Nutritional Evaluation and Storage Stability of Popped Pearl Millet Bar

The study was aimed at making the pearl millet available in ready-to-eat form to people with some enhanced nutritional and storage properties. A bar was developed through popping processing using pearl millet as main ingredient. It was formulated using dry raw materials (popped pearl millet, popped amaranth, puffed bengal gram, flax seeds, sunflower seeds and raisins), and agglutinative ingredients (sugar and carboxy methyl cellulose). The developed bar was evaluated for proximate composition, nutritional quality, as well as change in moisture, water activity (aw), free fatty acids and peroxide value, textural and sensory attributes, and total microbial load during storage under ambient conditions (25 ± 28.0°C and 65 ± 10% RH) after packaging in high density poly ethylene and metalized-polyester polyethylene pouches for 3 months. The developed bar was found to have 10.84% protein, 4.39% fat and 6.45% dietary fibre. The minerals and vitamins like calcium, phosphorus, iron, and zinc estimated, were: 58.70, 215.65, 3.17 and 5.13 mg/ 100 g respectively. The metallized pouch film was found suitable for packing popped pearl millet bars with respect to its stability and acceptability, and the product remained chemically and microbiologically safe and stable during entire storage. The development of composite bar using low cost, locally available ingredients were nutri dense and a convenient snack for children and adults.