Potential Uses of Irradiation

Abstract

Food irradiation has been recognized as a reliable and safe method for the preservation of food and for improving the hygienic quality and nutritional value of food. In addition to the control of microorganisms of numerous food commodities, ionizing irradiation can be used to reduce several carcinogenic agents and antinutritional factors, such as gossypol and trypsin and tannin inhibitors. In addition, irradiation has also been used in the drying procedure of food commodities and in the development of traditional fermented foods. This chapter presents a detailed review of data regarding the current and potential applications of ionizing irradiation on the reduction of carcinogenic agents and several antinutritional components, the production of fermented food, the process of drying food, food allergens reduction, and green tea extract improvement. © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.