E-beam irradiation of 'in natura' palm: Texture and color evaluation

In the last decades, palm tree (Bactris gasipaes Kunth) cultivation is gaining impetus to produce palm heart not only because its potential economic value but also due to its high mineral content. Food irradiation is a worldwide technology that aims to improve the product quality, in order to eliminate diverse microorganisms that can spoil the food. Irradiation processing, in the recommended doses, causes very few chemical alterations in foods, nutritional losses are considered insignificant and some of the alterations known found in irradiated foods is not harmful or dangerous. The objective of this work was to evaluate shelf-life and physical characteristics of 'in natura' palm, such as color and texture, after combination of e-beam processing and refrigeration. Samples were irradiated with 0 (control), 1.0 kGy and 2.0 kGy using an electron beam irradiator (Radiation Dinamics Co. model JOB 188, New York, USA). Colour analysis results showed a significant change mainly with samples irradiated with 2.0 kGy after 14 days of storage, while non-irradiated samples and those irradiated with 1.0 kGy did not show any alteration. Similar results were obtained to texture profile, non-irradiated and 1.0 kGy samples did not differ each other, although 2.0 kGy demonstrated lower firmness. (author)