University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University or CU) is a collegiate public state university located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.&nbsp;Within India it is recognized as a &quot;Five-Star University&quot; and accredited &quot;A&quot; Grade by National Assessment and Accreditation Council.

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The University of Calcutta has secured the Fifth position among the Universities of India in the prestigious &quot;Indian University Ranking 2019&quot; list, released by the NIRF of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

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It was established on 24 January 1857, and was one of the first institutions in Asia to be established as a multidisciplinary and Western-style university. Its alumni and faculty include several heads of state, heads of government, social reformers, prominent artists, only academy award winner and Dirac medal winner in India, many Fellows of the Royal Society and five Nobel laureates as of 2019 which is highest in South Asia.

University Of Calcutta

Spices not only help imparting taste, flavour, aroma and colour but also act as a preservative by preventing the spoilage of various food and beverage products. They are huge reservoir of essential oils and aromatic constituents which are of great demand in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, both in national and international trade. They also possess nutritional, antimicrobial, antioxidant and pharmaceutical properties and, hence, regarded as one of the most functionally important food ingredients. Efforts are, therefore, directed towards enhancing area, increasing productivity and improving quality of spices. However, in today’s scenario, real challenges confronting us not only on how to sustain the productivity of spices but also on how to minimize their losses. Post harvest management of spices appears to be more crucial here. Most of the freshly harvested spices are very high in their moisture content, highly perishable and susceptible to microbial contamination. Steps like harvesting at optimum stage, proper transportation to processing units, cleaning, blanching, treating with recommended chemicals, dehydration, packaging and storage or processing leading those to value added products etc. are very much crucial so far as reduction of post harvest losses are concerned. The irony is that due to lack of proper knowledge, awareness and improper technology dissemination, the post-harvest management, especially in the developing countries is still not up to the mark. Therefore it is necessary to process the spices by exploiting both classical and innovative post-harvest technology to ensure their long term preservation and optimum utilization. © Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018.