The effect of post‐irradiation cooking on the ESR signal in irradiated chicken drumsticks

Summary Groups of seventy‐two, 6‐week‐old broiler chicken carcasses were either not irradiated and served as controls or were given 2.5 or 5.0 kGy doses of irradiation. Half of each group remained uncooked and half were cooked in a convection oven at 190°C. Pairs of drumsticks were taken from each carcass, the bones excised and the free radical content measured using electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. The ESR signal strength increased significantly as irradiation dose increased, the value at 5.0 kGy being 96% greater than that at 2.5 kGy. Cooking significantly reduced the free radical concentration of the irradiated bone by approximately 23%.