food security – The KGP Chronicle

Ideas and creativity are the most important human resources of all. Without ideas and creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns. Creativity is thinking up new things and innovation is doing new things. Team StrawDeshi comprising of fourth year students Ayushman Agrawal (Mechanical Engineering), Daivik Agrawal (Mechanical Engineering), Purva Agrawal (Mining) and Tanishq Mittal (Metallurgy) from IIT Kharagpur emerged as winners at the Mumbai Summit of the Hult Prize 2023. StrawDeshi competed among 40 teams in the campus round of the Hult Prize.

Team StrawDeshi’s idea was to use agro-waste rice straw as a raw material and extract its fibre to create winter jacket insulation, replacing down feathers, cotton and polyester filling materials.

The second round consisted of 12 summits worldwide, in which Team StrawDeshi won at t

he Mumbai Summit which had 70 teams participating from IITs, IIMs and other colleges, majorly from South Asia. Their extraordinary ideas and commitment have secured them a spot in the Global Accelerator where they would be one of 20 teams across the globe working to improve and launch their product. Finally, six teams will compete in the finals to be held in Paris. For the three consecutive years, teams from IIT Kharagpur are winning in the category of South East Asia Region.

The Hult Prize is an annual, year-long competition that crowdsources ideas from university level students after challenging them to solve a pressing social issue around topics such as food security, water access, energy, and education with a $1 million as the anchor prize. It transforms how young people envision their own possibilities as Leaders of Change in the world around them.

The 2023 Hult Prize Call to Action is about creating a for-profit social venture, in the fashion/clothing industry. Ideas from students must create a measurable positive impact on people and the planet and support the United Nations in meeting its Social Development Goals by 2030.

Inputs by : Mr. Samarth Singh, Student Vice President, Technology Students Gymkhana
Email: samarth2003@kgpian.iitkgp.ac.in

Edited by : Poulami Mondal, Digital & Creative Media Executive (Creative Writer)
Email: poulami.mondal@iitkgp.ac.in, media@iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. No.: +91-3222-282007

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IIT Kharagpur researchers have developed a low-cost polyunsaturated, antioxidant-rich vegetable oil powder for a healthy heart

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Researchers from IIT Kharagpur have developed a novel formula for a vegetable oil powder to keep your heart healthy. The innovation, led by Prof. Hari Niwas Mishra from the Department of Agricultural and Food Engineering involved tailoring vegetable oils through the preparation of oil blends which are inherently endowed with natural antioxidants as well as well-balanced fatty acids.

Oils vary significantly in their fat saturation. The healthiest are those containing mostly polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats that are healthy for the heart. The role of such fats is widely known for reducing low-density lipoprotein or harmful blood cholesterol.

“The novelty of the research team is in its formulation of a nutritionally balanced polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) enriched with antioxidants and producing a synergistic vegetable oil blend,” explained Prof. Mishra.

The PUFA-rich oil powder will find extensive use in replacing dairy fat in bakeries and confectionaries, believe researchers Monalisha Pattnaik and Dr. Mousumi Ghosh from the Food Chemistry and Technology Laboratory run by Prof. H N Mishra.

“There is already a shortage of dairy fat which can not only be compensated by this product but also have a healthy impact particularly mitigating heart-related diseases on the consumers,” they said.

Another critical area the researchers have addressed is the susceptibility of PUFA-rich vegetable oil to rancidity and reduced shelf-life under severe environmental conditions.

“We have developed a novel process to protect the lipids from oxidation by microencapsulating with appropriate materials,” said Prof. Mishra.

The innovation has already been patented and is ready for commercialization at low costs.

Congratulating the researchers, Prof. Virendra Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur remarked, “Even after seven decades nutritious and healthy food are seen as lifestyle products due to affordability issue and lack of awareness. But under the holistic approach in the present scenario, we must remove this bias which is a toll on the health of millions in this country. This product answers this call by making available PUFA and antioxidant-rich vegetable oil for mass-scale consumption by large sections of the population especially in the lower-income groups, who are otherwise forced to buy oil with saturated fats due to their low prices.”

The researchers have received several awards for this product. A key among them is the Gandhian Young Technological Innovation (GYTI) Award 2020. Furthermore, this work has been recognized for Young Student Invention and the best thesis work in IIT Kharagpur. The team is working incessantly towards providing low-cost healthy foods to a wider section of the society.

Contacts:

Project Information: Prof. H N Mishra hnm@agfe.iitkgp.ac.in; Institute Related: Prof. B N Singh, registrar@hijli.iitkgp.ac.in;

Media Outreach: Shreyoshi Ghosh, shreyoshi@adm.iitkgp.ac.in; More News:: https://kgpchronicle.iitkgp.ac.in/;

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Tag: food security

Healthy Vegetable Oil – award winning innovation by IIT KGP researchers