Nauni Varsity Shines with Six Awards at National Symposium

Neri and Nauni campuses of Dr. YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry witnessed a stellar performance as six faculty members and 26 postgraduate students from the Department of Food Science and Technology participated at the National Symposium on ‘Food Processing 4.0: Innovation and Sustainability’ hosted by Punjab Agricultural University.

Dr. Rakesh Sharma, HoD, Department of Food Science and Technology, delivered an insightful talk on ‘Food Processing: Innovation and Sustainability’ and also presided over a technical session focused on ‘Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals’.Dr. Abhishek Thakur, Assistant Professor, was honoured with Best Oral Presentation award for his paper titled ‘Waste to Worth: Utilization of Wasp-affected Apple Variety Anna in Subtropical areas of Himachal Pradesh for Chips Making’.

Further contributing to the university’s success, doctoral scholars Anupama Anand and Harpreet Kaur Saini clinched the Best Oral Presentation Award for their respective papers: ‘Investigating the influence of different extraction techniques on microcrystalline cellulose from corn waste’ and ‘Exploring the anti-diabetic and antioxidant potential of corn silk extract through in vitro studies’.

Monika Thakur and Pooja Soni, both doctoral students, showcased their research excellence by securing the Best Poster Presentation Award. Monika’s paper, ‘Formulation and evaluation of low-calorie muffins functionally fortified with aloe vera gel’, and Pooja’s work on ‘Preparation of osmotically dehydrated sand pear chips’ impressed the judges with their innovation and practicality. Additionally, Anika Panwar, an MSc student, added to the accolades by receiving the Best Poster Presentation Award for her paper titled ‘Chitosan nanoemulsion-based bioactive films: Production and characterization for perishables’. The university administration and faculty congratulated the winners.