Abstract
γ-Irradiation is highly effective in inactivating microorganisms and enzymes activity in various foods and it offers a safe alternative method of food decontamination and maintaining quality. Water melon juice was exposed to γ- irradiation of 1, 3 and 5 kGy at room temperature (25 ± 1°C). With regard to colorimetric parameters the fresh water melon juice was lower than the irradiated samples. There was an improvement in the Hunter color value in irradiated water melon juice compared with fresh samples. The ascorbic acid, other antioxidants measured (DPPH, β-carotene asays, total phenols, flavonoids and antioxidant capacity) showed enhancement on expsoure to γ-irradiation. Microbial studies showed reduction in total bacterial counts in irradiated juice at 5 kGy. γ-irradiation improves microbial decontamination and antioxidant activity as well as colour of the water melon juice (WMJ) without any adverse change in bioactive and volatile compounds qualities. These results support the application of γ-irradiation as a measure of food preservation technique for water melon juice that can be explored commercially to benefit both the producers and consumers.
Highlights
Consumers are becoming very health conscious, and this attitude is supported by governments which invest high levels of resources in promoting the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables
Effect of γ- irradiation on aroma volatile compounds in fresh and irradiated water melon juice volatile compounds were identified by comparing their linear retention indices (LRI) and MS fragmented patterns with those of standard compounds and published data, as well as by comparing their mass spectra with the MS library of NIST08 (National Institute of Standard Technology)
LRI was calculated using a mixture of n-alkanes, C7−C21, as standards according to the method of Vandendool and Kratz [31]
Summary
Consumers are becoming very health conscious, and this attitude is supported by governments which invest high levels of resources in promoting the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. Water melon (Citrullus lanatus cv.) is largely consumed as refreshing summer fruit throughout the Mediterranean region especially in Egypt, where its consumption is seasonal and occurs mainly between May and September. Identification and quantification of bioactive compounds and antioxidant properties of many fruits and vegetables are well defined; studies on the characterization and quantification of the bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity properties of watermelon are very limited. It has been reported that the levels of the health promoting bioactive compounds and the antioxidant activity of fruits and vegetables are strongly influenced by genotype differences and external factors such as agro-technical processes, environmental conditions, ripening stage, harvest and postharvest manipulations [3]
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