Studies on ready- to- eat Soybean Fortified Snack Food-Sorghum Sattu

‘Sattu’ is a roasted flour mixture of cereal and pulse combination and used as ‘ready -to-eat’ snack food in most parts of India. Owing to its high nutritional balance, long shelf life and excellent taste, sattu is also a popular supplement food especially in rural India. Efforts were made in present study to fortify soybean and sorghum with Bengal gram (Chickpea) in various proportions to prepare nutritious and ready- to- eat snack. The selected grains were moisture conditioned to 30% level, roasted and powdered and then blended in different proportions so that an acceptable final product with maximum nutritional benefit and adequate shelf life was developed. Soybeans were blended in the range of 10 to 40% while sorghum was incorporated from 10 to 35% and the proportion of Bengal gram varied in the range of 40 to 70%. The products developed were analyzed for their proximate composition, shelf life and sensory evaluation. Results indicated that protein content of the developed products increased from 20 to 70% when compared to the conventional sorghum:Bengal gram sattu, while fat content increased by 21 to 121% depending upon the level of soybean fortification. Results of sensory evaluation showed that soy-sorghum-sattu fortified up to a level of 30% soybean well accepted. The Shelf life studies indicated that soy-sattu could safely be stored in metallic containers up to 60 days during summer and rainy seasons. The economic analysis revealed that production of soy-sorghum fortified sattu could be a profitable proposition at small scale (50kg/d) pilot plant level.