Radiation processing of foods - a success story of DAE

It is estimated that about 30-40% of foods is been lost annually in India indicating the need of the preservation technology to reduce these post-harvest losses. Food Technology Division (FTD) is a pioneer institute in India working on R and D activities pertaining to radiation processing of foods, an alternative preservation technology. It helps in sprout inhibition of bulbs and tubers, hygienization of spices, insect disinfestation of cereals and pulses and delay in ripening in fruits. The division has worked on long term sprout free storage of onion and potatoes by developing precise Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) that were successfully tested on a large-scale commercial storage trials of irradiated onion (15 tons) and potato (28 tons), with the shelf life of 7.5 and 8 months, respectively. Additionally, stuffed baked food (SBF) was developed with a shelf life of 6 months at ambient temperature using radiation processing that was deployed as emergency food to the flood victims in Himachal Pradesh. Similarly, to increase the export volume of irradiated mangoes, a process including irradiation (400 Gy) was developed to extend the shelf life of Kesar mangoes to about 30 days at 10° C. Using this process, about 16 tons of Kesar mangoes were successfully shipped to Newark, USA and marketed in 2022. Further, semi commercial storage trials of irradiated (650 Gy) cereals and pulses with the shelf life of >1y were carried out. Active research in fruit preservation resulted in development of shelf stable Jamun and Strawberry products which are available on online platforms like Amazon. Similarly, research in grain technology culminated into a development of gluten free multigrain premix consisting of radiation processed dietary fibre. Based on this research, Government of India has given class-based approval in 2016 for food irradiation and about 25 radiation processing plants have been established till date. (author)