Effects of gamma-irradiation on the alpha-tocopherol and fatty acids content of raw unpeeled almond kernels (Prunus dulcis)

The present study evaluated fatty acid composition and a-tocopherol content of almond as a function of irradiation dose in order to determine dose levels causing minimal undesirable changes to almonds. Raw unpeeled almonds variety Tuono (Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D. A. Webb) were irradiated using 60Co source at dose of 0.5, 1.5, 3, 6, 8 and 10 kGy. Both control and irradiated samples were kept frozen and immediately analyzed. The data obtained showed no change in fatty acid compositions up to a dose of 10 kGy; on the contrary, a general trend observed is that increasing the dose of irradiation resulted in the decrease of a-tocopherol content. The study has shown that irradiation is an effective tool in simultaneous preservation of a-tocopherol, that is the main vitamin-E active compound, and fatty acids content in almonds at low doses.