GATE Food Technology Syllabus 2026- 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, biochemical changes in post mortem and tenderization of muscles. Lipids: Classification and structure of lipids, rancidity, polymerization and polymorphism. Pigments: carotenoids, chlorophylls, anthocyanins, tannins and myoglobin.

• Food Flavours: Terpenes, esters, aldehydes, ketones and quinines. Enzymes: specificity, simple and inhibition kinetics, coenzymes, enzymatic and non- enzymatic browning.

• 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.

• Chemical and Biochemical Changes: Changes occurring in foods during different processing.

Food Microbiology

• Characteristics of Microorganisms: Morphology of bacteria, yeast, mold and actinomycetes, spores and vegetative cells, gram-staining.

• Microbial Growth: 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.

• Fermented Foods and Beverages: Curd, yoghurt, cheese, pickles,soya-sauce,sauerkraut, idli, dosa, vinegar, alcoholic beverages and sausage.

Food Products Technology

• Processing Principles: Thermal processing, chilling, freezing, dehydration, addition of preservatives and food additives, irradiation, fermentation, hurdle technology, intermediate moisture foods. Food packaging and storage: packaging materials, aseptic packaging, controlled and modified atmosphere storage. Cereal processing and products: milling of rice, wheat, and maize, parboiling of paddy, bread, biscuits, extruded products and ready to eat breakfast cereals.

• 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: Pasteurization and sterilization, cream, butter, ghee, icecream, cheese and milk powder. Processing of animal products: drying, canning, and freezing of fish and meat; production of egg powder.

• Waste Utilization: Pectin from fruit wastes, uses of by-products from rice milling.

• Food standards and Quality Maintenance: FPO, PFA, A-Mark, ISI, HACCP, food plant sanitation and cleaning in place (CIP).

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 Flick'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 sterilization, evaporation of liquid foods, hot air drying of solids, spray and freeze-drying, freezing and crystallization.

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

Examination Mode

Computer Based Test (Online)

Duration

3 Hours

Section

• General Aptitude (GA)

• Engineering Mathematics (XE-A) or Chemistry (XL-P)

• Food Technology(XE-G)/(XL-U)

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