Study on detection of electron beam irradiated food by ESR spectroscopy and comparison of the ESR spectrum of electron beams and γ-rays

The study was conducted to detect electron beam irradiated food by ESR spectroscopy. The white pepper powder, paprika powder, cumin powder and pistachios were used as test materials to study the feature changes of ESR spectrum and the relationship between ESR intensity and irradiation dose in different doses, the shape variation of ESR spectrum in γ-rays and electron beams in the same sample was also compared. The results showed that the ESR spectrum of 4 kinds of irradiated samples was obviously different before and after irradiation, the intensity of ESR signal increased with the increasing of the absorbed dose. The dose above 432 Gy could be detected in white pepper powder and pistachios, the dose above 875 Gy could be detected in paprika powder and cumin powder. The ESR intensity of all samples decreased during the storage time (200 d), even after 200 days the ESR method could also be used to detect whether or not the samples have been irradiated. The same dosage of y-rays and electron beams has no significant influence on the shape of ESR spectrum, however, the difference of irradiation mechanism caused slight impact on ESR intensity. The results could provide the technical basis for the application of ESR method in detecting electron beam irradiated food. (authors)