Food Chemistry E-Beam Irradiation for Improving the Microbiological Quality of Smoked Duck Meat with Minimum Effects on Physicochemical Properties During Storage Kyung-A An, Muhammad Sajid Arshad, Yunhee Jo, Namhyeok Chung, and Joong-Ho Kwon Abstract: This study was performed to evaluate the effect of different doses (0, 1.5, 3, and 4.5 kGy) of e-beam irradiation on the quality parameters (pH, Hunter’s parameter, and heme pigment) and stability qualifiers (peroxide value [POV], thiobarbituric acid reactive substances [TBARSs], and total volatile basic nitrogen [TVBN]) of smoked duck meat during 40 d of storage under vacuum packaging at 4 °C. The initial populations of total bacteria (7.81 log CFU/g) and coliforms (5.68 log CFU/g) were reduced by approximately 2 to 5 log cycles with respect to irradiation doses. The results showed that pH, myoglobin, met-myoglobin, L ∗ , a ∗ , and b ∗ showed significant differences with respect to different doses and storage intervals; a ∗ and b ∗ did not vary significantly because of storage. Higher pH was found in samples treated with 4.5 kGy at 40 d, while the minimum was observed in nonirradiated samples at day 0 of storage. Higher POV (2.31 ± 0.03 meq peroxide/kg) and TBARS (5.24 ± 0.03 mg MDA/kg) values were found in 4.5 kGy-treated smoked meat at 40 d and the lowest was reported in 0 kGy-treated meat at initiation of storage (0 d). However, irradiation suppressed TVBN during storage and higher TVBN (7.09 ± 0.32 mg/100 mL) was found in duck meat treated with 0 kGy at 40 d. The electronic nose (e-nose) effectively distinguished flavor profiles during the different storage intervals. The results showed that different sensory attributes did not vary significantly with respect to the dose of irradiation. We conclude that low dose of e-beam irradiation and vacuum packaging is beneficial for safety and shelf life extension without affecting the sensory characteristics of smoked duck meat. Keywords: e-beam, quality attributes, sensory evaluation, smoked duck meat, vacuum packaging Practical Application: Duck meat is getting popularity nowadays including smoked duck meat. Therefore, the safety status of the smoked duck meat is very important. This study clearly identified the safety and quality of smoked duck meat by using the e-beam as a preservation technology. Introduction Consumption of white meat, including duck meat, is increasing because of the higher risk of cardiovascular diseases attributed to red meat. Therefore, duck meat and meat products are in demand by consumers worldwide (Kim and others 2016). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO 2012), the duck industry in Korea has grown rapidly; this growth is seen in commercial breeds grown for meat as well as in local breed populations. The quality and safety of meat and meat products have become a major issue. The consumption of con- taminated duck meat carries a higher risk of foodborne diseases (Kim and others 2016). Therefore, there is a pressing need for in- novative approaches for decontaminating meat and meat products. Irradiation of food, especially electron beam (e-beam) irradiation, JFDS-2016-1678 Submitted 10/12/2016, Accepted 2/1/2017. Authors An, Ar- shad, Jo, Chung, and Kwon are with School of Food Science and Biotechnology, Kyung- pook Natl. Univ., Daegu 41566, Korea. Author An is withHazardous Substances Analysis Div., Daegu Regional Food and Drug Administration, Daegu 704–940, Korea. He is also with School of Food Science and Biotechnology, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea. Author Arshad is withInst. of Home and Food Sciences, Government College Univ., Faisalabad 36000, Pakistan. Direct inquiries to author Kwon (E-mail: jhkwon@knu.ac.kr). is an important technology for preservation used worldwide (Li and others 2015). E-beam is an innovative approach used for decontaminating var- ious food products using low-dose ionizing radiation. It can im- pede the growth of microorganisms, such as foodborne pathogens, retain the quality of food, and enhance the shelf life and stabil- ity of products (Lung and others 2015). E-beam is a convenient technique for food preservation because it uses an electrical source instead of radioisotopes to generate ionizing energy. However, it has limited ability to penetrate food materials; therefore, its appli- cation in food is restricted (Farkas and Moh´ acsi-Farkas 2011). The 10 MeV electron linear accelerator can expand the use of e-beam irradiation in the food industry because compared with the 5 MeV, the 10 MeV can penetrate food materials to a sufficient depth. The quality of e-beam-irradiated food depends upon different factors such as processing conditions, product type, and packaging mate- rial (Medina and others 2009; Montiel and others 2013). E-beam has the ability to preserve the quality of meat without affecting its sensory attributes, which produces even better results if used with vacuum packaging (Castej´ on and others 2016). Low dose of e-beam irradiation can extend the shelf life of meat by decontaminating microorganisms without changing the quality and nutritional characteristics of meat (Arvanitoyannis and others 2009). The type of packaging is also important in controlling the C  2017 Institute of Food Technologists R  doi: 10.1111/1750-3841.13671 Vol. 00, Nr. 0, 2017  Journal of Food Science 1 Further reproduction without permission is prohibited