WHEATGRASS: AN ALTERNATIVE HOUSEHOLD NUTRITIONAL FOOD SECURITY

Abstract

Wheatgrass is an inexpensive and efficient source to provide all the required nutrients and medicinal benefits for a healthy and rejuvenating body. This research work was focused on two objectives. First one was to study the various parameters that would affect the growth of wheatgrass like temperature, humidity and time taken to reach a target height. The second objective was to improve the organoleptic characters and shelf-life of the wheatgrass juice as the currently available wheatgrass products (tablets, powders, etc.) are less popular because of their low organoleptic characters and low storage life. First, Wheatgrass was grown in two trays, one in growth chamber and other in-field conditions and their growth characteristics were compared over a fixed time- period. For improving the flavor and aroma, fresh wheatgrass juice was mixed with various flavors in different dilutions and a survey was conducted among 50 subjects. After that, lyophilisation was carried out to obtain the dried form of wheatgrass juice which provides a higher shelf-life. The results obtained showed that wheatgrass growth in the tray kept in-field took 16 days while the tray in growth chamber took only 10 days to reach the same target height. Moreover, the diluted and flavored forms of the wheatgrass juice were found to offer an acceptable organoleptic profile including taste, color and aroma. Lyophilized form of wheatgrass retained the organoleptic characters and provided it a longer storage life. All these results will formulate a more acceptable form of wheatgrass product and are likely to increase its popularity.