Conference on mustard oil to be held in Jaipur on Sep 30

Jaipur, Sep 28 (UNI) A conference to highlight the significance of mustard oil for its diversifying uses will be held here on Saturday with the participation of over 200 scientists, oil technologists, mustard processors and farmer representatives among others.

The conference will be organised by the Mustard Research and Promotion Consortium (MRPC) and supported by NAFED, New Delhi, and Rajfed and Tilam Sangh, Jaipur.

Convenor of the MRPC H B Singh said, '' The conference comes at a time when the mustard sector is emerging out of a slump when farmers faced difficulty in selling their produce and several oil mills had to close down because of non-parity. The mustard sector is now upbeat and is gearing up to meet the global challenges.'' ''The conference will focus on issues that need to be resolved to make the mustard oil globally competitive,'' he said adding ''it is expected that plant breeders and biotechnologists will announce new, superior and transgenic (genetically modified) crops.

In addition to high-yielding varieties of conventional pungent mustard, there are now indigenously developed non-pungent and oleic acid rich varieties of the mustard adapted to local conditions.

Developing synergy between germplasm experts, breeders and crop biotechnologists will be a key theme of the conference.

The highlight of the conference will be a discussion on health and nutritional aspects of the mustard oil. Noted experts are of the view the mustard oil is one of the healthiest edible oil. It has lowest of saturated fatty acids and high amount of monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated (PUFA) fatty acids, which are good for health.

In fact, the mustard oil has an ideal ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which are essential for human health. This has also been supported by the recently-conducted study at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in the National capital, in which Indian mustard oil was compared with the Canola oil.

Scientists at the conference will present their findings on efficient processing technologies, industrial applications of oleochemicals derived from the mustard oil, inter-esterification for diversification of mustard oil uses, scope of mustard protein in processed food formulation and use of protein from seed cake for the human consumption.

Oil technologists and marketing experts are expected to come up with fresh recommendations to meet the quality component assessment requirements in the light of WTO regulations.

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