THE EFFECT OF GAMMA-IRRADIATION ON PHYSICAL AND NUTRITIONAL QUALITY OF PENAEUS-MONODON SHRIMPS

Two lots of frozen precooked shrimps from Thailand ''PENAEUS MONODON'' Black tiger variety were irradiated at 1.8 to 3.6 kGy. This way, it w as hoped to compare the effects of gamma irradiation on the chemical a nd physical qualities of frozen precooked shrimps after transportation from Thailand to Canada. The results indicated that the color measure ment expressed in term of lightness (L) showed a relative stability d uring storage of processed shrimps. However, based on the value (theta ) a more intense red color was observed for the control and the refere nce. The cooked irradiated and nonirradiated shrimps presented a signi ficant decrease (p less than or equal to 0.01) of 22% in firmness duri ng the first week of storage. Thus, irradiation did not impair the fir mness of shrimps after treatment or during storage. Also, based on the statistical analysis, the irradiation treatment did not affect the co ntent of amino acids of precooked shrimps.