MICROBIOTA OF INSTANT CEREALS AND ITS CHANGE DURING STORAGE
The paper presents the results of the study of changes in the microbiological parameters of instant cereals for military personnel during storage. The purpose of the microbiological studies of instant cereals was assessing whether the products were safe for human health immediately after manufacturing and during their further storage at a certain temperature and in various packaging. Special attention was paid to detecting certain microorganisms: pathogenic (including Salmonella), opportunistic pathogenic, sanitary indicator microorganisms (coliform bacteria), some microbial spoilage agents (yeast and mould fungi). Various types of packaging materials having been analysed, it has been studied how flexible packaging, foil sealed plastic cups, and metallised packages of biaxially oriented propylene film (BOPF), GM-200, change the consumer properties of new instant cereals during storage. The studies have helped establish that natural enriching supplements of plant and animal origin in the composition of new instant cereals prolong the storage of finished products. It has been established that enriching supplements prevent the development of microbiota due to a bactericidal effect of supplements on microorganisms. Studying how packaging changes the consumer properties of new instant cereals during storage has shown that bacteria decreased in number in all samples during storage, regardless of the type of packaging. However, the most significant decrease (by an average of 1.5 times) was observed when metallised BOPF bags were used. Based on the experimental studies, it has been found that instant cereals packed in metallised BOPF bags belong to long-term storage products and can be stored for 12 months at room temperature and the relative humidity 60–75%.