Effect of Size Reduction and Packaging Materials on Storage Stability of Dried Stevia under Ambient Conditions Kaur Gundeep*, Sharma S.R., Alam M.S., Mittal T.C. Department of Processing and Food Engineering, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141 004, India *E-mail: gundeepkaur1996@gmail.com
Online Published on 20 February, 2024. Abstract Experiments were conducted to study the effect of particle size of dried stevia leaves and packaging material on storage stability under ambient conditions.Three forms of dried stevia -FractionA(<180 µm) in powder, Fraction B (>180 µm and <350 µm) in powder and dried leaves were packed in different packaging materials viz. glass jars, PET jars and punnets, stored under ambient conditions and evaluated for quality attributes at regular intervals throughout the storage period. The quality assessment of various forms of dried stevia suggested that type of packaging material and form of dried stevia had significant effect on the quality and shelf life of dried product. The glass jars were the best packaging material followed by PET jars. Stevia stored in dried leaves retained better quality characteristics in comparison to stevia stored in powdered form during nine months of storage. Out of the two fractions of powder, stevia powder-Fraction B retained better quality characteristics throughout the storage period. Top Keywords Stevia, Stevia rebaudiana, Packaging materials, PET, Stevioside. Top |