HND-717 3(2-1)

Advances in Meat Technology

Irradiation of Meat and Meat Products

Dr. Muhammad Issa Khan
Associate Professor (Tenured)
National Institute of Food Science and Technology
• Meat is a global product, which is traded between regions,
countries and continents
• The responsibility is on producers, manufacturers,
transporters and retailers to ensure an ever-demanding
consumer receives a top-quality product that is free from
contamination
• With such a dynamic product and market place, new
innovative ways to process, package and assess meat
products are being developed
• Industry uptake of new technologies is stifled by a lack of
knowledge about these new technologies and their impact
on product quality and safety
• With ever-increasing competition and tighter cost margins,
industry has shown willingness to engage in seeking novel
innovative ways of processing, packaging and assessing meat
products while maintaining quality and safety attributes
• Several new technologies have emerged with regard to meat
processing, packaging and quality assessment, which have the
potential to improve production efficiency while maintaining
meat safety and quality
• A number of novel thermal and non-thermal technologies
designed to achieve microbial safety while minimizing the
effects on its nutritional and quality attributes have also become
available
• Minimizing changes in quality and safety during processing is a
considerable challenge for food processors and technologists
Forms of irradiation
•Radiation energies are classified into three categories;
 Electromagnetic radiation (gamma ray, X-ray)
 Charged particle radiation (alpha ray, beta ray, electron
beam, photons)
 Uncharged particles (neutron)
•Two types of ionizing radiation are basically used for food safety:
 One is the radiation energy generated from a
radionuclide of radioactive source
 The other is produced from an accelerator or a nuclear
reactor
•Gamma rays and X-rays have relatively short wavelengths
(high energy) among electromagnetic spectrum
•Accelerated electron is a charged particle with high energy
• Thus, radiation types that can be applied to meat and meat
products are gamma ray, X-ray, and accelerated electron
• The “ionizing” radiation has a power to dislodge electrons from
molecules and convert them into electrically charged ions
• Gamma ray has a strong enough power to ionize molecules
located in a deep position of targeted food and is from a
radioactive isotope
• Accelerated electrons and X-ray are generated by a machine
process
• Electron beam is directed to only target food, and the energy
efficiency is higher than that of gamma rays
• The most predominantly available form of food irradiation is
gamma ray or accelerated electrons
• X-ray for food irradiation has been commercially as well as in
research, but its efficiency is 70–80% of gamma ray and <30%
of accelerated electrons
Gamma rays
• Gamma rays are the most widely used form for food irradiation
and is normally emitted from the spontaneous disintegration of
radioactive isotope
• Gamma rays are classified as photons that does not have mass
despite of its high energy levels
• Gamma rays are higher frequency photons than either
ultraviolet or X-ray and can penetrate into a target food to a
depth of 60–80cm
• Thus, gamma rays are appropriate for “post sterilization” of
packaged foods
• The approved sources of gamma rays for food irradiation
are cobalt-60 and cesium-137 by the US FDA and by the
International Standards for Food Irradiation

Electron beam
• The electron beam is a high-energy stream of electrons
generated by an electron accelerator that has a similar
structure to television tubes
• Electron beam has totally different mechanisms from the
gamma rays
• Electrons can be accelerated up to 10MeV, which is about eight
times higher than the energy level of gamma rays
• The machine to produce electron beam can be easily controlled
by its on/off switch system because it does not use any
radioactive sources
• Electron beam has advantages in terms of ease of process
control, irradiation speed, accuracy, energy efficiency, and
consumer acceptance compared with the gamma rays
• The only disadvantage of electron beam is its limited
penetration capability
• As electrons have mass and slow down quickly as enter a
product, can penetrate to a depth of only 3.81 cm in meat
X-rays
•X-rays radiation facility can be regarded as a more powerful
version of the machines that can be easily found in hospitals
•X-rays are produced by collision of the high-energy
electrons with a metal (tungsten) target without using any
radioactive materials
•X-rays were developed to overcome the low penetration
capability of electron beam
•X-ray is considered as a new technology with advantages of
gamma ray and electron beam, but X-ray has relatively low
energy efficiency
• Selection of an irradiation source can be determined by;
 Treatment goal (pasteurization, sterilization, insecticide, or
growth control)
 Characteristics of target food (thickness and density of target
material, contamination degree, moisture content,
deteriorated rate, density, packaging, or surface sterilization)
 Energy characteristics (penetration capability, energy
efficiency, or source control)
 Minimum dose
 Dose uniformity
 Processing rate
 Economics
Mode of action
•The microorganisms in foods are highly susceptible to
irradiation
•When ionizing energy passes through a food, some of the
atoms or molecules in the food absorb the energy and become
reactive ions, free radicals, or damaged
•Free radicals are highly reactive and destroy cellular
components
•This type of radiation is called ionizing radiation and is used
to destroy insects, pathogenic bacteria, and parasites in meats
•The most direct target of ionization energy is DNA molecules
• An exposure of bacterial cells to 0.1 kGy irradiation
resulted in 2.8% DNA damage, whereas 0.14% of the
enzymes and 0.005% of amino acids were altered with the
same dose
• The loss of replication ability of cells is caused by
damaged DNA
• Radiation destroys microorganisms by inactivation of
genetic material in living cells either by its direct effects on
DNA or through the production of radicals or ions that
attack DNA indirectly
• According to the direct theory, some molecules in cells or
food components are more sensitive to the action of the
ionizing energy than others
• DNA is the most critical target of irradiation although other
cellular components may also be affected
• The direct effect of irradiation on nucleic acid is either
ionization or excitation
• Indirect theory is that radiolytic products (ions or free
radicals) of water molecules induce chemical changes in
essential compounds or the structure necessary for
maintaining life
• Especially, hydroxyl radical (⋅OH) is known to have 90%
damage rate to DNA molecules
• Depending on the irradiation dose, food can be either
pasteurized to reduce or eliminate pathogens or sterilized
except for some viruses
• Very low doses (up to 1 kGy) of radiation can kill at least
99.9% of Salmonella in poultry and an even higher
percentage of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in ground beef
• Irradiation can dramatically improve the safety of meat
products by killing pathogenic bacteria
Meat Irradiation
•Radiation processing of meat is a novel alternative to
traditional preservation methods; salting, curing, smoking,
drying, canning, cooking, refrigeration, freezing, modified
atmosphere packaging and high-pressure
•The advantages of this technology are that it is a physical,
cold and non-additive process that causes minimal changes in
food and is ecofriendly
•Radiation processed ground beef and poultry have appeared
since on the market shelves of several states in the US
•Meat and meat products pasteurized by radiation have been
successfully marketed in Belgium, France, China, Indonesia,
Netherlands, South Africa and Thailand for a number of years.
Poultry Irradiation
•The presence of pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella and
Campylobacter in poultry is a world-wide phenomenon
•The contamination problem is aggravated by modern mass
rearing practices
•Poultry-borne Salmonellosis and Campylobacteriosis occur
mainly as a result of under-cooking, time-temperature abuse
leading to survival and growth of the pathogens, or
recontamination after cooking due to contact with surfaces,
hands or utensils which have been previously contaminated with
raw chicken
•Poultry-borne Salmonellosis or Campylobacteriosis account for
a heavy toll in human disease and associated suffering,
including death
• Economic losses associated with these problems were
estimated in the thousands of millions of US dollars
• According to the Centre for Disease Control and
Prevention, 2009;
• Salmonella causes an estimated 1.2 million cases of acute
gastroenteritis including 23,000 hospitalizations and 450
deaths, in the United States
 IRRADIATION AND MEAT QUALITY
Changes in Lipids
•Oxidative lipid degradation is associated with many meat-
processing technologies including meat irradiation
•Irradiation may result in the formation of free radicals and
possible development of off-odour
•Hydroxyl radicals generated by the interaction of ionizing
energy with water molecules can cause initiation of lipid
oxidation in muscle tissues or in meat products
•Oxygen dissolved in meat tissue or surrounding the product is
subjected to activation by ionizing radiation and may generate
reactive oxygen species
•Hydroxyl radicals and other reactive oxygen species interact
with lipids in meat and form lipid hydro peroxides
• Subsequent breakdown of such hydro peroxides aldehydes,
ketones and various other products that generates volatiles,
which may partially contribute to off odors in irradiated
meat
• Free radicals may interact with heme pigments in meat and
change meat color
• Thus free radicals generated by irradiation can destroy
antioxidants in muscle, reduce storage stability and
increase off flavor production in meat
• The susceptibility of irradiated meat to oxidative rancidity
is related to the nature, proportion, packaging, storage, and
degree of saturation in fatty acids and the composition of
phospholipids in cell membranes
• Lipid peroxidation in muscle foods is one of the major
degradative processes responsible for loss of meat quality
• It would be good to note that the path of by-product
formation from lipids followed by ionizing radiation
induced autoxidation is the same that as natural
autoxidation
• Oxidative rancidity in irradiated meat can be
minimised/retarded by various means.
• Vacuum packaging and modified atmosphere packaging
(MAP) of meat are very effective in controlling oxidative
rancidity
• Freezing of meat can considerably slow down the rate of
oxidative rancidity
• Antioxidants are one of the principal ingredients that protect
meat quality by preventing oxidative deterioration of lipids
• There is an increasing demand for naturally occurring
antioxidants because they are presumed to be safe since they
occur naturally in food
Changes in Proteins
• Because of the importance of proteins to human health, the
effect of irradiation on this food constituent is of interest
• Protein damage due to irradiation is catalyzed by free
radicals formed by the radiolysis of water
• Major products formed by the interaction of radiation with
protein material are carbonyl groups, ammonia, free amino
acids, hydrogen peroxide and organic peroxides
• Damage caused to protein by ionizing radiation include:
 Deamination (pyruvic and propionic acids),
 Decarboxylation (ethylamine and acetaldehyde),
 Reduction of disulfide linkages,
 Oxidation of sulfydryl groups,
 Breakage of peptide bonds
 Changes of valency states of the coordinated metal ions in
enzymes
• The prevalence of ammonia and pyruvic acid production
indicate that deamination plays a greater role than
decarboxylation
• Major products formed by the interaction of radiation with
protein material are carbonyl groups, ammonia, free amino
acids, hydrogen peroxide and organic peroxides
• These chemical changes are all affected by the structure and
state of the protein and by the conditions of irradiation such
as the dose, dose rate, temperature and presence of oxygen
• Changes stated here mostly affect the primary structure of
the protein but many studies indicate that irradiation is a
major process by which the secondary and tertiary
structures are affected
• The folding pattern changes are brought about by
aggregation due to cross-linking among peptide chains or
denaturation through the breaking of hydrogen bonds
Oxidation of amino acids by irradiation
•Amino acids inside a protein are less labile to irradiation
than free amino acids
•The aliphatic amino acids, irradiation in the presence of
oxygen will lead to the formation of ammonia and alpha-
ketoacids, or to the formation of ammonia, carbon dioxide
and an aldehyde or a carboxylic acid
•The yield of expected oxidation products decreases linearly
as a function of the number of carbon atoms present in the
aliphatic side chains
•This is explained by the fact that the more carbon atoms are
present, the more sites for attack by an OH- radical are
available
• Sulfur containing amino acids along with aromatic amino
acids are the most susceptible to irradiation damage
• The products formed from sulfur-containing amino acids in
proteins include methyl or ethyl mercaptan, dimethyl
disulfide, carbonyl sulfide or hydrogen sulfide
• When sulfur compounds are submitted to radiation in the
absence of oxygen, hydrogen sulfide and sulfide are formed
• In the presence of oxygen, the amount of ammonia and
sulfuric acid produced increases
• The typical odor of irradiated meat is related to the
formation of sulfuric compounds
• The most radiation sensitive amino acids are sulfur bearing
notably cystine, methionine and tryptophan
Oxidation of proteins by irradiation
•In the case of proteins, the presence or absence of oxygen has
a large effect on the products recovered
•The major player in irradiation damage to proteins is OH-
•In the presence of oxygen, little or no aggregation occurs but
fragmentation of the polypeptide chain is the rule
•Exposure to OH- in the presence of oxygen generally
produces a dispersed pattern of lower molecular weight
protein fragmentation products
•Fragmentation appears to occur predominantly at the alpha
carbon rather than at the peptide bond
•Protein solubility increased slightly for irradiated beef with
dose
Changes in Vitamins
•Meat is a great source of water-soluble B complex vitamins
•The amount of these vitamins is largely influenced by the
fatness of the meat, being principally found in lean portions
due to their lipid insolubility
•Age of the animal also has an effect on the water-soluble
vitamin content
•In the case of vitamin radiolysis, the types of possible free
radical reactions are determined by the medium in which the
vitamins are present
•Fat-soluble vitamins would be exposed to radicals produced
by action of radiation on lipids and the water-soluble vitamins
to radicals formed by water irradiation
• Fat-soluble vitamins, the free radical-mediated reactions are
negligible since they will mostly recombine with positive
lipid ions
• Water-soluble vitamins, some may react with hydrated
electrons directly or acquire an electron from the other
radicals produced in the aqueous medium
• The fate of the reaction is determined by the electron
reduction potential of the vitamin and the weakness of its H
bonds
• The OH- radicals will mostly react with other major food
components before reacting with vitamins
• The vitamins are thus more affected by the secondary radicals
formed by the interactions with the major components which
are mostly hydroperoxides