| Group Composition |
- Mr. Alamgeer Khan, PS, (Group Leader)
- Mr. Muhammad Asim Irshad, JS
- Mr. Waseem Jan, ATO
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| Current Research Programme of the Group |
- The Food Engineering & Irradiation group of the Food and Nutrition Division (FND), Nuclear Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), focuses on the application of food engineering, processing, preservation, drying, and ionizing radiation technologies for improving food safety, quality, shelf life, disinfestation, and value addition of food and agricultural commodities.
- The group undertakes research and development in food processing and drying, packaging and storage, process optimization, irradiation-based food preservation and disinfestation, and development of value-added food products. The group also supports technology transfer, capacity building, and collaboration with public- and private-sector organizations for commercialization and wider adoption of food processing and irradiation technologies.
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| Tangible Achievements |
- Adaptation of low-energy X-ray technology for food decontamination and disinfestation.
- Development and optimization of irradiation protocols for food safety, preservation, and shelf-life extension.
- Development of technology for reduction/removal of persimmon astringency.
- Development and optimization of hybrid solar drying technology for fruits and vegetables.
- Development of value-added food products from locally available agricultural commodities.
- Provision of technical expertise, capacity building, and technology transfer in food processing and irradiation.
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| Group R&D Objectives |
- To apply nuclear and other food-processing technologies to improve food safety, preservation, shelf life, quality, and disinfestation of food and agricultural commodities.
- To develop and transfer value-added food products and processing technologies through R&D, innovation, and collaboration.
- To develop preservation, drying, dehydration, packaging, and storage technologies to reduce postharvest losses and extend shelf life.
- To optimize gamma radiation, X-ray, and electron-beam technologies for food preservation, microbial reduction, disinfestation, and quality improvement.
- To develop and validate safe, high-quality, and value-added food products through optimized processing parameters.
- To strengthen technical capacity, technology transfer, and commercialization through collaboration with academia, industry, farmers, processors, and other stakeholders.
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