Effect of gamma radiation on sugars and vitamin C: Radiolytic pathways

• Published in: Food chemistry Vol. 245; pp. 1131 - 1140
• Main Authors: Ramírez-Cahero, Hiram F., Valdivia-López, Ma. Angeles
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 15-04-2018
• Subjects: Ascorbic acid; Fructose; Furanoids; Glucose; Ionizing radiation; Mechanistic pathways; Radiolytic decomposition; Sucrose; Ionizing radiation; Ascorbic acid; Sucrose; Radiolytic decomposition; Furanoids; Mechanistic pathways; Glucose; Fructose
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2017.11.057

•Radiolytic routes and mechanistic steps for sugars and vitamin C are proposed.•Fructose and ascorbic acid are more susceptible to gamma-irradiation.•Production of furanoids and some acids derivatives were observed.•Radiolytic and non-radiolytic decomposition pathways share some common features.
The radiolytic decomposition of glucose, fructose, sucrose, ascorbic acid (H2A) and dehydroascorbic acid (DHAA), induced by ionizing radiation, was investigated. Aqueous solutions of these compounds were gamma-irradiated at doses of 0.5, 0.7 and 1 kGy, with a dose rate of 0.04 kGy/min, in the presence of air, followed by HPLC, HPLC-MS, EPR, and UV–VIS spectroscopy analysis of the resulting mixtures. Carboxylic acids, 2-furaldehyde, 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde, furfuryl alcohol, 2-furoic acid and 2(5H)-furanone were identified in solutions of sugars and vitamin C, by comparing with standards. EPR studies exhibited a higher amount of free radicals for fructose than the other sugars, and more for DHAA than H2A. Additionally, spectroscopic determinations showed a typical UV–VIS absorption for furans during the storage of irradiated solutions. Formation and decomposition routes for furanoids and aliphatic carboxylic acids, and mechanistic pathways for the radiolytic induced rupture of glucose, fructose, sucrose and vitamin C have been proposed.