MONTREAL, CANADA, January 14, 2002: With a philosophy that is all encompassing, Vijaya Raghavan teaches his students at McGill University, “We are on a globe in the universe and it is our duty to be helpful to others.” From humble beginnings as the son of a silk factory worker in India, Vijaya teaches agriculture engineering and has been in North America since 1969. Working in the specialty of post harvest control, Raghavan has researched ways to control the 25-30% rate of spoilage that plagues most perishable crops grown in India and China. Having received almost 19 million dollars worth of grant money in the course of his career, Raghavan has introduced low-cost techniques to prevent food spoilage. These techniques are three-fold and include the following: 1. Osmotic Drying – -Fruits are soaked in a sugar solution to remove moisture before they are stored. 2. Micowave Drying — Food is dehydrated in an oven which reduces the drying time by more than half. 3. Silicone membranes are used on the mouth of storage containers to slow down oxygen exposure and the resultant decay. With the movement of products in the global market in the last decade, Raghavan sees a huge potential for India in exporting fruits when his techniques are used to keep food fresh. He points out that the beloved mango is now readily available for purchase all year long in Montreal.
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