Shelf-life prediction of sago flour (Metroxylon sagu Rottb) in polyethylene packaging

Abstract

Sago is one of the local foods in Indonesia which is very rich in carbohydrates. This food product has been used as an alternative staple food in various regions. Sago can usually be found on the market in the form of packaged flour. Each type of packaging will of course have a different effect on the shelf life. This research was conducted to determine how long the shelf life of sago flour is packaged in polyethylene packaging with various thicknesses, namely 0.03, 0.05, and 0.08 mm. Estimation of shelf life was carried out using the Labuza approach by utilizing information from the sago starch isotherm sorption curve. Sago flour is packaged using polyethylene packaging and placed in a room with RH of 60, 70 and 80%, and at a temperature of 30 and 40 ℃. The shelf-life prediction based on this Labuza approach showed that the product in polyethylene packaging with a thickness of 0.08 mm had the longest shelf-life. The thicker the packaging, the longer the shelf-life of sago flour, which was caused by the lower permeability value of packaging. This finding supports the fact that the permeability value of packaging is inversely proportional to the packaging thickness.