Radiation Physics and Chemistry 61 (2001) 41–47 Lipid oxidation and volatile production in irradiated raw pork batters prepared with commercial soybean oil containing vitamin E Cheorun Jo a , Dong Uk Ahn b , Myung Woo Byun a, * a Team for Radiation Food Science and Biotechnology, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, PO Box 105, Yusong, Taejon 305-600, South Korea b Department of Animal Science, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011-3150, USA Received 9 June 2000; received in revised form 19 October 2000; accepted 3 November 2000 Abstract An emulsion-type raw pork batter was prepared using 10% (meat weight) of backfat or commercial soybean oil enrichedwithvitaminEtodeterminetheeffectofirradiationonlipidoxidationandvolatileproductionduringstorage. Batters (approximately 100g) were vacuum- or aerobically packaged and irradiated at 0, 2.5 or 4.5kGy. Irradiation increased lipid oxidation of aerobically packaged raw pork batters prepared with both backfat and soybean oil. Lipid oxidation of vacuum-packaged pork batters was not influenced by irradiation except for the batter prepared with backfat at day 0. Aerobically packaged batters prepared with soybean oil had lower (P50.05) TBARS than that with backfat, but vacuum-packaged ones were not different. The sum of volatile compounds with short retention time (51.80) increased by irradiation, and with storage time except for aerobic packaging at day 7. The amount of total volatile compounds had an increasing trend until day 3, but not at day 7. Irradiation increased the production of total volatile compounds in the batters prepared with soybean oil and vacuum packaged, but irradiation effect on volatile production was not consistent with other treatments. # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Lipid oxidation; Volatile compounds; Raw pork batter; Vitamin E; Soybean oil 1. Introduction The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimated that approximately 6.5 million cases of food-borne diseases of microbiological and parasitic origin occur in the US each year. Furthermore, the economic impact causedbyfoodsupplierlosses,lawsuits,andconsumers’ medical and hospital costs is also tremendous (Todd, 1989). The major food sources causing the outbreaks of food-borne diseases are meats, eggs, dairy products, fruits, vegetable, and seafoods. Recent outbreaks of food-borne illness increased consumer awareness of possible contamination with pathogens. Of surveyed consumers, 43% were very concerned about food safety (AMIF, 1993). Radiation destroys microorganisms by partial or total inactivation of genetic materials in living cells either by its direct effects on DNA, or through the production of radicals and ions that attack DNA indirectly (WHO, 1994). Because of relatively small influence on food itself compared to the living cells, irradiation technology is known to the best method to control pathogens in food including meat products. However, several quality aspects such as lipid oxidation, cholesterol oxidation, and off-flavor production should be considered in irradiating meat products (Ahn et al., 1997, 2000). The degree of unsaturation is one of the main factors influencing the rate of lipid oxidation. Although *Corresponding author. Tel.: +82-42-868-8060; fax: +82- 42-868-8043. E-mail address: mwbyun@kaeri.re.kr (M.W. Byun). 0969-806X/01/$-see front matter # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII:S0969-806X(00)00384-4