Proximate analysis of peas after gamma radiation

Pakistan is a big market where a huge amount of fruits and vegetables are grown. However, the marketing system is deficient in proper storage facilities and hence considerable post-harvest loss occurs. Pea is a perishable crop therefore it is difficult to store the peas. Food irradiation is the process of intentionally exposing good-quality food to a controlled source of ionizing radiation for such purposes as pathogen reduction, shelf-life extension, and insect disinfestation. Gamma irradiation of foods is an important source of food sterilization as they kill the microorganisms responsible for the spoilage of food. However, there are concerns about the effect of gamma radiation on nutritional value of the irradiated food. Furthermore, it is very important to determine the optimum dose of gamma radiation to achieve this objective. In the present study, peas were exposed to three doses of gamma radiation i.e. 1, 1.5, 2.5 kGy. The nutritional value of peas after radiation was analyzed to determine the change in proximate composition. . In light of result, it was evaluated that 1 kGy is optimized dose that has little effect on the nutritional value of peas.