Ready to Eat Cassava ( Manihot esculenta crantz ) in See Through Retort Pouch and Its Storage Stability

Thermal processing of cassava packed in see through retort pouch (polyester coated with Silicon dioxide/nylon/cast polypropylene) was done using still water spray retort. Heat penetration characteristics were studied and shelf life was determined. Earlier studies were conducted for developing ready to eat cassava in brine, packed in High Impact Poly Propylene trays and thermally processed. The results revealed the leaching of amylose from cassava into the brine that lead to formation of turbidity in brine and made the product soft and thereby unacceptable. The product had a shelf life of only 75 days. The present study aimed to improve the shelf life of the product by thermally processing cassava as a solid pack with curcumin added to it to provide a colour that is stable even after thermal processing. Cassava vacuum packed in see through retort pouches were thermally processed at 121.1 °C to an F 0 value of 8.97 min. The product stored at ambient temperature (28 ± 2 °C) was found to have a shelf life of 12 months.