Microbial quality and physicochemical property changes of Anggun sweet potato breakfast cereal during storage

Abstract

Studies on quality changes of Anggun sweet potato breakfast cereal had been conducted for a 6-month storage period. Freshly prepared breakfast cereal samples were packed in Ony/Al/PE pouches (28 cm × 21.5 cm with 0.10 mm thickness) and stored at 27±3°C with relative humidity (RH) of 70-75%. Results showed that the lightness (L*) and red colour (a*) values were not significantly different, yellow colour (b*) values decreased, while the moisture content was in the range for the cereal products category during the storage period. The mesophilic bacteria, yeast and mould counts were within the acceptable limits for direct consumption. There was less than 1.0 log CFU/g for coliform bacterium and Bacillus cereus counts in the samples throughout the storage period. The anthocyanin content of the sample was 12.04±0.04 mg/100g at the end of storage. Anggun sweet potato cereal packed in Ony/Al/PE was found to be of an acceptable quality for up to 6 months when stored at 27±3°C (70-75% RH) and has the potential to be used as an alternative healthy breakfast cereal.