Detection and Absorbed-Dose Estimation of Irradiated Enzyme Powder Using ESR Spectroscopy

Along with the increasing demands for food irradiation technology in the food industry, a proper detection means for controlling irradiated foods is required. Enzyme powder, which is permitted to be irradiated in Korea, was subjected to a detection trial by ESR spectroscopy. The high correlation coefficients were observed between the absorbed doses ranging from 2.5 to 15.0 kGy and the corresponding ESR signal intensity, such as = 0.9904 in gamma irradiation and = 0.9696 in electron beam. Pre-established threshold values for both non-irradiated control (1.19) and 2.5 kGy-irradiated samples (6.97 in gamma-ray; 7.36 in electron-beam) were successfully applicable to the detection of 30 coded unknown samples of enzyme powder. The calibration curves obtained from the samples irradiated at 2.5 to 15 kGy were expected to be potentially adopted to estimate absorbed doses ranging front 4 to 7 kGy with a quadratic equation.