Process development of ready-to-eat custard cream filled Chinese steamed bun

Glycerol and fructose were added to custard cream filling and glycerol and lactic acid were added to steamed bun to adjust the aw. The optimum condition for custard cream filling was 6% glycerol and 6% fructose and for the steamed bun was 2.5% glycerol and 0.25% lactic acid which reduced aw to 0.915 and 0.912, respectively. The custard cream filling was combined with bun and packed in PVDC pouch with and without oxygen absorber (OA). It was found that the shelf-life of samples packed with OA was 10 days based on microbial and 8 days based on texture quality.