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Sterilization of Ground Prepacked Indian Spices by Gamma Irradiation
Author(s) -
MUNASIRI M.A.,
PARTE M.N.,
GHANEKAR AS.,
SHARMA ARUN,
PADWALDESAI S.R.,
NADKARNI G.B.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
journal of food science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1750-3841
pISSN - 0022-1147
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2621.1987.tb06736.x
Subject(s) - sterilization (economics) , pepper , gamma irradiation , food science , contamination , mold , population , chemistry , toxicology , irradiation , biology , botany , medicine , ecology , physics , environmental health , nuclear physics , monetary economics , economics , foreign exchange market , foreign exchange
Prepacked ground Indian spices which included pepper. turmeric, chilli, and coriander were found to be heavily contaminated with bacteria and molds. The total bacterial counts ranged between 10 5 –10 7 . whereas total fungal counts ranged between 10 2 –10 6 . Red chilli was found to be the most contaminated spice. The bacterial population consisted mainly of spores. A dose of 10 kGy was found to be effective in destroying these microbes in prepacked spices without affecting their quality attributes. To eliminate mold contamination a dose of 5 kGy was sufficient. During a six‐month storage study of irradiated and unirradiated spices, the irradiated spices were found to retain their quality.