EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT RETAIL PACKAGING MATERIALS ON THE SHELFLIFE OF DEHUSKED FOXTAIL MILLET

摘要

Millets are in the family of cereals grown globally with differential importance across continents and within regions of the world. Cereals are staple foods for a large proportion of the world population. The present investigation was carried out to find out the effect of different retail packaging material on the shelf-life of dehusked foxtail millet. The foxtail millet was procured at local Raichur market. Physical properties of dehusked foxtail millet viz., Particle density, Bulk density, Angle of repose, Coefficient of internal friction, Coefficient of external friction, Length, Breadth, Thickness, size and Spherecity were found to be 1.34 g/cc , 0.87 g/cc, 27.26°, 0.34, 0.27, 2.02 mm, 1.28 mm, 1.12 mm, 1.43 mm and 70.78 % respectively. Biochemical properties of dehusked foxtail millet viz., fat, fibre, carbohydrate, ash, protein, moisture content were determined initially to be 5.68 %, 4.76 %, 64.77 %, 1.64 %, 13.80 % and 9.35 %, respectively and there was no insect infestation before storing the commodity. Three types of packaging materials were used for retail packaging (1 kg) namely polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terapthalate (PET). The dehusked foxtail millet packed in different packaging material was kept for storage studies for 6 months. Quality analysis and insect infestation were checked regularly at the interval of 1 month. Finally it was concluded that for retail packaging PET was found to be best, based on its improved quality parameters and minimized insect infestation and also to prevent the damages due to insects and nutrient losses.