PACKAGING, HANDLING and STORAGE of LIPOXYGENASE-FREE FULL-FAT SOY FLOUR

Lipoxygenase-free full-fat soy flour was prepared by hot water blanching and hot-air-oven heat treatment to raw soybeans. Whole soybeans, splits and flours of raw and treated soybeans were used to evaluate their packaging and handling characteristics in polythene bags up to 400 μm thickness. Storage quality of differently processed soy flours was judged in polythene bags of 100 μm. Polythene bags of 50 μm film thickness were judged suitable by stack load test for packaging of whole soybean, soy-splits and soy flours. For safe handling, however, the minimum film thickness of 200 μm was found to be safe as decided by the drop test. 100 μm film thickness of polythene bags was considered appropriate for safe storage up to 45 days in ambient conditions (5-36C; 6–97% rh) on account of FFA rise and change in moisture content. the lipoxygenase-free full-fat soy flour produced by dry heat was found to have better storage quality over raw and blanched soy flour. Overall, the polythene bag film thickness of 200 μm is considered for safe packaging, handling and storage of full-fat soy flour up to 45 days under ambient conditions.