ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF (PhD) — Food Processing Technology, Food Safety & Quality, Processing and Food Engineering · India · ICAR through the National Testing Agency
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersReducing and using food-industry waste: characterisation and treatment of food-plant effluents, recovery of by-products, water and energy reduction, life-cycle assessment and circular-economy approaches. General agricultural waste engineering is in Agricultural Engineering's waste-management-environmental-engg.
In the exams: GATE XE-G Section 3 (waste utilisation); ICAR AIEEA-PG Code 18 Unit III (effluent treatment, waste solids upgrading); ICAR AICE 41 (waste disposal of food processing plants)
How our questions for ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF spread across the units of Food Waste Valorisation, By-products & Sustainable Food Processing. Difficulty: 2 easy, 41 medium, 7 hard.
| Life-cycle assessment of food products | 7 | |
| Anaerobic digestion of food-processing waste | 6 | |
| Extraction of bioactives from by-products | 6 | |
| Environmental regulation for food industries | 6 | |
| Effluent treatment for food plants: primary, secondary and tertiary | 5 | |
| Water reuse and water footprint in food plants | 5 | |
| Energy efficiency and carbon footprint | 4 | |
| Circular economy and upcycled foods | 4 | |
| Food loss and waste along the chain | 3 | |
| Characteristics of food-industry wastes: BOD, COD and solids | 3 | |
| Recovery of by-products from fruit, cereal, dairy, meat and fish processing | 1 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
An aeration tank of 3000 m³ receives 1000 m³ of effluent per day. What is the hydraulic retention time?
B. 72 hours
HRT = V/Q = 3000/1000 = 3 days = 72 hours. 3 hours confuses days with hours; 0.33 inverts the ratio; 8 hours takes a third of a day.
Further reading: Metcalf & Eddy, Wastewater Engineering: Treatment and Resource Recovery
Which process removes nitrogen biologically from treated effluent?
A. Nitrification followed by denitrification
Ammonia is oxidised to nitrate aerobically and nitrate reduced to nitrogen gas under anoxic conditions. Iron salts remove phosphorus; DAF removes solids; chlorine disinfects.
Further reading: Metcalf & Eddy, Wastewater Engineering: Treatment and Resource Recovery
Why are strong food effluents often treated anaerobically first and then aerobically?
B. Anaerobic removes most COD cheaply, then aerobic polishes
Anaerobic reactors remove the bulk of COD with little energy and produce biogas, but their effluent usually needs aerobic polishing to meet BOD, ammonia and solids limits. Methane is an anaerobic product.
Further reading: Metcalf & Eddy, Wastewater Engineering: Treatment and Resource Recovery
How is chitosan obtained from shrimp shells?
D. Demineralise, deproteinise, then deacetylate chitin
Shells are treated with acid to remove minerals and alkali to remove protein, giving chitin, which is deacetylated with strong alkali to chitosan.
Further reading: Galanakis, Food Waste Recovery; Waldron, Handbook of Waste Management and Co-product Recovery
Why must extracts from by-products be tested for contaminants before food use?
D. Contaminants concentrate with the bioactives
Peels, husks and residues can carry pesticide residues, mycotoxins and heavy metals, which extraction may concentrate. Food safety rules and often novel-food approval apply.
Further reading: Galanakis, Food Waste Recovery; Waldron, Handbook of Waste Management and Co-product Recovery
A plant wants to reuse treated effluent for cleaning food-contact surfaces. What is usually required?
A. Treatment to potable quality, monitoring and approval
Water contacting food or food-contact surfaces must be potable; reclaimed water can reach this by membranes and disinfection, but regulators usually require approval and verification.
Further reading: Hoekstra, Water Footprint Assessment Manual; ISO 14040/14044; GHG Protocol
A plant uses 200 000 kWh of grid electricity with an emission factor of 0.5 kg CO₂e per kWh. What are its scope 2 emissions?
B. 100 t CO₂e
200 000 × 0.5 = 100 000 kg = 100 t CO₂e. 1000 t and 10 t slip a factor of ten; 400 t divides by the factor instead of multiplying.
Further reading: Hoekstra, Water Footprint Assessment Manual; ISO 14040/14044; GHG Protocol
Which international agreement phases down hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants?
A. The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol
The 2016 Kigali Amendment added HFCs to the Montreal Protocol for phase-down, encouraging natural refrigerants such as ammonia and CO₂.
Further reading: Hoekstra, Water Footprint Assessment Manual; ISO 14040/14044; GHG Protocol
What is the functional unit in an LCA?
B. The quantified performance to which all results refer
All inputs, outputs and impacts are expressed per functional unit, such as 1 kg of packaged cheese at retail, so that comparisons are fair.
Further reading: Hoekstra, Water Footprint Assessment Manual; ISO 14040/14044; GHG Protocol
In the 2020 definition, what makes a food "upcycled"?
B. Inputs otherwise not eaten, from verifiable supply chains
Upcycled foods use inputs that would otherwise not go to human consumption, are produced with verifiable supply chains and have positive environmental impact. Packaging, farming method or discounts do not define it.
Further reading: FAO, State of Food and Agriculture 2019; UNEP Food Waste Index Report
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