Biochemical Impacts of Radiation Processing on Grapes and Artichoke Agro Industrial Wastes

Food irradiation is a method of preservation used to extend the shelf life of food products fresh and/or dried, destroy the contaminating harmful pathogens and modify the activity of bioactive compounds present in food materials.

Objective: The present study was conducted to test the possible biochemical impacts of radiation processing on wastes of grapes and artichoke, and to elucidate the physiological and biochemical effects of feeding growing male Wistar rats on diets supplemented with processed agro industrial wastes at dose levels of 10, 20 and 30 kGy.

Results: No significant differences were detected in the chemical composition of processed agro industrial wastes at all doses levels compared to non-irradiated one. Irradiation processing caused different changes in polyphenols and tannin contents as a function of radiation dose. Regarding the impact of irradiation treatment, up to 30 kGy on free radical scavenging activity of grape seeds-skin, and artichoke leaves, the results showed that there was a significant reduction in their ability to scavenge free radicals, while an exception was observed for artichoke leaves processed by 10 kGy. Changes in amino acids and fatty acids patterns were observed, as affected by irradiation (10- 30 kGy), without a specific trend in the two agro industrial wastes under investigation. The physiological and biochemical performance of growing male Wistar rats affected by feeding high fat diets supplemented with non-irradiated or irradiated agro industrial wastes under investigation for 8 weeks, showed better results when compared with those fed on reference diet. It has been revealed in body weight gain and internal organ weight alongside biochemical aspects such as serum lipid profile, AI, ALT, AST and plasma glucose.

Conclusion: No physiological and biochemical critical changes were observed on male Wistar rats due to irradiation. Further researches are needed to estimate the effect of radiation processing on bioactive compounds of the studied agro-industrial wastes extract.