Effect of alkaline treatment and storage qualities of maize flour

An attempt was made to study the effect of lime treatment, packaging materials and storage periods on biochemical qualities of CO1 and HQPM 7 maize varieties flour. The flours were treated with calcium hydroxide, packed in the two packaging materials viz., polyethylene bags (P₁) and metalized polyester polypropylene laminated bags (P₂) and its biochemical qualities were determined at 15 days storage intervals of 90 days storage. It was found that an increase in moisture content was noticed during storage but it was lesser in the lime treated flour compared to the untreated maize flour of both varieties. In P₂ package, moisture content was significantly lower in compared to P₁. The free fatty acid and peroxide value increased on storage but the changes were minimum in samples packaged in P₂. _{Biochemical qualities of maize flour showed that lime treated maize flour can be stored for a longer period compared to untreated maize flour in the both the varieties.}