The use of gamma irradiation in agriculture

Lately, radiation technology is widely used to produce changes in the product characteristics leading to the development of new products. Gamma irradiation is capable of hydrolyzing chemical bonds, thereby cleaving large molecules of starch into smaller fragments of dextrin that may be either electrically charged or uncharged as free radicals. These changes may affect the physical and rheological properties of irradiated foods, resulting in increased solubility of starch, decreased swelling power, and decreased viscosity of starch paste. Irradiation of gamma rays on bud wood can produce higher frequencies of mutation, leading to the creation of new variants compared to the control. Macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins and lipids) content are relatively stable against irradiation doses up to 10 kGy, on the other hand, gamma irradiation affects proteins by causing conformational changes, oxidation of amino acids, rupturing of covalent bonds and formation of protein free radicals. Radiation mediated morphological, structural and functional changes in a plant are governed by the intensity and duration of the gamma irradiation.