Notable contributions :
Developed infrared chamber for continuous production of pre-treated foxtail millets. Designed and manufactured continuous seed treatment facility.
Established process line for manufacture of pectin from mango peel and oil from mango kernel. Produced novel table salt with low sodium content.
Designed and developed electric vacuum frying system for production of wheat chips. Designed and developed centrifugal cashew nut sheller.
Developed ohmic heat-assisted vacuum evaporation system for fruit juices. Designed and developed 20 and 30 kV pulsed electric field system for treatment of vegetable slices.
Produced detoxified jatropha kernel meal to utilize as aqua-feed. Extended shelf-life of Indian Sweet (Mothichur Laddu) in shrink film packaging materials.
Produced and characterized moringa leaf powder tablets. Extended shelf-life of white grape juice using ohmic heating.
Developed a simple sticky-point test apparatus and characterized stickiness of different food powders. Produced spray dried powder from chia seed mucilage.
Optimized process technology for production of chia seed mucilage. Studied hydration kinetics for extraction of gel from chia seeds.
Produced dehydrated papaya cubes using ultrasound-assisted osmotic dehydration and convective air drying. Reduced oil uptake during deep fat frying of potato chips using hydrocolloids.
Standardized process technology for production of muffins and cakes by incorporating tender palm shoot flour. Produced biodiesel from deep fat fried waste cooking oil.
Designed and developed a measuring system for dimensional characterization of tender coconuts. Established the procedure for determining the color changes during ripening of guava and banana using digital imaging.
Extended the preservation life of tender coconut water. Studied the dehydration characteristics of grapes in solar cabinet air dryer for good quality raisins production.
Prepared karanj methyl ester (biodiesel) and characterized its quality. Developed an air popping system for production of popcorn.
Determined physical properties and water adsorption Characteristics of pigeon pea. Established moisture adsorption isotherms for peanut pods, kernels and husk.
Determined thermal properties of peanut pods, kernels and husk. Studied the frictional properties of peanut pods, peanut Kernels, peanut husk, black gram and rough rice.
Determined dimensional characteristics, aerodynamic and frictional characteristics of peanut pods, kernels and husk. Established physical properties and airflow resistance characteristics of peanut pods, kernels and husk.
Teaching :
Handled 29 courses for B.Tech. (Agril Engg)
M.Tech. (Agril Engg)
Ph.D. (Agril Engg), B.Tech. (Food Technology) and B.Sc. (Ag.).
Workshop Technology – I
Workshop Technology – I
Workshop Technology - II
Workshop Practice
Electrical Circuits
Electrical Machines and Power Utilization
Greenhouses
Unit Operations in Agricultural Process and Food Engineering
Crop Process Engineering
Fluid Mechanics and Open Channel Hydraulics
Farm Power, Machinery, and Equipment
Soil Mechanics
Biomass Energy Conversion
Agricultural Structures
Farm Machinery – I
Post-Harvest Technology – Processing and Equipment
Process Engineering for Agricultural Produce
Dairy and Food Engineering
Agro-Industries and By-products Utilization
Engineering Properties of Food Materials
Computational Methods Through Programming
Refrigeration Engineering and Cold Chain
Extrusion Technology
Unit Operations in Food Process Engineering
Transport Phenomena in Food Processing
Food Processing Equipment and Plant Design
Advances in Food Processing
Mathematical Models in Food Processing
Research Interests :
Development of innovative systems for extending the shelf-life of agricultural produce economical for commercial use
Professional recognition :
Member of American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), USA – since 1992 (M. No. M0204046)
Member of American Association for Advancement of Science, USA – 2007-09 (M. No. 20217843)
Life Member of Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers since 1997 (M. No. LM-9525)
Life Member of Association of Food Scientists and Technologists (India), Mysore since 1998 (LIHQR 2240)
Life Member of Institution of Engineers (India) since 2004 (M. No. M127314-5)
Life Member of The Andhra Agricultural Union since 2021
Editorial Board Member of Andhra Agricultural Journal - 2004-05
Secretary, ANGRAUTA – K.G. Zone, Guntur for the year 2000-01
Executive Member, ANGRAUTA – Bapatla Unit for the year 2004-05
Research publications
International/National Journals: 36
Conference proceedings: 34
Books and Book chapters: 1
Technical bulletins: 20
Popular articles: 9
Any others:
Reviewer for Journals: 25 (International - 22; National - 3) (Papers: 236 + 12)
B. Tech. Theses: 23 M. Tech. Theses: 4 Ph.D. Theses: 2
V Deans Committee Co-Convener – Food Technology
FSSAI CPL Scientific Panel Member
Handled ICAR Extramural Research Project on Extraction and Mechanical Separation of Chia Seed Mucilage with project outlay of Rs.36.38 lakhs during 2015-18.
Awards & Honours
National Ideal Teaching Awards Programme-2022 for Best Scientist Teacher of the Year (Agricultural Engineering) Award during 2022
Certificate of Reviewing Award of the “Journal of Food Science”, USA during 2020
Certificate of Reviewing Award of the “Journal of Food Science”, USA during 2019
Certificate of Reviewing Award of the “LWT-Food Science and Technology”, England since February, 2018
Certificate of Reviewing Award of the “Journal of Food Engineering”, England since March, 2018
Best Research Paper Award for the paper Venkata S.P. Bitra, N. Anusha, M. Ravi Naik and S. Sudheer Kumar. 2018. Digital Image Processing for Color Measurement during Ripening of Banana and Guava. Paper No. FP-16. Paper presented during National Conference on “Digital and Engineering Technologies for Precision Agriculture and Value Addition” held during 26-27 February, 2018 at College of Agricultural Engineering, ANGRAU, Bapatla, A.P.
State Best Teacher Award at University Level of Andhra Pradesh, India during 2017
Certificate of Outstanding Contribution in Reviewing Award of the Journal “LWT-Food Science and Technology”, England during May, 2018
Certificate of Outstanding Contribution in Reviewing Award of the “Journal of Food Engineering”, England during April, 2018
Certificate of Reviewing Award of the Journal “Biomass & Bioenergy”, England since March, 2018
Certificate of Outstanding Contribution in Reviewing Award of the Journal “Industrial Crops and Products”, The Netherlands during April, 2017
Certificate of Reviewing Award of the Journal “Industrial Crops and Products”, The Netherlands since March, 2017
Certificate of Reviewing Award of the Journal “Biosystems Engineering”, Great Britain since March, 2014
Certificate of Reviewing Award of the Journal “Powder Technology”, The Netherlands since March, 2011
Achieved “Top 25 Hottest Articles of Powder Technology (April - June, 2009)” honor for Bitra et al. (Powder Technology, 2009) research paper
Distinguished Standing and Honorary Appointment to the Research Board of Advisors, 1999 of the American Biographical Institute, U.S.A.
Institute Research Fellowship during Ph.D. in I.I.T., Kharagpur, India (1989-1992)
GATE Scholarship during M.Tech. in I.I.T., Kharagpur, India (1987-1989)
Merit Certificate of Mathematical Olympiad, 1983 (India)
National Merit Scholarship, 1982 (India)