Manju Nehra

@cdlu.ac.in

Associate Professor, Department of Food Science and Technology
Chaudhary Devilal University

Manju Nehra


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https://researchid.co/manju.vnehra
DOB: August 2, 1981
Working as Associate Professor in Department of Food Science and Technology, Chaudhary Devilal University, Sirsa (Oct., 2007 to till date)
Chairperson, Department of Food Science and Technology, Chaudhary Devilal University, Sirsa
Director Youth Welfare, Chaudhary Devilal University, Sirsa
Director, Consultancy Cell, Chaudhary Devilal University, Sirsa
Nodal Officer, Rozgar Portal, Chaudhary Devilal University Sirsa
Member, IQAC, Chaudhary Devilal University Sirsa
Member, Academic Council, Chaudhary Devilal University, Sirsa
Chairman, PG and UG board of Studies, Department of Food Science, Chaudhary Devilal University Sirsa
Chairman, DRC and DRAC Food Science and Technology, Chaudhary Devilal University, Sirsa

Field(s) of Specialization
Nutrition and dietetics, Industrial microbiology, Beverage Technology, Fruits and Vegetable Processing

EDUCATION

Food Technology)

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Food and Nutrition, Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods
23

Scopus Publications

Scopus Publications

  • From peel to power: Exploring the potential of fruit waste in a circular economy
    Pardeep Kumar Sadh, Ajay Kamboj, Babli Yadav, Prince Chawla, Manju Nehra, Basanti Brar, Baljeet Singh Saharan, Surekha Duhan, Joginder Singh Duhan
    Food Chemistry Advances, 2025
    • Fruit waste is a rich source of bioactive compounds. • Fermented fruit residues yield SCP, meeting sustainable protein needs. • Fruit waste-derived aerogels aid in pollution control, especially in dye removal. • Valorisation drives a circular economy, achieving zero-waste goals and ecobenefits. Fruits are vital for a balanced diet due to their rich natural antioxidant content, which has been demonstrated to be effective in managing various chronic disorders. The several types of waste produced by the fruit industry are seen as an international issue. As a rich source of secondary metabolites, fruit waste offers an opportunity for the sustainable use of waste materials, helping to attain the global objective of “zero waste.” Fruit waste includes a variety of phytochemicals, including colours, and other valuable substances, including polyphenols and polysaccharides. The use of phenolic compounds in functional meals and nutritional supplements has made them more desirable to the business. The single-cell protein (SCP) technique has recently gained popularity as a solution to two key problems: the growing global protein shortage resulting from population growth, and the significant increase in industrial waste production rates. Over the years, fruit production has expanded worldwide. Fruit wastes unsuitable for consumption are often discarded into the environment, causing environmental pollution. However, these residues are rich in fermentable sugars and essential nutrients that microorganisms can use as substrates to produce microbial products such as protein, bioethanol and biogas. This review investigates the utilisation of fruit wastes as a substrate for SCP creation in light of this. Plant- and animal-based functional food components, including omega-3 fatty acids, soy protein isolate, whey protein isolate, and dietary fibre, have been widely utilised to produce essential food products. Most byproducts of fruit processing, including those from oranges, apples, and grapes, are rich in dietary fibre, unsaturated fatty acids, and bioactive phytochemicals, making them potentially useful in functional foods. Currently, integrated and multidisciplinary approaches are being employed to investigate the key components and related bioactivities of fruit waste, exploring new application areas and creating value in terms of social, environmental, and economic aspects, thereby developing an environmentally friendly method for handling fruit waste. Thus, this review aims to present comprehensive information on the bioactive chemicals, antioxidants, and antiviral activity found in fruit waste, as well as value-added products, including polyphenols, single-cell proteins, bioethanol, and bioplastic enzymes.
  • Perspectives of millets for nutritional properties, health benefits and food of the future: a review
    Pardeep Kumar Sadh, Ajay Kamboj, Suresh Kumar, Prince Chawla, Ravinder Kumar, Baljeet Singh Saharan, Dharmender Kumar, Surekha Duhan, Manju Nehra, Chhaya Goyal, Basanti Brar, Seema Joshi, Joginder Singh Duhan
    Discover Food, 2024
    In recent years, the increased prevalence of diseases associated with altered lifestyles, poor diet, and related awareness of natural therapies to treat these ailments has emphasized the study of bioactive compounds and natural small molecules. After the COVID-19 pandemic, people have become more concerned with their diet and healthy lifestyle. We need to replace grains with fortified foods that can help us fight nutritional security and provide a disease-free environment. Millets are nutritionally better than other cereals for human health. Millets are gluten-free, high in fiber content, and rich in minerals. Fiber-rich foods have a low glycaemic index and can reduce the risk of oxidative stress and metabolic illnesses. The 2023 year was dedicated to the International Year of Millets (IYM 2023). Hence, Millet varieties contain a large number of bioactive products like protocatechuic acid, vanillic acid, syringic acid, p-coumaric acid, catechin, ferulic acid, sinapic acid, quercetin, apigenin, taxifolin, kaempferol, luteolin and myricetin, β-sitosterol, campesterol, stigmasterol, and ergosterol etc. These bioactive compounds have potential health benefits, including various biological properties like anti-diabetic, anticancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity, anti-hypertensive, cholesterol-lowering, immunomodulatory, and antimicrobial properties. The fermentation of millet can have the potential for an upsurge in their nutrient availability. Therefore, fermented foods have attracted much attention because of their potential health benefits. This review primarily focuses on recent developments in millet as a food, nutritional, and bioactive compound. It can potentially boost health and has implications for various fermented millet varieties.
  • Comprehensive Characterization of Starch from Diverse Sources: Physicochemical, and Functional Properties
    Archana Sinhmar, Somesh Sharma, Ashok Kumar Pathera, Manju Nehra, Rahul Thory, Vikash Nain, Sachin Kumar Godara
    Starch Staerke, 2024
    The present study is based on the comprehensive characterization of starches from pearl millet, sorghum, mango kernel, and water chestnut. The starches are analyzed to observe the difference in physicochemical, pasting, rheological, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) properties. The amylose content from diverse sources ranges from 17.3 to 26.3%. The swelling power and solubility of the starches are influenced by the increase in temperature. It is observed that an increase in temperature results in increased swelling power and solubility. At 90 °C, mango kernel starch shows the highest swelling power while pearl millet starch shows the lowest. The botanical sources influence the pasting and rheological properties, and a significant difference (p < 0.05) is observed in all the parameters recorded. The peak viscosity (PV) of starches ranges from 1256 to 2101 cP. All the starches possess almost similar and typical starch FTIR spectra. The starches from all sources show prominent peaks at 15.2, 17, 18.3, and 23 (2θ), corresponding to a typical A‐type starch crystallinity organization.
  • Handbook of industrial food microbiology
    Handbook of Industrial Food Microbiology, 2024
  • Fruit fortification of craft beer
    Manju Nehra, Nishant Grover, K.S. Sandhu, Rahul Thory
    Fruit Fortification of Craft Beer, 2024
    A variety of bioactive compounds, including antioxidants and certain components that, when drunk in moderation, may have positive benefits on the human body, make up beer.Beer's naturally occurring antioxidant content is boosted during the brewing process by the addition of hops, grains, and barley, primarily phenolic compounds.This book provides details on the brewing method, compositional analysis, and history of craft beers.It discusses how adding fruit fortification to certain craftbrewed beers can improve their color, sensory appeal, antioxidant content, and nutritional makeup.The global alcohol market is still expanding rapidly, and this book offers up-to-date research on latest studies and experiments in beer.It will be beneficial to academics, researchers, businesspeople, producers, and many more.There is interest in the use of fruits to fortify beers, which means that steps and methods for producing newer varieties of beer need to be more creative and efficient.
  • Oleaginous Algae— A Promising Industrial Source for Essential Fatty Acids: Developments and Scope
    Manju Nehra, Amanjyoti, Vikash Nain, Kawaljeet Sandhu, Rahul Thory
    Biotechnological Advances in Agriculture Healthcare Environment and Industry, 2024
    Algae, a diverse group of photosynthetic organisms, predates higher plants and plays a crucial role in various ecosystems. Algae are known to contain a wide array of compounds, including lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, and vitamins, with lipids comprising a significant portion of their dry weight. Notably, certain species of microalgae have been found to produce polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), such as EPA and DHA, which are essential for human health. These PUFAs can be extracted from algae and used as novel sources, with algae-derived DHA already available in the market. Research on algae has also emphasized their potential in various industries, including biodiesel production, hydrogen production, nitrogen removal, and flame-retardant substances. However, challenges such as high cultivation and extraction costs have limited the commercial viability of algal biodiesel, leading to a shift toward high-value biological products and ecological applications. Additionally, efforts are underway to optimize algae cultivation methods and coproduce valuable compounds like astaxanthin and long-chain PUFAs, making algae a promising source of sustainable resources for the future. This chapter explains the recent findings on algae, focusing on their nutrient composition, particularly lipids and fatty acids.
  • Biopolymer and polymer precursor production by microorganisms: applications and future prospects
    Baljeet Singh Saharan, Neel Kamal, Prerana Badoni, Ramesh Kumar, Mayuri Saini, Dharmender Kumar, Deepansh Sharma, Swati Tyagi, Poonam Ranga, Jagdish Parshad, Chhaya Goyal, Ravinder Kumar, Manju Nehra, Chandra Shekhar Seth, Joginder Singh Duhan, Neelam Kumari Mandal
    Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, 2024
    Polymers have been used in various industries over the past few decades due to their tremendous applications. Among these, polyhydroxyalkanoates and poly(lactic acid) are easily biodegradable biopolymers derived from bacteria, including recombinant Escherichia coli, Alcaligenes eutrophus, Alcaligenes latus, Azotobacter vinelandii, methylotrophs and Pseudomonas. Conventional petroleum‐derived polymers have become potentially harmful to the environment due to their complex degradation process. The nonbiodegradability of synthetic polymers has become a global issue of concern. There is an urgent need for a substitute to tackle the increasing environmental stress. Microorganisms are small factories for producing different types of polymers during their growth cycle. Various features like biodegradability, biocompatibility, nontoxicity and wide substrate spectrum make such microbial polymers highly reliable. Biopolymers such as alginate, cellulose, cyanophycin, levan, polyhydroxyalkanoates, xanthan, poly(lactic acid) and poly(γ‐glutamic acid) can be obtained from different microorganisms like Aureobasdium pullulans, Acetobacter xylinum, Bacillus thermoamylovorans and Cupriavidusnecator. These are extensively used in various fields like food, medicine, wastewater treatment, biofuel production, packaging and cosmetics. Despite being advantageous in several ways, the biopolymer market still faces several hurdles. This review mainly emphasizes the different types of biopolymers, production by microorganisms and various applications of these biopolymers in different fields. The main drawback limiting the development of these polymers is the high production cost and low efficiency of the microbial strains. Genetic recombination is an efficient technique to enhance the microbial yield and to expand the biopolymer market size. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).
  • Lesser known mushrooms: Hellvella crispa (Scop.) Fr., Lactarius volemus (Fr.), Clavulinopsis fusiformis (Sowerby), Hypholoma capnoides (Fr.), Psathyrella spadicea, and Suillus granulatus
    Manju Nehra, Vikash Nain, Amanjyoti
    Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms of the Himalayas Climate Change Critically Endangered Species and the Call for Sustainable Development, 2023
    Numerous types of mushrooms have been traditionally used in different cultures for their health maintenance effect and the prevention and treatment of serious diseases. However, wide varieties of mushrooms are known to most of people but a lot of lesser known mushrooms also have various health promoting effects that have not yet been explored sufficiently such as Helvella crisp, Lactifluus volemus, Clavulinopsis fusiformis, etc. These fungi are yet need to be investigated further for their numerous health benefits and other culinary applications. The fungi described in this chapter are found in various parts of the world and have a lot of medicinal potential. Hypholoma capnoides is a species of edible fungus in the Strophariaceae family and found in United States, Europe, and Asia. This chapter is meant to provide some light on such lesser known fungi for their better utilisation.
  • Evaluation of Cytotoxicity, Release Behavior and Phytopathogens Control by Mancozeb-Loaded Guar Gum Nanoemulsions for Sustainable Agriculture
    Ravinder Kumar, Manju Nehra, Dharmender Kumar, Baljeet Singh Saharan, Prince Chawla, Pardeep Kumar Sadh, Anju Manuja, Joginder Singh Duhan
    Journal of Xenobiotics, 2023
    Chemical fungicides are the backbone of modern agriculture, but an alternative formulation is necessary for sustainable crop production to address human health issues and soil/water environmental pollution. So, a green chemistry approach was used to form guar gum nanoemulsions (NEs) of 186.5–394.1 nm containing the chemical fungicide mancozeb and was characterized using various physio-chemical techniques. An 84.5% inhibition was shown by 1.5 mg/mL mancozeb-loaded NEs (GG-1.5) against A. alternata, comparable to commercial mancozeb (86.5 ± 0.7%). The highest mycelial inhibition was exhibited against S. lycopersici and S. sclerotiorum. In tomatoes and potatoes, NEs showed superior antifungal efficacy in pot conditions besides plant growth parameters (germination percentage, root/shoot ratio and dry biomass). About 98% of the commercial mancozeb was released in just two h, while only about 43% of mancozeb was released from nanoemulsions (0.5, 1.0 and 1.5) for the same time. The most significant results for cell viability were seen at 1.0 mg/mL concentration of treatment, where wide gaps in cell viability were observed for commercial mancozeb (21.67%) and NEs treatments (63.83–71.88%). Thus, this study may help to combat the soil and water pollution menace of harmful chemical pesticides besides protecting vegetable crops.
  • Impact of Various Modification Methods on Physicochemical and Functional Properties of Starch: A Review
    Archana Sinhmar, Ashok Kumar Pathera, Somesh Sharma, Manju Nehra, Rahul Thory, Vikash Nain
    Starch Staerke, 2023
    Abstract Starch is extensively used in food applications for process convenience and to improve the quality of food products at industrial levels. The contemporary research on starch has created lots of scientific information that provides a base for interventions in food formulations using starch as an active ingredient. The native starch has some limitations, i.e., low swelling and solubility, low thermal resistance, low shear rates, etc. Modification of starch results in altered properties of starch. To modify starch, various modification methods such as physical, chemical, enzymatic, and genetic methods are used which enhances the starch applications at the commercial level. In the physical modification of starch, the chemical structure of starch is not affected while in the case of chemical modification there is an introduction of a functional group in starch granules. The modified starches are used in various industries such as food, pharmaceutical, paper, and textile industries. The purpose of this manuscript is to provide a detailed overview of the physicochemical, morphological, and rheological properties of native and modified starch.
  • Nanocomposite Starch Films: A New Approach for Biodegradable Packaging Materials
    Prafull Chavan, Archana Sinhmar, Somesh Sharma, Alain Dufresne, Rahul Thory, Maninder Kaur, Kawaljit Singh Sandhu, Manju Nehra, Vikash Nain
    Starch Staerke, 2022
  • Chia and Quinoa: Superfoods for Health
    Manju Nehra, Suresh Kumar Gahlawat
    Chia and Quinoa Superfoods for Health, 2022
  • Synergistic effects of sonication and microwave on safety and quality of foods
    Manju Nehra, Jogender Duhan, Mohsin Khan, Kawaljit Sandhu, Amanjyoti, Mohammad Javed Ansari
    Ultrasound and Microwave for Food Processing Synergism for Preservation and Extraction, 2022
  • Barnyard millet starch cross-linked at varying levels by sodium trimetaphosphate (STMP): Film forming, physico-chemical, pasting and thermal properties
    Vinita Sharma, Maninder Kaur, Kawaljit Singh Sandhu, Shamandeep Kaur, Manju Nehra
    Carbohydrate Polymer Technologies and Applications, 2021
  • Effect of degree of cross linking on physicochemical, rheological and morphological properties of Sorghum starch
    Kawaljit Singh Sandhu, Anil Kumar Siroha, Sneh Punia, Lalit Sangwan, Manju Nehra, Sukhvinder Singh Purewal
    Carbohydrate Polymer Technologies and Applications, 2021
  • Impact on various properties of native starch after synthesis of starch nanoparticles: A review
    Prafull Chavan, Archana Sinhmar, Manju Nehra, Rahul Thory, Ashok Kumar Pathera, Antony Allwyn Sundarraj, Vikash Nain
    Food Chemistry, 2021
  • Synthesis, characterization, and utilization of potato starch nanoparticles as a filler in nanocomposite films
    Harleen Gujral, Archana Sinhmar, Manju Nehra, Vikash Nain, Rahul Thory, Ashok Kumar Pathera, Prafull Chavan
    International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 2021
  • Structural and film-forming properties of millet starches: A comparative study
    Sneh Punia Bangar, Anil Kumar Siroha, Manju Nehra, Monica Trif, Vandana Ganwal, Sumit Kumar
    Coatings, 2021
  • Development and characterization of physical modified pearl millet starch-based films
    Sneh Punia Bangar, Manju Nehra, Anil Kumar Siroha, Michal Petrů, Rushdan Ahmad Ilyas, Urmila Devi, Priyanka Devi
    Foods, 2021
  • Process standardization for bread preparation using composite blend of wheat and pearl millet: Nutritional, antioxidant and sensory approach
    Manju Nehra, Anil Kumar Siroha, Sneh Punia, Sunil Kumar
    Current Research in Nutrition and Food Science, 2021
  • Genetically Encoded Nanobiosensors for Nutrients and Their Applications
    Rahila Nazir, Mohd. Mohsin, Manju Nehra, Tariq Omar Siddiqi
    Nanobiosensors for Agricultural Medical and Environmental Applications, 2021
  • Effect of heat moisture treatment on rheological and in vitro digestibility properties of pearl millet starches
    Kawaljit Singh Sandhu, Anil Kumar Siroha, Sneh Punia, Manju Nehra
    Carbohydrate Polymer Technologies and Applications, 2020
  • Biotechnological applicationsof Trichoderma species for environmental and food security
    Mohd Kashif Kidwai, Manju Nehra
    Plant Biotechnology Recent Advancements and Developments, 2017

CONSULTANCY

Associated with many industries for providing consultations regarding processing and preservation of food products( Swasthik Agro Products, Keshav Polypacks, Deepam Industries)