Research Conclave and Poster Presentation

In his opening comments, Padma Vibhushan Prof M M Sharma, said, “There is a dearth of researchers in the packaging segment. The Research Conclave is a step towards encouraging researchers and recognising them.”

Seconding Sharma, Dr Shivshankar Mishra, Professor Emeritus and the chairman of the Research Conclave, highlighted the absence of documentation and the accessibility of the research papers to the packaging and food processing industry. He said, “From among all the science journals available, there is none which documents packaging research studies. It is important that these papers reach the industry so that new design and substrates can be put to use in the industry.”

“The importance of a strong supply chain cannot be stressed enough. Today, India is unable to export forestry and horticultural products on a large scale due to loopholes in the chain,” he added.

Some of the key presentations during the two days were Comparative Study on Ordinary and Modified Atomospheric Packaging and Methods for Shelf Life Extension of Goat Meat Stored at Refrigeration Temperature by SH Bandekar and RJ Zende of IIP, MAP and its application by Dr Laxmi Iyer of ICT -Mumbai and Advancements in Control Release Packaging Materials by Dr Sampa Saha of IIT-Delhi.

The presenters also focused on packaging materials, the effect of packaging and storage conditions, and the effect of surface treatment and coating. The 48 poster presentations from researchers and students included vaccum packaging and MAP for chicken and ham, edible packaging, HPMC-based edible surface coating, recycling of flexible laminates through pyrolysis.