Quality Characteristics of Gamma Irradiated Seasoned Low-salted Pollack (Theragra chalcogramma) Intestine

Seasoned low-salted pollack Theragra chalcogramma intestine (Changran Jetgal, CJ), a traditional Korean salt-fermented seafood was prepared using a commercially available method and irradiated using gamma rays (0-10.0kGy) to investigate the effect of gamma irradiation (GI) on food quality. The pH decreased with GI, while the acidity increased. TBA, VBN and NH2-N also showed a tendency to gradually increase with increasing GI. After 2.5kGy GI, the number of viable cells in CJ was reduced by one log compared to that observed in non-irradiated CJ, and no living cells were detected after 7.5kGy GI. In case of instrumental color parameters, as the GI increased, the L and a value increased, while a and ⊿E values decreased. Though up to 2.5kGy GI had no effect on color quality, over 7.5kGy GI resulted in significantly poor quality CJ surface color. Saturated fatty acid contents increased in irradiated CJ, while those of polyenes and monoenes decreased slightly as the GI dose increased. Exposure of CJ of GI had no effect on the free amino acid and mineral composition. Those results demonstrated that the appropriate GI dose for CJ ranged from 2.5 to 5.0kGy, which may be recommended for industrial application.