COMPARISON OF THE EFFECT OF X-RAY AND ELECTRON-BEAM IRRADIATION ON SOME SELECTED SPICES

The effect of irradiation with X-rays and electron beams on the microb iological quality of white pepper; sweet red paprika and nutmeg was ex amined. Statistical a;analyses were performed on the data to interpret results on coliforms, total mesophilic counts and thermophilic spores after irradiation with doses ranging from 0 to 10 kGy at different do se rates; 50 Gy/min for X-rays and I ol 5 kGy/min for electron beams. It Mins concluded that for the selected dry spices no major difference s between the two irradiation techniques were found. Electron paramagn etic resonance (EPR) was employed to detect the ionizing treatment, us ing rite produced radicals. No significant differences were observed b etween spectra of samples irradiated with electrons or X-rays.