Journal of FARM SCIENCES, Vol 34, No 2 (2021)

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Influence of packaging material and storage conditions on the oxidative stability of stabilized wheat germ

M. GEETHA, SATISH R. DESAI, S. HEMALATHA

Abstract


Wheat germ is a valuable by-product derived from the milling industry, as it is a good source of essential aminoand fatty acids, minerals, vitamins, tocopherols and phytosterols. It gets rancid very quickly during storage due to presenceof large amount of unsaturated fats and also the presence of hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes. An experiment wasconducted to study the influence of packaging and storage conditions on the oxidative stability of stabilized wheat germ.Wheatgerm was stabilized by fluidized bed drying. Stabilized wheat germ was stored in different packaging materials viz., lowdensity polyethylene (LDPE) pouch, laminated zip lock pouch, glass bottle and vacuum packed bags, were replicated threetimes in both refrigerated (4 ± 1°C) and ambient storage (25 ± 2°C) conditions using factorial completely randomizeddesign. Changes in oxidative parameters were analyzed during the storage at 2 weeks interval for a period of 10 weeks. Theresults of the study revealed that the oxidative parameters viz., peroxide value and free fatty acid content increased withincrease of storage period. The peroxide value of stabilized germ packed in LDPE pouch in ambient condition exceeded theacceptable limit after 8 weeks of storage. Whereas in other packaging materials the peroxide value of stabilized wheat germwere still less than 10meqO2/kg during storage period. It was observed that stabilization of wheat germ followed byrefrigerated storage will extend the shelf life of wheat germ up to 10 weeks. Vacuum packing with refrigerated storagecondition is considered as best method to store the germ for longer period (up to 20 weeks).

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