Preliminary examination of induced radioactivity in black pepper by 10 MeV electron irradiation

In spite of the wholesomeness acceptance of irradiated foods by the FAO/IAEA/WHO Joint Expert Committee on Food Irradiation 1981, there are some concerns about its safety, in which the induced radioactivity in the irradiated foods is the matter of primary concern. It is, therefore, very important to show clear data of radioactivity in irradiated foods to the public in order to clear up their misunderstanding. Especially for irradiated spices, this is an urgent problem because they are expected to circulate in the international market in the near future. Therefore, in this study, the authors tried to examine whether or not radioactivity could be induced in the black pepper irradiated with 10 MeV electrons theoretically and experimentally. For the theoretical evaluation, elemental composition of the sample were analyzed and photonuclear reactions which could produce radioactivity in the sample were investigated based on the data already published. Then the sample was irradiated with 10 MeV electrons from the linear accelerator and radioactivity was measured by gamma-ray spectrometry. As a result, the pattern of gamma-ray spectra was all the same between irradiated sample and background. (author)