Development and shelf-life evaluation of pearl millet based upma dry mix

Upma, a popular breakfast of southern India, traditionally made from wheat, was prepared using pearl millet semolina (PMS). Prior to preparation of semolina, pearl millet grains were hydro-thermally treated to reduce anti-nutritional factors and inactivate lipase activity. Hydrothermal treatments (soaking up to moisture 30 ± 2%, steaming 1.05 kg cm(-2), 20 min) reduced the anti-nutritional factors significantly (p ≤ 0.05). No lipase activity was detected after steaming. Central composite rotatable design (CCRD) with three independent variables i.e. vanaspati (vegetable fat), citric acid and water for rehydration were used to design the experiments. Sensory responses and rehydration ratio were used to study the individual and interactive effects of variables. Sensory score for taste varied from 6.5 to 8.1, mouth feel 6.7-8.0, overall acceptability 6.7-8.1 and rehydration ratio from 2.4 to 3.3. Based upon the experiments, the optimized level of ingredients was: vanaspati 46.5 g 100 g(-1) PMS, citric acid 0.17 g 100 g(-1) PMS and water for rehydration 244.6 ml 100 g(-1) dry mix with 98.5% desirability. The prepared upma mix was monitored for peroxide value, free fatty acids and thiobarbituric acid value as well as sensory quality during storage and was found stable for 6 months at ambient conditions (20-35 °C) in poly ethylene pouches (75 μ).