Effect of Different Packaging and Storage Conditions on Shelf-life of Processed Drumstick Leaves

Green leafy vegetables are common in the Indian diet. A variety of greens are consumed in different parts of the country. Leafy vegetables are highly perishable and their shelf life depends on duration and conditions of storage. In the view of the increasing demand for products with a fresh-like quality which are very nutritious and easily available in the local market, a research has been conducted to assess the quality of the drumstick leaves by using different packaging materials and methods under different storage conditions. Influence of packaging conditions on minimally processed drumstick leaves were studied during 12 days of storage at 50C. The pretreated drumstick leaves were packaged in Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene materials of different thickness namely, 150, 250 and 350 gauges under normal ambient air and refrigerated condition and stored in ambient (25±20 C), refrigerated (5±20 C) temperatures with quality analysis under a day interval for twelve days. The results observed for different conditions with respect to the quality deterioration revealed that 350 gauge thick LDPE was found to be the best in maintaining the colour and the reduction in vitamin C content(150 mg/ 100 g), beta carotene content (4793 μg/100 g) was found to be less during the storage and it was also observed that the rate of increase in the microbial load i.e. fungi, bacteria was less with the values 2.96 x106 and 1.21 x104, respectively at the end of storage period