Alanine-EPR dosimetry in 10 MeV electron beam to optimize process parameters for food irradiation

Absorbed dose in food product is determined and controlled by several parameters of the LINAC irradiation facility as well as those of the product. Standardization of the parameters characterizing the facility parameters, process load and the irradiation conditions collectively termed as ‘process parameters’ are important for successful dose delivery to the food products. In the present study, alanine-EPR dosimetry system was employed to optimize process parameters of 10 MeV electron beam of a LINAC facility for commercial irradiation of food products. Three sets of experiments were carried out with different food commodities namely, mango, potato and semolina (coarsely ground wheat, local name Rawa) with the available product conveying system of different irradiation geometries in one sided or two sided mode of irradiation. Three dimensional dose distributions into the process load for low dose requiring food commodities (0.25 to 1 kGy) were measured in each experiment. The actual depth dose profile in food product and useful scan width of the electron beam were found to be satisfactory for commercial radiation processing of food. Finally, a scaled up experiment with a commercial food product (packets of semolina) exhibited adequate dose uniformity ratio allowing use of the facility for large scale radiation processing of food commodities.