Identification and dose assessment of irradiated cumin by EPR spectrometry

The use of electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy to accurately distinguish irradiated from unirradiated cumin and assess the absorbed dose to radiation-processed cumin is examined. The results were successful for identifying both irradiated and unirradiated cumin. Additive reirradiation of the cumin produces a reproducible dose response function, which can be used to assess the initial dose by back-extrapolation. Third-degree polynomial and exponential functions were used to fit the EPR signal/dose curves. It was found that the 3rd degree polynomial function provides satisfactory results without correction for decay of free radicals. The exponential fit to the data cannot be used without correction of decay of free radicals. The stability of the radiation-induced EPR signal of irradiated cumin was studied over a storage period of 6 months. The additive reirradiation of some samples was carried out at different storage times (10, 20 and 30 days) after initial irradiation.