MOISTURE SORPTION BEHAVIOR OF SOME FLOUR-BASED TRADITIONAL SWEETS

Indian sweets are identified to have good export potential in the near future. However, information on moisture sorption behaviour of tradit ional flour-based sweets to predict the shelf-life is significantly ta cking. Investigations were undertaken to study the moisture sorption p attern of selected flour-based traditional sweets. The water activity (a(w)) of product and critical point were identified on the basis of E RH studies. The results indicated that the mobility of water at low RH could be determined by the ratio of hydrophobic to hydrophilic compon ents, rather than a(w).