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 papersFoods and ingredients with health benefits beyond basic nutrition: bioactive compounds, probiotics and prebiotics, dietary fibre, omega-3 fatty acids, plant sterols and polyphenols, foods for special dietary uses, the evidence needed for health claims and how claims are regulated in different countries.
In the exams: GATE XE-G Section 1 (nutraceuticals); ICAR AICE 35.a Unit 8 (nutraceutical and functional foods) and 37 Unit 6
How our questions for ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF spread across the units of Functional Foods, Nutraceuticals & Health Claims. Difficulty: 14 easy, 55 medium, 19 hard.
| Probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics and postbiotics | 9 | |
| Dietary fibre and the gut microbiome | 9 | |
| Definitions: functional foods, nutraceuticals and dietary supplements | 8 | |
| Bioactive compounds: polyphenols, carotenoids, phytosterols and peptides | 8 | |
| Omega-3 fatty acids and structured lipids | 8 | |
| Bioactive peptides and protein hydrolysates | 8 | |
| Delivery and stability of bioactives | 8 | |
| Clinical evidence and substantiation of claims | 8 | |
| Regulation of health claims and nutraceuticals across countries | 8 | |
| Foods for special dietary and medical purposes | 7 | |
| Infant and elderly nutrition products | 7 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
A food supplement label states that it 'cures arthritis'. Under food law in most jurisdictions this claim is
D. Prohibited, as a medicinal claim
Claims to treat, cure or prevent disease are reserved for authorised medicines; a food making them is either illegal or treated as an unauthorised medicine. Naturalness, dose or age of the product do not change this.
Further reading: Gibson and Williams (eds.), Functional Foods: Concept to Product
Most dietary polyphenols reach the blood at low concentrations mainly because they
B. Are poorly absorbed and heavily metabolised
Polyphenols are poorly absorbed in the small intestine and extensively conjugated in the gut wall and liver or degraded by colonic bacteria. Cooking does not destroy all of them, and the other routes are not the reason.
Further reading: Gibson and Williams (eds.), Functional Foods: Concept to Product
A product label states that it 'improves your microbiome'. Most regulators would reject this as a health claim because
D. No measurable health benefit is specified
A change in microbial composition is not itself a defined health benefit; claims must state a specific, measurable benefit shown in humans. Diet does change the microbiota, fibre is permitted, and many human studies exist.
Further reading: Codex Alimentarius, Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling (dietary fibre definition)
Psyllium is widely used in gluten-free bread mainly because it
B. Forms a gel that replaces gluten's structure
Psyllium husk forms a strong viscous gel that holds gas and gives structure in gluten-free dough. It is gluten-free and does not add colour or starch.
Further reading: Codex Alimentarius, Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling (dietary fibre definition)
OPO structured lipids are produced commercially using
B. sn-1,3-specific lipases
sn-1,3-specific lipases exchange fatty acids at the outer positions while keeping palmitic acid at sn-2. Random interesterification would scramble positions; hydrogenation and fractionation do not create OPO.
Further reading: Gibson and Williams (eds.), Functional Foods: Concept to Product
The lactotripeptides VPP and IPP, formed in milk fermented by Lactobacillus helveticus, inhibit
A. Angiotensin-converting enzyme
VPP and IPP inhibit ACE in vitro, which is relevant to blood pressure regulation. They do not target lipase, amylase or lactase.
Further reading: Gibson and Williams (eds.), Functional Foods: Concept to Product
Bitterness in protein hydrolysates comes mainly from
B. Peptides with exposed hydrophobic residues
Hydrolysis exposes hydrophobic amino acids such as leucine and proline at peptide ends, which taste bitter. Sugars, salts and fat oxidation are not the main cause.
Further reading: Gibson and Williams (eds.), Functional Foods: Concept to Product
Why are free amino acid formulas for metabolic disorders difficult to make palatable?
A. Free amino acids taste bitter and unpleasant
Many free amino acids are bitter or sulphurous, so these formulas need flavour masking and careful formulation. Fat, sweetness and drying are not the main problem.
Further reading: Codex Alimentarius, CXS 180-1991 and CXS 118-1979
A bioactive degrades by first-order kinetics with k = 0.02 per day. The fraction remaining after 60 days is about
A. 30%
Retention = exp(−0.02 × 60) = exp(−1.2) = 0.301, about 30%. 70% is the fraction lost; 98.8% subtracts 1.2 percentage points from 100; 50% assumes 60 days is one half-life, but the half-life is ln 2 ÷ 0.02 = 35 days.
Further reading: Brodkorb et al., INFOGEST protocol, Nature Protocols
INFOGEST is
C. A standardised in vitro digestion protocol
INFOGEST is an international consensus protocol simulating oral, gastric and intestinal digestion in vitro. It is not a composition database, a counting method or a regulation.
Further reading: Brodkorb et al., INFOGEST protocol, Nature Protocols
Ten here, 88 in the app. The Laisha app has every practice question we have written to ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF in this subject, marked as you go, with timed papers, a jump-to-unanswered list and a certificate when you pass at 70 per cent.
Free for ten days, then one subscription of US$10 a month. We would rather say so here than have you find it later.
An AI operating system for agriculture: free guides, manuals and tools written for every country.