WHAT THE TRUE HEROES OF NATION EAT ( A small gist)

As its said what you eat makes you who you are lets see what the true saviors of our nation eat . Before world war 1 Indian soldiers got only cash allowances . The nutritive value of food given to our soldiers were totally neglected .

During  the second world war supply of rations became difficult due to the rise in the cost of living and our soldiers got affected by malnutrition the authorities recommended foods of higher nutritive value to our soldiers

After independence the Indian soldiers were supplied with food preserved by traditional methods there were difficulties in transporting ,storage, handling and packaging because these foods were prone to physical and chemical deterioration during these stages

DFRL : The defence food research laboratory Mysore was established on 28th December 1961 under defence research and development organisation to fulfill

food needs of army. navy and air-force. The prime aim is to engineer light weight convenient packaged food with longer self life that suits for varied climatic conditions .

VARIOUS FOODS DEVELOPED BY DFRL 

FOOD BARS 

Different varieties of food bar DFRL has developed array of nutritious  bars to meet the energy needs of soldiers such as compressed tasty bar, protein rich composite cereal bar,, sweet and sour tasty bar, flax oat tasty bar rich in soluble fibers, ergogenic energy rich bar , barley bar  rich in  glucan , omega 3 rich bar , cocoa delight bar rich in antioxidants and fiber , bar for high altitudes  and each bar serves a specific nutrition need  with help of a specific functional ingredient with a calorific range of 400-540 k cal with shelf life of about 6-15 months. 

BARLEY BAR

life style changes have led to decrease in intake of fibre DFRL food scientists have developed bars using barley grains in order to provide the amount of fibre content needed to be provided in individual's daily diet.

COCOA DELIGHT BAR 

The most preferred chocolate bar is developed by DFRL is made from cocoa powder butter and sugar and cocoa is rich in antioxidant and flavenoids  owing to be a healthy and tasty delight as well.

COMPOSITE CEREAL BAR 

The bar is made of a number of cereals  including barley, maize, wheat and soy and contains the essential amino acids and protein needed to a balanced nutritious diet alleviating protein energy malnutrition

COMPOSITE TASTY BAR

During emergency, survival situations . long patrol duties troops need continuous supply of energy this protein rich nutritious bar has been developed by DFRL which is light in weight, easy to carry and provides sufficient energy in the form of calories.

SOY FORTIFIED OAT BAR

The bar developed by DFRL  has a long shelf life of about 15 months the beta glucan and amino acids  known to provide health benefits

ERGOGENIC BAR

This bar is prepared by using jaggery walnut, cinnamon, pepper, ginger , turmeric powder etc known to warm the body of army troops in extreme cold conditions.

FLAX OAT TASTY BAR

This bar is prepared by using flax-seed  and oats and are rich in fibers both soluble and insoluble in the diet .

OMEGA 3 RICH BAR

This bar is made from walnut and flax seeds which are rich sources of  omega 3 fatty acids which are known to be heart healthy foods and provides calories in a healthy way increasing HDL in the body.

READY TO EAT NUTRI FOOD BAR

These bars provides fullness and is a chewy, dense nutrition rich  compressed bar prepared from readily assimlable sources of carbohydrates and proteins and serves as meal supplement in packed army rations

SWEET SOUR TASTY BAR

In order to provide change in taste sweet band soar bars are developed by DFRL and contains salt, sugar, chilli powder and nuts etc.  

FOOD BARS DEVELOPED BY DFRL

CHICKEN BISCUITS 

Chicken is a good source of readily digestible proteins,essential amino acids, fatty acids and B complex vitamins and hence help cater the protein needs of armed force at high altitudes as a high protein snack .

EGG PROTEIN BISCUITS

Protein rich biscuits has been developed from real egg solids in three known flavors vanilla, pineapple and orange. The biscuits have nearly 20%  protein and provide energy of about 475kcal/100g

HOLIBITE

DFRL has developed  this instant health oriented RTE product for emergency use after exertion. It provides 108kcal for 30g capsule and 4-6 are enough to help during emergency situation. Product contains 70% honey.

 

Performance enhancement drink : Aloevera is known to have various health benefits. Its known to improve blood circulation helping in supply of nutrients to the cells and thus enhances the nutrient absorption across the endothelial cells to blood stream. These two properties have been utilized to develop this pomegranate to enhance physical performance.

SPICED LOW CALORIE ALOE VERA BEVERAGE:

spiced  aloevcra  beverage developed by DFRL  aims to reduce blood sugar level in type 2 diabetic patients  owing to its anti- diabetic property and known to have proven health health benefits in other people.

ALOEVERA FRUIT SPREAD AND BAR 

Aloe Vera  gel with a fruit base of mango helps improve colon health and serves as a bread spread with health benefits.

APPETIZERS
Appetizers solve the problem of lack of appetite faced at high altitudes.The development of ready  to eat  appetizers with a shelf life of 8 months is a unique contribution to the field of food technology
and requirements of defense forces as well . these RTE appetizers include ginger munch, fruit munch, peeper munch, lemon munch and ajwain munch.

SHELF STABLE CHAPATIES

After extensive research DFRL has successfully developed chapaties with natural sensory attributes with extended shelf life using thermal processing with additives and flavors and are of different varieties.

Did you know : all these covenience foods which works miracle for today's working woman were first invented for 3 armed forces of our nation  .
 for more information and deeper insight do visit  dfrl official website .
  I dedicate my post to the food scientists who have went a long way in engineering foods of great comfort .

My dear readers the post contains just a few of interesting foods and it will be continued in a short while, however posts will be updated through out september and emphasise will be given on nutrition and different technologies involved in food as well until then tc and stay happy

A JOURNEY TO EXPLORE SPACE FOODS

Space foods being the first post after a new beginning of food probe I want to take all my readers on a space journey to explore space foods and the technologies involved I hope all my readers  would enjoy this journey so let us give it a start…

Have you ever wondered what astronauts in space eat?

come let’s explore together 

NASA’S the first scientist to eat food in space was John Glenn First food to be eaten in space was apple sauce however  in the second space program NASA food scientists included shrimp, cocktail, chicken, vegetables and pudding.

There are special rules for space foods

1. Minimize the crumbs

2. Minimize packaging and thrash volume

3. Minimize the weight of the food 

FOOD TECHNOLOGY AT SPACE 

RE HYRDATABLE FOODS or freeze-dried foods: Most foods in space was packaged in a dehydrated form and thus rehydrated before consumption(hot  cup noodles is one fine example ) these foods are packed in special containers to help them last longer 

dehydration or removal of water is done to prevent spoilage due to microorganisms and extend shelf life.  

The straws used for consumption of liquid food in space has a special one-way valve to prevent the liquid from escaping when not in use. (eg)soups, ravioli and even fruits and fish and eggs, chicken, cheese cereals, etc are packaged dehydrated form and rehydrated before consumption

Freeze-drying technology: freeze-drying is a process of dehydrating frozen food under vacuum condition so that the moisture content in food directly changes to gaseous form without having to undergo the intermediate liquid state through sublimation the  food product thus maintains good quality and acceptance

Meals and even ice-creams that are made available to astronauts in space are freeze-dried 

 

THERMO-STABILIZED FOODS The foods that are heated to high  temperatures to prevent bacterial growth and are packaged in bimetallic or aluminum cans or flexible retort pouches mushrooms, tomatoes, eggplant are few examples of thermostabilized foods.

INTERMEDIATE MOISTURE FOODS

These are foods that do not remove water completely but here the water is restricted to an amount to keep the food at desired texture but the percentage of water in IMF foods does not support microbial growth  and the water content in IMF foods ranges from  15 to 30 % thus the water present chemically bound to salt or sugar not available for microbial growth thus prevents spoilage due to micro-organisms dried peaches, pears and apricots are some examples of IMF foods in space

VACUUM PACKAGING Some foods are consumed in natural form but there is an interesting technology that is involved here too. Here the air is completely removed from the packaged food.  The package is sealed so that food stays fresh for a long time.

Condiments: Condiments  are made available suspended in oil or dissolved in water pepper is suspended in oil while salt is dissolved in water these liquid salt and liquid pepper are stored polyethylene bottles.

MODIFIED ATMOSPHERIC PACKAGING: Bread sandwiches are not possible in space  as the bread slices tend to float so food scientists at NASA developed tortillas - a flatbread made of wheat flour to serve the purpose they kept it fresh up to  one year by the use of oxygen scavengers which helps in removing the oxygen in the package and thus creating a modified atmosphere ethylene is an example of oxygen scavenger.

FOOD IRRADIATION  Some foods are exposed to radiation to kill mold or bacteria on food also to extend its shelf life

Exposure of ionizing radiation in the form of x rays, gamma rays and electron beam to destroy microorganisms safety limits of radiation are set according to the type of food and the purpose of irradiation. 

SPACE FOODS FOR ISRO  food scientists at  DRDO and CFTRI Mysore are exploring new technologies to make available the specialties of  Indian cuisine DRDO has created initial success in biscuits, pastries and  dried juice and lemon rice with a list of innovative technologies which are to be later discussed in the blog food scientists can formulate even chicken biriyani which is supplied to astronauts and its shelf life is up to one year.

Some more interesting facts

TANG one  of the well-known juice brands became famous when it was supplied to astronauts  in the space shuttle it served as a vitamin C  supplement

As the space shuttle is shielded from Cosmic rays the scientist does not get enough of the sunshine vitamin so special care should be taken to provide vitamin D in the diet of space scientist.

Have a look at mm a fun snack of  astronauts

This is a soap bubble which holds the chocolate candy in space