Ramesh C. Ray

Ramesh Chandra Ray is an agriculture and food microbiologist, author, and editor. He is the former principal scientist (microbiology), and head of the Regional Centre at Indian Council of Agricultural Research ICAR - Central Tuber Crops Research Institute in Bhubaneswar, India.

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 books. His research interests are in the fields of food biology, and bioprocess technology with a particular focus on fermented food system, microbiology, food security, 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, 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, Ray enrolled at the Utkal University and graduated with majors in Botany, Zoology, and Chemistry 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.

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