Ramesh C. Ray
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Ramesh Chandra Ray is an
agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
and food
microbiologist A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...
, author, and editor. He is the former principal scientist (
microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...
), and head of the Regional Centre at
Indian Council of Agricultural Research The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is an autonomous body responsible for co-ordinating agricultural education and research in India. It reports to the Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Ministry of Agriculture. Th ...
ICAR - Central Tuber Crops Research Institute in
Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar () is the capital and the largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. It is located in the Khordha district. The suburban region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Chakra ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. Ray is the author of ''Agricultural and Biotechnological Applications of Bacillus subtilis,'' ''Lactic acid Fermentation of Sweet Potato,'' and ''Extracellular Thermostable α- amylase from Streptomyces erumpens,'' and editor of several agriculture and
food microbiology Food microbiology is the study of the microorganisms that inhabit, create, or contaminate food. This includes the study of microorganisms causing food spoilage; pathogens that may cause disease (especially if food is improperly cooked or stored); ...
books. His research interests are in the fields of food biology, and
bioprocess A bioprocess is a specific process that uses complete living cells or their components (e.g., bacteria, enzymes, chloroplasts) to obtain desired products. Transport of energy and mass is fundamental to many biological and environmental processes ...
technology with a particular focus on fermented food system, microbiology,
food security Food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, healthy Human food, food. The availability of food for people of any class, gender, ethnicity, or religion is another element of food protection. Simila ...
, bio-ethanol from starchy crops, as well as bio-processing of agricultural and food wastes. Ray is a Fellow of
National Academy of Agricultural Sciences The National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) is a Government of India funded agency, established in 1990, is a research platform in the fields of crop husbandry, animal husbandry, fisheries and agro-forestry. It acts as a research base for ...
, National Academy of Biological Sciences, and Confederation of Horticultural Societies in India. He holds editorial appointment as Series Editor of ''Food Biology,'' and ''Applied Biotechnology Reviews.'' He was included in the top 2% scientists of the world ranking in a database prepared by Stanford University in 2021, 2022 and 2023.


Education

After completing his early education from the Board of Secondary Education in
Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...
, Ray enrolled at the
Utkal University Utkal University (UU) is a public university in Bhubaneswar, Khordha, Odisha, and is the oldest university in the state, and the 17th-oldest university in India. The university was established in 1943 and was operating from Ravenshaw College ...
and graduated with majors in
Botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...
,
Zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...
, and
Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...
in 1974. Later, in 1976, he received his M.Sc. in botany from the Utkal University in Odisha, India, followed by his Ph.D. in botany in 1984.


Career

Ray started his academic career as a Full-time
Lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...
in Botany at the Kendrapara Autonomous College,
Government of Orissa The Government of Odisha and its Districts of Odisha, 30 districts consists of an executive branch, executive, led by the List of Governors of Odisha, Governor of Odisha, a judiciary, and a legislative branch. Like other states in India, the ...
in India in 1980, and held that appointment till 1985. He also served as Guest Faculty in the Department of Microbiology at the Utkal University in Bhubaneswar from 2000 till 2010. Ray held an appointment as a Scientist of
Plant Physiology Plant physiology is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants. Plant physiologists study fundamental processes of plants, such as photosynthesis, respiration, plant nutrition, plant hormone functions, tr ...
at the ICAR-
Indian Institute of Horticultural Research The Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) is an autonomous organization acting as a nodal agency for basic, strategic, anticipatory and applied research on various aspects of horticulture such as fruits, vegetable, ornamental, medic ...
in
Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
from 1985 till 1988. Following this appointment, he served as the Senior Scientist of Microbiology at the ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute based in Thiruvanathapuram/Bhubaneswar from 1988 till 1998. Subsequently, he was appointed as a principal scientist at the ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, Regional Centre in Bhubaneswar, and held that position for nearly two decades. From 2019 till 2020, he served as a senior consultant at the International Potato Center based in Odisha, India.


Research

Ray's research works span the fields of agriculture & food microbiology, bioprocess technology, and have particularly covered wide range of aspects associated with the traditional fermented food system, and its health attributes, food security, lacto-pickling of vegetables, bio valorization of food wastes, and the production of bio-ethanol.


Food fermentation processes and microbial technology

Ray has made contributions in the field of food microbiology, particularly by exploring the food processing of roots, tubers, fruits and vegetables, and developing food processing technology. Together with V.K. Joshi, he provided in-depth information on the natural food fermentation processes, and explored the diverse range of fermenting microbes along with their benefits for the product quality, and energetics of the process. In one of his highly cited works "Fermented Fruits and Vegetables of Asia: A Potential Source of Probiotics", he highlighted the crucial role of lactic acid fermentation of vegetables and fruits in the tropical and subtropical regions. He has conducted several studies on the lacto-pickling of vegetables, and his research addressed how the fermented foods carry high nutritional value, increased shelf life, reduced toxins, and a diverse group of probiotics. While studying the consumer acceptance of lactic acid-fermented sweet potato pickle, his research demonstrated that the highly educated consumer preferred it more, whereas an improvement in the sourness, and aroma could lead to an increase in consumer acceptance. Ray developed a technology for production of lacto-juice with high nutritional value by the lactic acid fermentation of β-carotene-rich sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.). He also conducted research on developing processing technology for fruit wines and probiotic beverages from the typically underutilized fruits such as Jamun, and cashew apple. His research investigated the bio-processing of wastes from fruits and vegetables for the production of useful enzymes and organic acids, and addressed how the advances in microbial processing technology can increase the production of value-added products, and promote the zero-waste economy. Ray's research also showed that the agro-food chain industry must rely on the use of microbes, and further emphasized that the use of selected microbes can reduce the risk of food borne threats associated during the food processing, or storage. Moreover, he called attention to the development of new preservation methods using microbes.


Bio-valorization

Ray's research on bio valorization of wastewaters from the agro-food and beverage industry explored the microbial remediation options that will not only focus on their safe disposal, but also provide value-added products from the wastewaters. More recently, he studied the winery waste from the context of bio valorization, and concluded that by utilizing biomass pyrolysis, grape stalks can lead to energy production, phenolic antioxidants can be derived from grape seeds, whereas anthocyanins can be obtained from the grape skins.


Attributes of cow dung microbes

Ray has investigated the beneficial attributes of cow dung, and its microflora for advanced applications in the fields of agriculture, biotechnology, and environment as well. In the context of geo-microbiological processes, his research illustrated the role of cow dung microorganisms for sulfur oxidation, and phosphorus solubilization. In the agricultural field, the cow dung-microbes were regarded as essential for the control of plant pathogens, whereas biosorption of heavy metals concerning their application to environmental field was also determined with his research. It was also indicated from his research that the Bacillus subtilis strains isolated from the cow dung carried significant benefits such as biocontrol, plant growth promotion as well as the production of amylase and cellulase enzymes. Furthermore, he reported that the application of this microbe's suspension on the yam minisetts significantly impacted the growth of in terms of an increased number of roots, shoots length etc. He also explored the literature concerned with the production of microbial cellulase in solid state fermentation by employing the modern technologies, as well as discussed, the strategies that account for the improvement of enzyme yield.


Bioethanol production

Ray is well-recognized for his research on bioethanol production, and has conducted research on the technological interventions in ethanol production from both the sources of plant biomass, and food crops, as well as indicated the food security issues associated with the bioethanol production. An area of prominence in his research is the effective, and feasible production of bioethanol from mohua flowers while indicating it an alternate to sugar or starchy crops for the production of ethanol. By conducting the solid-state fermentation of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, he investigated the production of fuel ethanol from mohua flowers, (Madhuca latifolia L.). Later, his comparative studies focused on determining the efficiency of bio-ethanol production from mohua by employing the immobilized cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (CTCRI strain) and Zymomonas mobilis (MTCC 92) in calcium alginate as beads determined that the S. cerevisiae were more effective in producing ethanol as compared to the immobilized cells of Zymomonas mobilis.


Awards and honors

*1998-20 – Indian Council of Agriculture Research Team Research Award on Post-Harvest Technology, ICAR, New Delhi *2005 – Asian Federation of Lactic Acid Bacteria, Japan Research Award, Bali, Indonesia *2007 – French Government Fellowship, CIRAD, Montepellier, France *2008 – Indo-US visiting professor, American Society of Microbiology *2015 – Samanta Chandrasekhar Award in Life Science for 2013, Odisha Vigyana Academy, Department of Science & Technology, Government of Odisha *2021, 2022, 2023 - Top 2% scientists of the world ranking in a database prepared by Stanford University


Bibliography


Books

*''Lactic Acid Fermentation of Sweet Potato: Lactic acid fermentation'' (2010) ISBN 978-3843376570 *''Agricultural and Biotechnological Potential of Bacillus subtilis: Beneficial Activity by Bacillus subtilis'' 2011) ISBN 978-3844311891 *''Extracellular Thermostable α-Amylase from Streptomyces erumpens: Production of Calcium - independent α-amylase'' (2011) ISBN 978-3844397901 *''Transforming Agriculture Residues for Sustainable Development'' (2024)


Selected edited books

*''Microorganisms and Fermentation of Traditional Foods'' (2014) ISBN 978-1482223088 *''Bioethanol Production from Food Crops: Sustainable Sources, Interventions, and Challenges'' (2019) ISBN 978-0128137666 *''Winemaking: Basics and Applied Aspects'' (2021) ISBN 978-1138490918 *''Sustainable Biofuels: Opportunities and Challenges'' (2021) ISBN 978-0128223925 *''Lactic acid Bacteria in Food Biotechnology: Innovation and advances'' (2022) ISBN 978-0323-898751 *''Fruits and Vegetable Wastes: Valorization into bioproducts and platform chemicals'' (2022) ISBN 978-9811695261


Selected articles

*Ray, R. C., & Ravi, V. (2005). Post harvest spoilage of sweetpotato in tropics and control measures. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 45(7-8), 623–644. *Swain, M. R., Kar, S., Sahoo, A. K., & Ray, R. C. (2007). Ethanol fermentation of mahula (Madhuca latifolia L.) flowers using free and immobilized yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Microbiological Research, 162(2), 93–98. *Mohanty, S. K., Behera, S., Swain, M. R., & Ray, R. C. (2009). Bioethanol production from mahula (Madhuca latifolia L.) flowers by solid-state fermentation. Applied Energy, 86(5), 640–644. *Behera, S., Kar, S., Mohanty, R. C., & Ray, R. C. (2010). Comparative study of bio-ethanol production from mahula (Madhuca latifolia L.) flowers by Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells immobilized in agar agar and Ca-alginate matrices. Applied Energy, 87(1), 96–100. *Behera, S., Mohanty, R. C., & Ray, R. C. (2010). Comparative study of bio-ethanol production from mahula (Madhuca latifolia L.) flowers by Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Zymomonas mobilis. Applied energy, 87(7), 2352–2355. *Swain, M. R., Anandharaj, M., Ray, R. C., & Rani, R. P. (2014). Fermented fruits and vegetables of Asia: a potential source of probiotics. Biotechnology research international, 2014. *Behera, S. S., Ray, R. C., & Zdolec, N. (2018). Lactobacillus plantarum with functional properties: an approach to increase safety and shelf-life of fermented foods. BioMed Research International, 2018.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Ramesh C. Living people 1955 births Utkal University alumni Indian academics