Effect of Pretreatment and Packaging Materials on Quality of Spinach Powder During Storage

The study was conducted at School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Shobhit University, Gangoh, Saharanpur, U.P. to evaluate the effect of control sample (unblanched) spinach leaves and hot water blanched sample on shelf-life of spinach powder and to evaluate the effect of water treatments, chemical composition such as moisture content, fat content and ash content were carried out. Sensory analysis of colour, texture, aroma and overall acceptability were carried out according to 9 point hedonic scale. To evaluate the shelf-life of spinach powder packed in High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) and Poly propylene (PP) packaging materials, Total plate count (TPC) and yeast & mould counts were carried out. The results showed that unblanched sample was more suitable according to fat and ash content. For moisture content hot water blanched sample was more favourate. PP excelled than HDPE and LDPE as a packaging material to store spinach powder for a long period of time. According to sensory score, hot water blanched sample was more favourate by the panelist than unblanched sample. With increase in storage period TPC and yeast & mould increased but hot water blanched sample showed less growth of TPC and yeast & mould when compared to unblanched sample. PP showed less microbial count than the HDPE and LDPE, so it is most suitable for spinach powder packaging for a long period of time.