No abstract available

No abstract available

No abstract available

[en] A multi-purpose irradiation facility, IRASM, was commissioned at IFIN-HH by the end of year 2000. The facility operates at industrial scale and has a benign impact upon population health at national scale. Important applications in the field of medical instrumentation, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and food-agricultural production are now feasible. IRASM resulted from a large technical cooperation undertaken in a collaboration between IAEA - Vienna and Romanian Government. IAEA financed basic equipment, radioactive sources, expertizing and personal training while Romanian Government ensured the concept, design and construction of building, auxiliary equipment, safety systems, operational and laboratory equipment. By its endowments with dosimetry, microbiology, chemical and physical-mechanical testing laboratories the facility will become soon an excellency center in technological irradiation field. The structure layout of the facility presenting the disposal of product input/output services, irradiated/nonirradiated product stores, source storing pool, irradiation chamber and administrative offices are shown. Of major economic interest are applications concerning: - the sterilization of medical supplies (particularly of parapharmaceuticals) for which irradiation appears to be the most safe, reliable, fast and cost-effective sterilization method; - disinfestation of agricultural food products, a procedure which eliminates any pathogen microorganisms while preservation or shop display span increases substantially; - sterilization of pharmaceuticals and foods; - microbial decontamination of raw materials of pharmaceutical use. particularly of excipients; - microbial decontamination of raw materials and cosmetic products; - conditioning (by reticulation) of plastic tubes used in domestic heating (PEXAL type tubes). Besides direct relations with users from industry, the IRASM team participated in research / development projects aiming methodology improvement, published promotional materials, issued standards, organized seminars and panel discussions

[en] The advantages of using ionizing radiation for the preservation of potato, corn, fruits and vegetables are reviewed. The main technical problems of the irradiating devices are also discussed. (P.L.)

[en] Short communication

[en] Short communication

[en] Discussed in this paper are the benefits derived from food irradiation, development of food irradiation, application of food irradiation, advantages of irradiation over conventional methods, limitations, radiation disinfestation and development of irradiation as quarantine treatment and disinfestation dose for the Oriental fruitfly in mango. (ELC). 13 refs

[en] Mycotoxin production (deoxynivalenol (DON), acetyl deoxynivalenol (A DON) and zearalenone) by Fusarium culmorum inoculated on to maize (heat sterilized, irradiation sterilized and non-sterile) and irradiated to 1 kGy or 3 kGy, or unirradiated, was investigated over a period of time. Lowest mycotoxin production was observed on non-sterile maize which may be due to the presence of a competitive microflora on non-sterile maize. In general, mycotoxin production was higher on heat-sterilized grain as compared to irradiation-sterilized maize. It was suggested that this pattern of mycotoxin production was possibly caused by changes in the grain brought about by autoclaving, which favoured mycotoxin production and possibly induced changes in irradiation-sterilized maize which inhibited mycotoxin production. On sterile maize, there was no significant difference in DON production by unirradiated, 1 kGy and 3 kGy irradiated cultures up to 56 d of incubation; between days 56 and 77 of incubation, DON production increased rapidly with largest increases occurring in irradiated (1 kGy and 3 kGy) cultures. On non-sterile grain, neither DON nor A DON were detected in unirradiated cultures of F. culmorum but were detected in cultures irradiated to 1 kGy and 3 kGy. In practice grain should be stored under conditions of temperature and moisture content which prevent fungal growth. However, in this study, the grain was stored under conditions that were approaching ideal for growth of the test organism. The results highlight that irradiation disinfestation of grain must be combined with good grain handling practices so that excessive mycotoxin production can be prevented during storage. (Author)

[en] Short communication