Microbial Quality and Storage Stability of Millet Based High Fiber Food Mix

Abstract

Food safety evaluation and storage stability of developed mix or food products is an essential criterion to safeguard the public health and provides assurance on food safety. Hence the present study was undertaken with an objective to evaluate the millet based high fiber food mix for their microbial quality and storage stability. The high fiber food mix was developed by using region specific ingredients. It was revealed that, as the storage period increased, there was increase in moisture, free fatty acid and peroxide values at different storage period (0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75 and 90 days of storage). The per cent free fatty acid content in high fiber mix ranged from 2.31 ± 0.12 to 4.83 ± 0.09 as oleic acid measure and was in acceptable range. A steady and significant increase in peroxide value was evident as the storage period proceeded (0.71 ± 0.06mEq O2/kg to 3.61 ± 0.05 mEq O2/kg of extracted fat). Developed mix recorded increasing trend in total bacterial count as the storage period increased. Presence of mold was noticed at the storage period of 75 and 90 days and E-coli was absent throughout the storage period. However, it is in the permissible limit. High fibre food mix prepared from locally available ingredients showed the acceptable storage stability for 90 days. For further shelf life enhancement, it is essential to adopt a new packaging technique as well as innovative technologies