Effects of ionizing radiation on nutrients in foods

Abstract

The reactions of vitamins to ionizing radiation in fresh meats and poultry products irradiated at normal processing temperatures and in the presence of air for increased shelf life and/or elimination of food-borne pathogens are not well known. In view of this, an experimental design was developed to determine the effects of gamma irradiation in the presence of air at processing temperatures between -20°C and +20°C and at doses between 0 and 7.0 kGy on the vitamins cyanocobolamin (B12), pyridoxine (B6), niacin, riboflavin, and thiamin (B1) using response surface methodology to predict the effects with reasonable accuracy in fresh poultry from pork chops. There was no loss of thiamin in the control on a sample weight basis upon cooking, but there was an overall weight loss of about 30%. The effect of radiation on thiamin was different in poultry from that observed in pork.