Extending shelf life of chapatti by partial baking and frozen storage

The effect of conventional and partial baking and storage at two different temperatures (ambient and −18 °C) on the texture of wheat flour chapatties was evaluated using tensile deformation and the extent of retrogradation was studied using DSC. The extensibility of the conventionally baked chapatti decreased by 58.7% and 20.15%, respectively after storage of 24 h at ambient and frozen temperature. The partially baked chapatti showed a much lower decrease of 3.7% and 0.01% in extensibility when stored under the same conditions. Chapatties, both conventionally and partially baked stored at ambient temperature showed higher retrogradation enthalpy than their counterparts kept at −18 °C. Extended frozen storage of the chapattis from partially baked chapatti resulted in a progressive increase in the extensibility whereas the extensibility of the conventionally baked chapatties was not affected. Lowest water absorption index of 4.60 was observed in partially baked chapatti stored for 24 h at ambient temperature indicating that maximum retrogradation (4.19 J/g) had taken place. Frozen partially baked chapatties after thawing and rebaking exhibited texture equivalent to that of conventionally baked chapatties therefore they could be considered a better option than frozen conventionally baked chapatties for retarding staling.