-transport systems; engineering aspects of food processing plant operations and automation; unit operations in food processing; food packaging materials, methods, testing and evaluation, effects on shelf life, economics; process control, optimizing automation; waste management; energy conservation; quality control.

Food product development

Commodity topics: All aspects of food science and technology of specific commodity groups, including: milk and milk products (fluid milk and derivatives, ice cream and related products, cheeses); meat, poultry and eggs; seafood; fats, oils and related products; cereal grains; legumes; oilseeds; vegetables and fruits; beverages; confectionary and chocolate products.

Food safety and regulation: Food sanitation as related to public health and food plant processing; FDA and USDA rules and regulations; food ingredient labeling; nutrition labeling; food law (treatises and handbooks collected at Mann, actual laws and related scholarly works collected at Law Library); food additives; food borne diseases, detection, identification; governmental and nongovernmental agencies concerned with food safety; current issues, such as salmonella in eggs.

The food Industry: Publications of major trade associations; industry standards; structure of the food industry; international food corporations; N.Y. food industry; information on allied industries, e.g. packaging (steel, aluminum, glass, paper, plastic), chemical manufactures ( acidulants, preservatives, enzymes, etc.), and food machinery and equipment manufactures is collected by Engineering Library (technical aspects) and JGSM Library (business and finance). Popular, or consumer, works on home processing or food safety will be collected selectively. Marketing of food products and food prices are of interest, but are low priority.

Exclusions: Geneva, not Mann, will collect works on home and industrial brewing and enology. Emerging trends in the subject area Increased concern about the nutritional content of technologically derived, refined foods is expressed by both consumers and nutritionists. Dietary guidelines and nutrition education focus on partially replacing refined foods with whole grains, legumes, and other foods which retain their biochemical unity. Concern about food safety issues is very strong. Food scientists are responding to these nutritional and safety concerns in a variety of ways, including increased attention to food interactions and bioavailability of nutrients, improved analytical and detection methods, and research and education in food safety. New product development, particularly in the area of reduced-fat and reduced-calorie products is predicted. New processing technologies such as high energy electric pulse processing, freeze concentration, and hydrostatic pressure processing (which are often not yet available in the U.S.) show promise. Biotechnology is a growing area.