PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY AND PACKAGING MATERIALS EFFECTS ON ACCEPTABILITY, STORAGE STABILITY AND SHELF LIFE OF “AADUN” (NIGERIAN MAIZE BASED SNACKS)

“Aadun” is a Nigerian traditional maize based snack, but now poorly accepted by todays snack consumers despites its quality. To increase acceptability sensory panelist using 5 points ranking scores were asked to rank “Aadun” processed using laboratory equipment and traditional processed commercial samples purchased from Ibadan and Abeokuta with packaging materials of Leaf (Taumatoccous Danielle), Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE), High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Aluminum foil (ALF) and Polystyrene plastic cup (PSC). Laboratory “aadun” packaged in different materials and the commercial samples packaged in LDPE were stored under refrigeration (4-5 0C; RH 74.85%), ambient (25-30 0C; RH 66.7%) and sunlight (30-44 0C; RH 65.81%) conditions for 6 months and at 2 weeks intervals off flavor (OF) was determined by 10 trained sensory panelists and growth of microorganism by total plate count (TPC) method. Shelf life was estimated by plotting hazard (TPC) against time on linear and quadratic regression curve and safety cut off value of 105cfu/g as limit. Results showed the highly ranked “Aadun” was Laboratory sample followed by Ibadan and Abeokuta samples and PSC ranked highest followed by ALF, HDPE, LDPE and Leaf. A longer lag period before OF and TPC increased was under Refrigeration, PSC, LDPE Laboratory and Abeokuta samples but, shorter under ambient, sunlight, leaf and LDPE Ibadan sample. Longer shelf life period was under refrigeration, PSC (42.4 weeks), LDPE laboratory (40.1 weeks), LDPE Abeokuta (33.2 weeks but shorter under ambient, sunlight, leaf (19 weeks) and LDPE Ibadan (30.5 weeks). This study shows that if modern technology and PSC packing plastic materials and storing under refrigeration conditions will improve acceptability, long storage stability and shelf life thereby, increasing production and the economy of the local women processor in Nigeria.