The Freezing and Thawing of Water in Poultry Meat and Vegetables Irradiated by Electrons at Doses of 0·1–4 kGy

Abstract

Poultry meat and some vegetables, irradiated by 5 MeV electrons (0·1–4 kGy), were analysed by differential scanning calorimetry, from 24h after irradiation. The temperature and enthalpy transitions of the water contained in the irradiated samples were measured and compared with those of unirradiated samples. We analysed 18 meat and 10 vegetable samples for each irradiation dose together with a similar number of unirradiated controls. The mean supercooling temperatures of water in the irradiated poultry meat samples and in some vegetables are significantly lower than those of controls. Moreover, the freezing enthalpies of the irradiated poultry breast are significantly lower than those of controls, while they are unchanged in the other cases. The mean ice melting temperatures and enthalpies are similar for all samples. The amount of the lowering of the water-ice transition depends on the nature of the sample and is highest in poultry breast and lowest in vegetables.