Effect of Storage Methods on Quality of Turmeric Powder Sidhu Gagandeep Kaur, Arora Sadhna, Bhatia Surekha Department of Processing and Food Engineering, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana Online published on 7 December, 2011. Abstract Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) is an important herbaceous plant and is sometimes called ‘Indian Saffron’ due to its yellow color. Turmeric powder is used in a wide variety of foods and also has cosmetics and medicinal use. The studies were carried out to evaluate the effect of different types of packaging material on the quality of ground turmeric during storage. Rhizomes were ground, sieved and packed in high density polyethylene (HDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), laminated aluminum foil and plastic jars. Samples were stored for 180 days at ambient as well as at refrigerated conditions and examined for change in moisture content, color, overall change in color, hue, chroma, curcumin and oleoresin content. Moisture content increased linearly with the storage period for both the storage conditions, but the change was negligible during the first 30 days of storage. Moisture gain was maximum in PP (16.76% & 16.21%) and minimum in aluminum foil (5.15% & 5.01%) respectively under ambient and refrigerated conditions. The overall change in color was minimum in aluminum foil pack followed by the plastic jars and HDPE packs under refrigerated condition. The curcumin and oleoresin content decreased with the storage period, but the minimum change was in plastic jars under refrigerated conditions. Laminated aluminum foil and plastic jars were suitable for long duration storage of turmeric powder under refrigerated as well as ambient conditions followed by HDPE films, whereas LDPE and PP packs becomes sticky only after 30 days of storage period. Statistical analysis showed that storage condition has non significant effect, whereas storage duration and packaging material has significant effect at the level of 5 -percent on the quality of turmeric powder. Plastic jar and laminated aluminum foil packs were significantly better packaging material for storage of turmeric powder Top Keywords Curcumin content, Oleoresin, Packaging materials, Storage, Turmeric powder, . Top |