Injera is naturally-leavened fermented sourdough-risen flatbread, indigenous to Ethiopia. It isrncommonly made from tef (Eragrostis tef). Injera has nutritional merits, mainly gluten freernprotein and high calcium and iron content. Unfortunately, injera has a short shelf life of 3-4 daysrnbasically due to mould spoilage. Its traditional storage condition favors mold spoilage andrnquality loss. Use of critical preservation techniques like packaging is ideal for retardation ofrnmold growth. The application of vacuum packaging (VP) and non-vacuum packaging (NP) ofrninjera, with or without preservative added (sodium benzoate), has been studied for 15 days withrnthe aim of determining their effect on the shelf-life and staling of injera. Samples were tested forrnmicrobial load analysis, moisture content (MC), pH, and color â€œLâ€ value (lightness)rndetermination, visible mold sign inspection and sensory quality evaluation. Oxygen exclusion ofrnthe packaging methods and antimicrobial activities of preservative used, prolong the storagernduration of injera without visible mold growth to more than 15 days; with VP (vacuumrnpackaging), VP+ (vacuum packaging with preservative) and NP+ (non-vacuum packaging withrnpreservative) treatments. Among these, VP+ had least microbial load (5.3*101 & 9.0*101rnbacterial & yeast and mold colony forming unit (cfu)/g respectively). But it was least effectivernregarding staling as it had least average scoring of MC, pH and L value (60.96%, 3.33 & 45.92rnrespectively) and sensory acceptability, basically due to crumbling effect of the packagingrnmethod used. Beside, NP+ had lower microbial load (7.5*101 bacterial cfu/g and 9.0*101 yeastrnand mold cfu/g). Despite VP and VP+, NP+ was relatively effective method regarding sensoryrnacceptability and staling as it had 62.73%, 3.32 & 48.70 average MC, pH and L valuernrespectively. Generally, packaging methods and preservative used found to have a significantrneffect (P