Analysis of radiation effects on chicken eggs and meat irradiated by nanosecond electron beams

Abstract

Chicken and eggs are considered the most common product in the world. Microorganisms on the surface and inside these food products reduce the shelf life and may be the causative agents of the disease among consumers. To solve this problem various methods of thermal and chemical treatment are used, which have several disadvantages. Radiation processing is a modern method of suppressing contamination of bacteria and increasing the shelf life of food products. Unfortunately, this technology has a negative effect on the physico-chemical and organoleptic properties of the product. Therefore, for food and hatching eggs the dose level is limited about 3 kGy. However to solve this problem it is possible to use a low-energy electron beam. This approach allows irradiating with a disinfecting dose only the surface and a shallow depth of products. Experiments on the irradiation of chicken meat and eggs were carried out at the accelerators URT-0.5 and URT-1. Studying the effect of irradiation with a nanosecond electron beam (NEB) on edible chicken eggs showed no significant changes in the eggs structure and physico-chemical properties. This is primarily due to the low depth of electron penetration. Therefore, most of the product is not irradiated by electrons. Thus, irradiation using the URT accelerators will reduce the main problem of the food radiation technology. © The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2020.