Vol. 11, Issue 2 (2022)

Author(s):
Tanvi Bansal, Asha Kawatra and Veenu Sangwan

Abstract:
Awareness for healthy lifestyle has led to rise in demand for healthy food items that are easy for preparation and consumption. Considering the busy lifestyle of majority of the population worldwide, convenience has been associated with food items and is popularly referred as “convenient foods”. Nutrition bars are one of the most accessible food items that belong to this category and at same time it can fit in the “healthy” criteria if its compositional items are picked cautiously. Keeping this in view two nutrition bars developed utilizing wheat and pearl millet in combination with various other nourishing ingredients were evaluated for their shelf life for assessing its market potential, which is one of most important factor for ready to eat (RTE) foods. The nutrition bars were stored for three months in vacuum packaging at controlled temperature. The bars were evaluated in terms of sensory characteristics, moisture uptake, fat acidity, peroxide value, and microbial count at 15 day intervals for 90 days. Both bars had a good shelf life and were safe for consumption up till three months as found to be organoleptically acceptable and stable for its chemical and microbiological properties.