Effects of gamma-irradiation on the alpha-tocopherol and fatty acids content of raw unpeeled almond kernels (Prunus dulcis)

Abstract The present study evaluated fatty acid composition and α-tocopherol content of almond as a function of irradiation dose in order to determine dose levels causing minimal undesirable changes to almonds. Raw unpeeled almonds variety Tuono ( Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D. A. Webb) were irradiated using 60 Co source at dose of 0.5, 1.5, 3, 6, 8 and 10 kGy. Both control and irradiated samples were kept frozen and immediately analyzed. The data obtained showed no change in fatty acid compositions up to a dose of 10 kGy; on the contrary, a general trend observed is that increasing the dose of irradiation resulted in the decrease of α-tocopherol content. The study has shown that irradiation is a…