Shelf life of Bengali sweet ‘Joynagar Moa’ increased from 2 to 28 days

A new packaging research by the Indian Institute of Packaging here has increased the shelf life of ‘Joynagar Moa’, a popular Bengali sweet, from two days to 28 days thereby creating export potential for this product, according to a release here.

The Research and Development project, conducted by IIP on the shelf life extension of the seasonal Bengali delicacy, has created a milestone in the field of packaging, it said.

“Traditionally, the shelf life of Joynagar Moa used to be a maximum of 2 days. However, by working on this research, we have been able to increase the shelf life from 2 days to 28 days,” NC Saha, IIP Director, said.

‘Joynagar Moa’ is prepared with the help of nolen gur (date palm jaggery), kanakchur khoi (puffed rice from special paddy variety), khoya (milk sweet), ghee, cardamom and dry fruits.

Both nolen gur and kanakchur rice are winter products (available during November to February) and hence Joynagar Moa is available during this period only and is highly prone to getting spoiled in less than two days, Saha said.

Different packaging technologies like vacuum and gas flush technology with different combination of packaging material over a year are being used to extend the shelf life of this traditional Bengali sweet, Saha said.

“In a year-long research, we have minutely understood the whole manufacturing process and sites of bacteria formation etc, leading us to create a packaging that prevented the food product from getting spoiled due to bacteria formation. The new kind of packages with enhanced shelf life are helpful for the cottage industries to export the Indian sweets to the overseas market,” he added.

The Institute has already submitted the final report to the West Bengal Khadi & Village Industries Board for the implementation of this new type of packages for ‘Joynagar Moa’ and the same can be sold at the retail showroom of Biswa Bangla, a unit under the Government of West Bengal, to promote products of Bengal for the world market, the release said.