Gamma rays as an effective tool for removing undesirable color without adverse changes in biological activities of red beet extracts

The ethanolic extracts of red beet (Beta vulgaris L.) hairy root were used to investigate the removal of color and improvement of biological activity for enhanced industrial applications. The extracts were exposed to gamma rays ranging from 2.5 to 30 kGy. The red beet hairy root is composed of two major red-colorants, betanin and isobetanin. Gamma ray radiation at 5 kGy remarkably reduced the levels of the major colorants by 94% and the reddish color was eliminated by doses greater than 10 kGy. Color removal was likely due to the gamma ray radiolysis of ethanol. Although details on the mechanism responsible for the decay of the chromophore have not been entirely determined, our results suggest that the free radicals that are produced during this process are capable of destroying the chromophore group in isobetanin, thus bleaching the substrate solution. In spite of the degradation of the major colorants, the biological activities of constituents of the extract such as DPPH radical scavenging and tyrosinase inhibition were negligibly affected by the gamma ray radiation up to 20 kGy. The antioxidant activity was 92.7% in control samples and 90.0–92.0% in irradiated samples (2.5–20 kGy), and a slight decrease to 87.5% was observed for gamma ray radiation at 30 kGy. In addition, tyrosinase inhibition activity has also the same pattern; the activity is slightly increased from 50.7% of control to 49.1–52.8% of irradiated samples (2.5–20 kGy) with a 46.8% at 30 kGy. - Highlights: ► Gamma ray radiation at 5 kGy remarkably reduced the levels of the major colorants. ► The reddish color was eliminated by doses greater than 10 kGy. ► The biological activities of constituents of the extract were negligibly affected by the gamma ray.