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Chapati can be kept fresh for a year

          New Delhi: Now home-made chapatis can be preserved for a year. A Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) wing has developed a technique that preserves chapatis for a year. Developed at one of the nine DRDO Life Science Laboratories, the technique ensures home-made chapatis to remain fresh months after being prepared. The product has long been used by the troops during missions undertaken on land and sea. Now the chapatis are available in many shops as the technology has been transferred to some firms and industry across the country for general use. The technology employed to preserve chapatis, the popular Indian wheat-based staple food, includes certain preservatives and thermal treatment along with incorporation of some stable flavour principals. The flavoured chapatis remain fresh for one year under ambient conditions and are used as one of the major components of compo- pack ration and meals ready-to-eat ration (MRE) supplied to the Armed Forces. Freshly prepared chapatis are highly perishable and have a shelf life of 12 to 24 hours, after which they develop off-flavour and fungal growth. Defense Food Research Laboratory (DFRL), Mysore has developed this technique.
- June 4, 2007