Monitoring of gamma irradiation effects on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and microbial load in pea seeds using GC-MS analysis

Abstract

A qualitative characterization of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in pea seeds before and post gamma irradiation has been carried out using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Seeds were exposed to gamma irradiation at 1, 5, 10 and 15 kGy doses. PAHs were extracted and their concentrations were correlated with the peak height, at each dose and compared to control samples. PAHs peaks decreased with the increase of gamma irradiation dose. Total bacterial and total fungal counts decreased from 2.43 and 1.66 log10
cfu g-1, respectively (non-irradiated), to <1 log10 cfu g-1 after gamma irradiation. The results indicate the potential utilization of gamma irradiation for PAHs and microbial inactivation from pea seeds.