Effect of low- dose irradiation on quality of fresh walnuts during shelf life at cold storage

To explore the effect of low- dose irradiation on quality of fresh walnuts and the proper irradiation dose for the preservation of fresh walnuts,‘Liaoning 2 'fresh walnuts were packed in PE30 packages after being given60Coγ- irradiation doses of 0.075,0.100 and 0.300 kGy( non- irradiation as control),then stored at( 0 ± 1) ℃ at 30 d intervals plus 10 d at 4 ℃.Result showed that all the doses used had a positive effect on maintaining the quality of fresh walnuts during storage. The dose of 0.300 kGy performed better on keeping the contents of water content,crude protein and fat,decreasing peroxide value and acid value and keeping higher contents of unsaturated fat acids,maintaining high nutritional value of fresh walnuts.Therefore,0.300 kGy was evaluated as the optimal dose for preservation of fresh walnuts in this study.