Comparative effects of electron beam and gamma radiation on the triacylglycerol profiles of Portuguese chestnuts (Castanea sativa Mill.)
Conference Paper
Overview
Overview
abstract
CChestnut (Castanea sativa) global production is continuously growing; Portugal produces 20,000 t per year, being 75% of this production concentrated in the Trás-os-Montes region [1]. In order to reach new markets, effective conservation technologies are mandatory, especially since the European Union banned methyl bromide for allegedly being toxic to operators and a severe environment pollutant [2]. Other conservation methods like heat treatment still lack efficiency [3], allowing radiation like γ-irradiation [4] and electron beam [5] to gain interest as an alternative. The main benefits of this technique are related to its low cost, cleanliness and environment friendly. In previous studies of our research group, the effects of different γ and electron beam irradiation doses on the chemical composition and bioactivity of chestnuts were evaluated. Despite the usefulness of those studies, the influence of irradiation on the triacylglycerol composition of chestnut remains undone. Herein, the effects of γ-irradiation and electron beam treatment were studied on chestnut triacylglycerol profiles in fresh and stored samples. The results were classified trough an analysis of variance and a stepwise based linear discrimination analysis as a supervised classification technique, in order to understand entirely the observed changes. Independently of irradiation type, samples irradiated with upper doses showed higher modifications in their triacylglycerol profile. These differences allowed classifying the assayed samples in different groups trough the applied linear discriminant analysis. Hence, triacylglycerol profile might be a realistic indicator of the exact effect of irradiation over chestnuts lipidic fraction, making the stereospecific analysis of TAG very useful to evaluate irradiation consequences.
