Microbiological quality is a common criterion used to determine the acceptability and shelflife of dehydrated plant based products. Although some
microorganisms are destroyed in the process of drying, this process is not lethal to all microbes. Microbial count of the dehydrated foods depends on handling quality of utensils used during the processing period (Jay, 2000). All packaging materials were capable of maintaining the microbial load below 102 throughout the storage. That may be due to maintenance of water activity below 0.75 in samples packaged in all packaging materials (Table 3). Earlier researches have suggested that dried foods to be held for several years should be processed to reach the final water activity of 0.60 to 0.75 (Jay, 2000). Moreover all packaging materials except polyvinyl chloride were able to maintain the moisture content between 14-20 %, which the alarm water content suggested for storage stability of dehydrated foods (Jay, 2000).