Characterization and storage studies of instant multigrain porridge made from underutilised crops of Ladakh

Instant multigrain porridge mix was developed from buckwheat and barley grits along with apricot powder in the ratios of 100:0:0::BWG:BG:AP (Buckwheat Grits: Barley Grits: Apricot Powder), 0:100:0::BWG:BG:AP, 80:10:10::BWG:BG:AP, 70:20:10::BWG:BG:AP, 60:30:10::BWG:BG:AP and 50:40:10::BWG:BG:AP. Quality evaluation of multigrain porridge revealed that incorporation of barley grits and apricot powder to buckwheat grits in all the formulations increased mean values of crude protein, crude fiber, ash and antioxidant activity from 7.39 to 10.45 %, 2.02 to 2.39 %, 1.32 to 1.99 % and 40.69 to 48.02 %. However, there was a decrease in crude fat and carbohydrate from 2.56 to 1.72 % and 71.60 to 66.98 %, respectively. The developed porridge mix was stored in cotton bags for 150 days under ambient conditions (temperature: 28 ± 3°C and moisture content 12 ± 0.8%) to ascertain the changes in these parameters. Storage studies done at an interval of 30 days revealed that, there was a decrease in crude protein (9.81 to 7.15 %), crude fat (2.40 to 1.20 %), crude fibre (2.90 to 1.55 %), ash (1.98 to 1.55 %) and antioxidant activity (48.87 to 38.68 %), whereas, carbohydrate content increased from 68.80 to 70.72 %. Economics of the multigrain product revealed that porridge mix were economically profitable.