Quality properties of oil Produced from irradiated Syrian thyme meal

This study was planned to irradiate the green thyme meal (GThM) and red thyme meal (RThM) at 15 kGy (gamma irradiation) and stored in poly ethylene (PET) materials for a storage period of 12 months. Set of GThM and RThM packed in PET without irradiation served as non-irradiated sample (NIR). At 0, 6, and 12 months of storage, the samples in different treatments were drawn for biochemical changes (Acidity value, peroxide value (PV), Iodine value (IV), saponification value (SV), the refractive index (RI), as fatty acid profile were noticed in oil produced from treated with gamma irradiation and non-irradiated samples of GThM and RThM at different period of storage. The physicochemical properties of the oil produced from GThM and RThM) samples were: AV (1.73 and 1.55 mg KOH g-1 oil), PV (7.11 and 7.11 mEqO2 kg-1 oil), TBA (0.0084 and 0.0095 mg MDA kg-1 oil), IV (112.82 and 108.98 g-1 oil), SV (176.44 and 172.62 mg KOH g-1 oil), RI (1.474 and 1.474) respectively. The overall physicochemical properties values of oil produced from GThM and RThM) treated with 0, and 15 kGy and stored for 0, 6 and12 months were falls within the recommended codex for edible vegetables oils. The current study demonstrated that the effect of irradiation with 15 kGy of gamma ray and storage up to 12 months on the fatty acid profile of oil produced from GThM and RThM) was minimized.