MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY BY DOCTER.failuram.... :)

Mr.Failuram appeared  in the medical entrance exam, no wonder  why he was out of list..lolz.. checkout his meaning on basic terminology......

Antibody - against everyone

Artery - the study of arts

Bacteria - back door to cafeteria

Cardiology - advance study of poker play

CT scan - applying antivirus to a city

Chronic- neck of crow

Coma - a punctuation

Cortisone - kourti's son

Cyst  - short for sister

Diagnosis - person with slanted (oops diagonal) nose

Dislocation - in this (dis) location

Enema - not a fren

Fake labour - pretending to be worker

Genes- blue denim or Levis

Hernia- she is close by

Impotent- i am potent

Labour pain - pain to the worker

Lactose- person lacking toes

Lymph- walk unsteadily

Microbes- small dressing gown

Obesity- city of Obe

Pacemaker - winner of Nobel peace prize

Proteins- in favor of teens

Pulse - a kind cereals

Pus- small cat

Secretion - hiding anything

Tablet- small table

Ultrasound - radical noise

Urine - opposite of you are out

Varicose vein - very close van

God bless him! :))

Large Cardamom: Nepal's Brief Scenario

INTRODUCTION:Large cardamom ,also known as Black cardamom or Brown Cardamom is is the dried fruit of of Amomum sabulatum , a perennial herbaceous plant of family Zingiberaceae and its quality characteristics are different from that of small cardamom(Sukmel in Nepali). Large Cardamom is abundantly grown in Nepal,thus it is also known as Nepal cardamom (Elaichi in Nepali).

HISTORY OF CARDAMOM IN NEPAL:

The State of Sikkim in India located between Nepal and Bhutan is its

original home. Large cardamom was introduced into Ilam (Nepal) in 1865, nearly 142 years ago by the Nepalese labourers who went to Sikkim for seasonal work. However, commercial cultivation started in Ilam much later in 1953. The establishment of Cardamom Development Centre at Fikkal in this district in 1975 paved the way for the development of this crop.


There are a number of varieties of large cardamom cultivated in Nepal and they are Ramsey, Golsey, Chibesey, Dambersey, Sawney and Kantidaar. Among these, Ramsey, Golsey and Chibesey are wide spread in cultivation.

PRODUCTION:

Propagation of large cardamom is done through seeds and suckers. For nursery raising, seeds from fully ripe capsules are collected from high yielding and well maintained plantations free from viral diseases. After de-husking, seeds are washed thoroughly in water to remove the mucilage completely. Then water is completely drained and seeds are mixed with wood ash, dried in shade and sown in primary nursery. When attain 3 to 4 leaf stage they are transferred to the secondary nursery. After growing for about 10 to 12 months, they are ready for planting in the main field. The land selected for planting is cleared of all weeds and undergrowth. For replanting, old large cardamom plants are removed and destroyed. Pits of size 45cm X 45 cm X 30 cm are formed against the contour at a spacing of 1.5 m X 1.5 m on either side. Weeds and undergrowth collected are heaped in the inter rows to improve soil fertility and also to prevent soil erosion. Each pit is filled with top soil and 2 kg compost or cow dung. Planting is done in the centre of the pit with the onset of rain in the month of June. The base of the plant is covered with fallen forest tree leaves to act as mulch.

HARVESTING:
The right time for harvesting is when the top most capsules are fully mature and seeds turn black. At this stage spikes are harvested by cutting with the help of a special knife. Harvested spikes are kept heaped overnight to allow other capsules to ripe and they are separated on the next day. The yield starts from 3rd years onward after planting. Fruit is ripped during August to November.

PROCESSING METHOD:
Capsules will have about 80% moisture at the time of harvest. Traditional Bhatti which is either square or rectangular in structure (roughly 225 cm x 245 cm) with about 170 cm height is used for drying capsules. It has a thatched roof to protect from rain. There is a fire place at the bottom. A bamboo mat (sometmes wire mesh) is fixed above the fireplace supported by horizontal bamboo or wooden pieces. The height of the bamboo mat should be sufficient enough not to get lighted when firewood is burnt. Freshly harvested capsules are spread on the bamboo mat and hot air along with smoke is passed through capsules when firewood is burnt. On drying the produce acquires a smoky smell and brown to dark brown colour. Frequently a part of the volatile oil is lost and a few capsules are sometimes charred. The produce becomes inferior in quality. Almost all farmers in Nepal use the traditional Bhatti method for drying capsules. Many farmers have this drying system in their farmstead but some set it up temporarily in the field.

Improved Bhatti curing is spreading slowly replacing the traditional Bhatti. In this method a structure with two levels is made and covered with a thatched roof. The upper level may not have walls. A long drum is made by welding two crude oil drums together. It is kept in the bottom chamber with one end opening outside the chamber to burn firewood. The other end is fitted to a metal pipe which carries hot air and smoke from the burning firewood. The metal pipe passes near the four walls inside the lower chamber making the air surrounding it hot. The hot air rises up and passes through capsules spread on the bamboo mat making them dry. The advantages of this method are that the original pink colour of capsules are retained, smoke does not come in contact with capsules and oil loss is reduced as direct heating is avoided. Though some farmers get a slightly better price for this smoke free large cardamom, many are disappointed as the market has not caught up with this better quality product. Improved Bhatti is being established by farmers of Taplejung district with the financial assistance of donor agencies. In Ilam and Sankuwasabha districts a prototype of this system has been set up for demonstration.

OBSTACLES AND SHORTCOMINGS:


Obstacles:

1. Incidence of multiple taxes


2. Lack of Plant Quarantine Office on Indian side


3. Difficulties to obtain food safety analytical report


4. Too many small traders for export


5. Siliguri buyers fluctuate prices to suit their convenience


6. Commercial banks in Nepal take high margins on LC transaction

Shortcomings:

1. Poor R & D and extension work


2. Traditional Bhatti curing


3. Non-availability of packing credit


4. No value addition


5. Lack of brand promotion


6. Over dependence on single export market


7. Inadequate export promotion efforts


8. Weak market information and market intelligence


9. Inexperience in proper export documentation


10. Poor warehousing facility


11. Insufficiently equipped analytical laboratory


12. Lack of organization of exporters

 
IMPORTANCE OF CARDAMOM IN NEPAL ECONOMICS


1. Major cash crop contributing directly in poverty alleviation


2. Second largest foreign currency earner contributing over NRs. 200 million


3. equivalent to US $ 2.8 million in the year 2004/2005


4. Cultivated in 34 of 75 districts occupying a total area of 13,000 hectares


5. Involvement of more than 25,000 small farmers in cultivation with with an average landholding of 1.3 hectare and an average per capita income of USD 215 per annum


6. Crop generates nearly NRs. 30,000 thousands cash income (2005 data)


7. Among the small holders nearly 60% are ethnic minorities


8. Production is labor intensive and therefore provides seasonal employment to landless, women and unemployed people


9. Wage for cardamom is RS 100 per day compared to Rs 50 for traditional crops


10. Grown in marginal lands and does not compete for other crops for land use


11. Being shade loving cardamom planted under trees and contributing to reforestation


12. Low levels of input requirements


13. Low investment and relatively high return

MICRO-ENCAPSULATION IN FOOD

Micro-encapsulation is a process in which tiny particles or droplets/gases are surrounded by a coating of thin polymers to give small capsules many useful properties. In a relatively simplistic form, a microcapsule is a small sphere with a uniform wall around it. The material inside the microcapsule is referred to as the core, internal phase, or fill, whereas the wall is sometimes called a shell, coating, or membrane. Most microcapsules have diameters between a few micrometers and a few millimeters.

                  

Micro-capsulation contents are protected from environmental conditions such as light, air and moisture. Micro-encapsulation can suppress the volatility, flavor, odor and reactivity of food ingredients. Although every class of food ingredient has been encapsulated, flavors are the most common. The technique of micro-encapsulation depend on the physical and chemical properties of the material to be encapsulated

               

Human health, nutritional status and well-being can be enhanced through consumption of foods containing specifically desired nutrients and bioactive agents. Disease preventing and health promoting properties of different nutrients and bio-agents have been demonstrated.  Among these agents are specific poly-unsaturated lipids, antioxidants,

phytochemicals, vitamins, peptides, etc. Enriching foods with such agents can significantly enhance the nutritional and health-promoting properties of foods and beverages. In other situations, quality of food products is dependent on the incorporation and delivery of flavor, aroma, color, and other sensitive ingredients.

However, the extreme sensitivity of many of these desired compounds leads to their deterioration, at conditions prevailing during food processing and storage, and thus significantly compromises our capability to incorporate them into foods. Preparing high quality nutritious food is therefore critically dependent of availability of effective delivery systems. Such systems should preserve the specific nutritional, biological, chemical and functional properties of the sensitive constituent, pending consumption, and should effectively release the delivered compounds, in a desired mode, following ingestion. Current nutrients and ingredients delivery technologies fall short of allowing meeting these goals successfully and a need to develop new, highly functional delivery systems exists. The most promising technology that can allow overcoming the stated difficulties is micro-encapsulation. Micro-encapsulation involves the entrapment and tailored controlled delivery of biologically active and/or sensitive components. Although the concept has been used successfully, for several decades, in drug delivery applications, its utilization in food applications is in its infancy and is compromised by the very limited array of functional GRAS encapsulating agents and technologies. A critical need to investigate and develop new and advanced technologies and devices for nutrients delivery through foods thus exists.  

MANJU CHHETRI

B.Tech(Food,3^rd year)

5^TH ISSUE OF PAARTH