GATE Food Technology Syllabus 2027 (Out) - Important Topics, Chapters

Food Chemistry and Nutrition

• Carbohydrates: Structure and functional properties of mono-, oligo-, & poly- saccharides including starch, cellulose, pectic substances and dietary fibre, gelatinization and retrogradation of starch.

• Proteins: classification and structure of proteins in food, Protein denaturation, functional properties of proteins and starch.

• Lipids: Classification and structure of lipids, rancidity, polymerisation and polymorphism.

• Pigments: carotenoids, chlorophylls, anthocyanins, tannins and myoglobin. Curcumin, betalains.

• Food Flavours: Terpenes, esters, aldehydes, ketones and quinines.

• Enzymes: specificity, simple and inhibition kinetics, coenzymes, enzymatic and non- enzymatic browning, Food enzymology.

• Nutrition: Balanced diet, essential amino acids and essential fatty acids, protein efficiency ratio, water soluble and fat soluble vitamins, role of minerals in nutrition, co-factors, anti-nutrients, nutraceuticals, nutrient deficiency diseases. Food Supplements, Concept of nutrigenomics. Food adulteration (types of adulterants and their detection)

• Chemical and Biochemical Changes: Changes occurring in foods during different processing. Changes occur in foods and food biopolymers (carbohydrates, proteins, lipids) during different processing

Food Microbiology

• Characteristics of Microorganisms: Morphology of bacteria, yeast, mold and actinomycetes, spores and vegetative cells, gram-staining, Resistant bacteria.
• Microbial Growth: D-value, Z-value, F-value, Growth and death kinetics,serial dilution technique.
• Food Spoilage: Spoilage microorganisms in different food products including milk, fish, meat, egg, cereals and their products.
• Toxins from Microbes: Pathogens and non-pathogens including Staphylococcus, Salmonella, Shigella, Escherichia, Bacillus, Clostridium, and Aspergillus genera, Food borne diseases.
• Fermented Foods and Beverages: Curd, yoghurt, cheese, pickles, soya-sauce, sauerkraut, idli, dosa, vinegar, alcoholic beverages, and sausage.
• Probiotic foods: probiotic microorganisms, their benefits, prebiotics, synbiotics.

Food Products Technology

• Processing Principles: Food Components Characterisation and quantification techniques. Quality analysis of raw and processed food products. Thermal processing (blanching, pasteurisation, sterilisation), chilling, freezing, dehydration, addition of preservatives and food additives, Microwave, radio wave, and Infrared processing, irradiation, fermentation, hurdle technology, intermediate moisture foods.
• Non-thermal technologies: Ultrasonication, HPP, Pulse Electric Field, Cold plasma.
• Food packaging and storage: packaging materials and their properties, aseptic packaging, active and intelligent packaging, controlled and modified atmosphere storage. Microplastics in food. Cereal processing and products: milling of rice, wheat, and maize, Pulse processing, parboiling of paddy, bread, biscuits, extruded products and ready to eat breakfast cereals. Meat Analogue and Plant-based milk alternatives
• Oil Processing: Expelling, solvent extraction, refining and hydrogenation.
• Fruits and Vegetables Processing: Extraction, clarification, concentration and packaging of fruit juice, jam, jelly, marmalade, squash, candies, tomato sauce, ketchup, and puree, potato chips, pickles.
• Plantation crops processing and products: Tea, coffee, cocoa, spice, extraction of essential oils and oleoresins from spices.
• Milk and Milk Products Processing: Pasteurisation and sterilisation, cream, butter, ghee, ice-cream, cheese and milk powder. Processing of animal products: Processing of frozen, canned, and dried products, ready-to-eat products of fish and meat. Curing, smoking, poultry processing, animal slaughtering.
• Waste Utilisation: Pectin from fruit wastes, uses of by-products from rice milling. Edible films and packaging materials from waste
• Food standards and Quality Maintenance: FPO, PFA, A-Mark, HACCP, food plant sanitation and cleaning in place (CIP). FSSAI, BIS, Codex Alimentarius, ISO, Food Safety and Management System (FSMS).

  
  

Food Engineering

• Mass and energy balance.

• Momentum Transfer: Flow rate and pressure drop relationships for Newtonian fluids flowing through pipe, Reynolds number

• Heat transfer: heat transfer by conduction, convection, radiation, heat exchangers

• Mass Transfer: Molecular diffusion and Fick's law, conduction and convective mass transfer, permeability through single and multilayer films.

• Mechanical Operations: Size reduction of solids, high pressure homogenization, filtration, centrifugation, settling, sieving, mixing & agitation of liquid.

• Thermal operations: Thermal blanching, pasteurisation, sterilisation, evaporation of liquid foods, hot air drying of solids, spray and freeze-drying, freezing and crystallisation

• Mass Transfer Operations: Psychometric, humidification and dehumidification operations.

Examination Mode

Computer Based Test (Online)

Duration

3 Hours

Section

• General Aptitude

• Engineering Mathematics or Chemistry

• Food Technology

Type of Questions

• Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

• Multiple Select Questions (MSQs)

• Numerical Answer Type (NAT) Questions

Total Marks

100 Marks

Marking Scheme

All of the questions will be worth 1 or 2 marks

GATE Negative Marking

• MCQs - 1 mark for each correct answer; 1/3 mark will be deducted for every wrong answer.

• MCQs - 2 marks for each correct answer; 2/3 marks will be deducted for every incorrect response.

• No negative marking for MSQ & NAT.

• No partial marking for MSQ type questions.

General Aptitude (GA)

15

Engineering Mathematics (XE-A)

15

Food Technology (XE-G)

35

Other optional subject

35

Total

100