GATE — Engineering Sciences (XE), Section G Food Technology
India · IITs and IISc on rotation (2026: IIT Guwahati) · pg
1881practice questions written to this syllabus
42subjects
Format
Computer-based, 3 hours, 100 marks. MCQ, MSQ and NAT. General Aptitude is common to every GATE paper; within XE, Section A Engineering Mathematics is compulsory (stated on the 2026 XE-A syllabus) and the candidate chooses two further sections, of which G Food Technology is one. The split of marks between GA, XE-A and the two chosen sections is from Laisha's knowledge of earlier brochures and was not re-read for 2026.
Sections
General Aptitude
XE-A Engineering Mathematics (compulsory): linear algebra, calculus, vector calculus, complex variables, ODEs, PDEs, probability and statistics, numerical methods
XE-G Section 1: Food Chemistry and Nutrition
XE-G Section 2: Food Microbiology
XE-G Section 3: Food Products Technology
XE-G Section 4: Food Engineering
One further XE section of the candidate's choice
Over the years
The 2026 XE-G and XE-A syllabus PDFs were read in full. XE-G Section 3 lists processing principles, packaging, cereal, oil, fruit and vegetable, plantation crop, milk and animal product processing, waste utilisation, and food standards (FPO, PFA, A-Mark, ISI, HACCP, CIP). Section 4 lists mass and energy balance, momentum, heat and mass transfer, mechanical and thermal operations and psychrometry. Used for M.Tech/PhD admission at IITs and other institutes and for some PSU screening. Laisha has not yet counted marks per section in past papers.
Original questions written to this exam's published syllabus and pattern. Not past papers.
1. What is the determinant of the matrix [[3, 2], [5, 4]]?
7
22
2
−2
Answer and working
C. 2
det = ad − bc = 3·4 − 2·5 = 12 − 10 = 2. 22 adds the products instead of subtracting; −2 subtracts them in the wrong order (bc − ad); 7 is the trace.
Mathematics for Food Science & Engineering · Matrices, determinants, rank and systems of linear equations
2. Packs of biscuits have a mean fill weight of 250 g and a standard deviation of 5 g. What is the coefficient of variation?
0.02%
2%
50%
5%
Answer and working
B. 2%
CV = SD / mean × 100 = 5 / 250 × 100 = 2%. 0.02% forgets to multiply by 100, 50% divides the mean by the SD, and 5% just repeats the SD in grams as if it were a percentage.
Statistics, Experimental Design & Chemometrics for Food Science · Descriptive statistics and probability distributions: binomial, Poisson and normal
3. Who disproved spontaneous generation with swan-neck flasks of boiled broth?
Louis Pasteur
Joseph Lister
Robert Koch
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
Answer and working
A. Louis Pasteur
Pasteur's swan-neck flasks (about 1861) stayed sterile while open to air because dust settled in the bend. Koch proved specific causes of disease; Leeuwenhoek first saw microbes; Lister introduced antiseptic surgery.
General Microbiology · History and scope of microbiology
4. Which discovery of the 1860s explained why Appert's sealed, heated foods did not spoil?
Heat crystallised the sugars in food so that water became fully unavailable to decay
Heat killed the microorganisms that caused spoilage, and sealing kept others out
Heat destroyed the vitamins that spoilage organisms needed to begin to grow at all
Heat drove all oxygen from food, and oxygen alone was the cause of every kind of spoilage
Answer and working
B. Heat killed the microorganisms that caused spoilage, and sealing kept others out
Pasteur showed that microorganisms cause fermentation and spoilage and that heat kills them. Excluding oxygen alone does not prevent spoilage, as anaerobic spore-formers demonstrate.
Principles of Food Science & Food Preservation · History, scope and structure of the food industry worldwide
5. Using the Atwater general factors, what is the energy value of a snack containing 12 g protein, 30 g available carbohydrate and 8 g fat?
200 kcal
268 kcal
220 kcal
240 kcal
Answer and working
D. 240 kcal
4 × 12 + 4 × 30 + 9 × 8 = 48 + 120 + 72 = 240 kcal. 200 kcal uses 4 kcal/g for fat too; 268 kcal uses gross energies near 4.1/9.4/5.65 kcal/g with rounding; 220 kcal drops part of the fat term.
Human Nutrition & Nutritional Quality of Processed Foods · Energy: BMR, energy requirements and energy value of foods
Practise it, and prove it
These notes are free to read here, with no account.
What the Laisha app adds:
1881 original practice questions, marked, with every answer explained.
A certificate when you pass a paper at 70 per cent, with a code anyone can verify.
Professional calculators that show their working, and the full exam map for your country.
Free for ten days, then a subscription. We would rather write that here than have you find it later.