The effect of irradiation in the preservation of pink pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi) Adriana Re ´ gia Marques de Souza a,n , Valter Arthur b , Danielle Pires Nogueira a a Universidade Federal de Goia ´s, Escola de Agronomia e Engenharia de Alimentos, Campus Samambaia—Rodovia Goiˆ ania/Nova Veneza, Km 0—Caixa Postal 131, CEP 74690-900, Goiˆ ania, GO, Brasil b Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura—CENA/USP, Laborato ´rio de Radiobiologia e Ambiente, Av. Centena ´rio 303, CP. 96 CEP 13400-970, Piracicaba, S ~ ao Paulo, Brasil article info Article history: Received 8 July 2011 Accepted 28 February 2012 Available online 6 March 2012 Keywords: Pepper Radiation Conservation abstract Pink peppers, also known as ‘‘pimenta-rosa’’ and ‘‘poivre rose’’, are the fruit of Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi, a species of pepper cultivated in Brazil, and have great potential for the exploration of uses. In efforts to lengthen the shelf life of this pepper, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of different doses of radiation on its physical composition and color. The pink pepper samples were irradiated with doses of 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8 and 1.6 kGy, and the moisture, ash and lipid contents, pH and color were analyzed. The moisture content, lipid content and pH analysis indicated effects due to the irradiation (p 40.05) in which the higher doses resulted in decreases in the attribute. In contrast, there were no significant differences for the ash analysis (p o0.05) among the studied doses. The color of the pink peppers were affected by the irradiation: the parameters a n and b n were the most affected by the intermediate doses (0.2 and 0.8 kGy), which induced their elevation, enhancing the reddish and yellowish colors. Based on the presented data, irradiation is as an alternative preservation process for pink peppers. & 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. 1. Introduction Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi, a common tree species in South America and known as pink pepper or Brazilian pepper (Carmello- Guerreiro and Paoli, 1999), is a heliophytic pioneer plant that is commonly found beside rivers and brooks, growing in dry soils (Lorenzi, 1998). This species of the Anacardiaceae family is an important source of gum resin, and its fruits are numerous, small, of bright red color and produce a sticky secretion. The tree flowers from August to November, and fruit ripening extends from the end of December through January (Silva et al., 2005). Currently, the exploitation of the fruit is restricted to manual harvesting of natural populations, mainly present in sandbank regions of the Brazilian shoreline (Lenzi and Orth, 2004). However, the species has been widely used in international cuisine, which has been causing a considerable increase in the demand for this species by the spice industry. The small seed of the aroeira fruit, known in European cuisine as pink pepper, presents a mild and slightly peppery flavor and is employed in many preparations in the form of whole or ground grains (GOMES et al., 2004). Gamma irradiation is an ionizing, no-heat process that con- tinues to receive attention as a preservation and functional modification agent in polymer research and applications. The decontamination of foods (including spices) by irradiation may be accomplished either in bulk or in prepackaged states; the latter is usually preferred because of the prevention of subsequent reconta- mination (Codex Alimentarius Commission, 2003). This work was performed to determine the effects of different radiation doses on the chemical composition and color of pink pepper. 2. Materials and methods The work was conducted at the Universidade Federal de Goia ´s, Escola de Agronomia e Engenharia de Alimentos, sector of Engenharia de Alimentos, in Goiˆ ania (GO). 2.1. Pink pepper samples The pink pepper samples in natura were harvested from plants located in the Escola de Agronomia e Engenharia de Alimentos of the Universidade Federal de Goia ´ s and packed in polyethylene bags before being irradiated. 2.2. Sample irradiation The pink pepper samples were irradiated at doses of 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8 and 1.6 kGy at the Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/radphyschem Radiation Physics and Chemistry 0969-806X/$ - see front matter & 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.radphyschem.2012.02.040 n Corresponding author. Tel.: þ55 6235211617. E-mail address: adriana.souza@pesquisador.cnpq.br (A.R.M. de Souza). Radiation Physics and Chemistry 81 (2012) 1082–1083