The objective of this study is to develop a universally applicable approach for establishing the optimal dose range for the irradiation of plant and animal products. The approach involves the use of the optimization function for establishing the optimal irradiation dose range for each category of plant and animal product to maximize the suppression of targeted pathogens while preserving the surrounding molecules and biological structures. The proposed function implies that pathogens found in the product can be efficiently suppressed provided that irradiation is performed with the following criteria in mind: a high irradiation dose uniformity, a high probability of irradiation hitting pathogens and controlled heterogeneity of radiobiological sensitivity of pathogens. This study compares the optimal dose ranges for animal and plant products using beef tenderloin and seed potato tubers as examples. In a series of experiments, our team traced the dose dependencies of myoglobin oxidation in beef and the amount of potential damage to albumin’s native structure. The behavior patterns of myoglobin derivatives and the amount of potential damage to albumin found in this study determined the optimal dose range, which appeared to be wider for beef irradiation compared to that for seed potato tubers, as they do not require uniform irradiation of the entire volume since targeted phytopathogens are predominantly found within the surface layers of the tubers. The use of proprietary methods involving spectrophotometry and high-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry provides a novel perspective on the quantitative assessment of the myoglobin oxidation level and the potential damage to albumin’s native structure.

This study focuses on the influence of pre-planting irradiation on the development, health, and yield of seed potatoes infected with Rhizoctonia solani. The research was prompted by the need to ensure crop security and sustainability in the modern-day environment, which calls into question the future sufficiency of crop yields. Considering that the focus has shifted to non-chemical methods of crop treatment at all plant development stages in response to more stringent regulations governing potato production, it is particularly important to refine physics-based methods to suppress fungal diseases caused by Rhizoctonia solani. Irradiation of tubers with 20–150 Gy inhibited the potato development phases and the doses exceeding 150 Gy completely suppressed the potato sprouting. Doses ranging from 20 Gy to 100 Gy decreased the quantity of large tubers by 10–20% on average while the number of medium and small tubers increased by 5–15% and 3–10%, respectively. Irradiation of seed potatoes also decreased the sclerotia and non-sclerotia forms of diseases caused by Rhizoctonia solani in the harvested tubers. It was found that 1 MeV electron irradiation with doses ranging from 20 Gy to 30 Gy is the most efficient for the pre-planting treatment of seed potatoes since the penetration of low-energy accelerated electrons into the upper layers of potato tubers ensures the suppression of diseases caused by Rhizoctonia solani by at least 10% from the value of non-irradiated samples and prevents the reduction of total yield allowing for a maximum of 25% loss.

Food irradiation is increasingly used to extend shelf life and control pests and diseases. Monitoring post-treatment doses typically relies on expensive, laborious instruments and may miss low doses. We previously proposed a chemical fingerprinting method that estimates dose based on indicator reaction rates, but this approach was tested only on freshly irradiated samples. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of determining the order of magnitude of dose in irradiated raw potato tubers after several days of storage. A completely randomized experimental design was used. Water extracts of potatoes were assayed in oxidation–reduction and aggregation reactions in 96-well plates; reaction rates were tracked by absorbance and fluorescence and analyzed chemometrically. We could distinguish dose orders of magnitude (0, 100, 1000 Gy) after 0, 2, and 6 days of storage at 4 °C. The accuracy of dose recognition on day 6 was at least 97% by using SoftMax regression (SR) or linear discriminant analysis (LDA); irradiated and non-irradiated samples were confidently distinguished using partial least square–discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). The reaction-based method of dose assessment is simple, rapid, and does not require sophisticated equipment.

Electron beam irradiation, extensively used for suppressing a wide range of pathogens contaminating food products, pharmaceuticals and biological raw materials, inevitably damages the surrounding proteins, stripping the product of its essential nutritional and functional properties. This issue can be addressed by adjusting the electron beam irradiation dose, bearing in mind the concentration of proteins in the product since it can affect the rate of radiation-induced modifications in proteins. The study investigates the impact of 7.5 MeV electron-beam irradiation on modifications in bovine serum albumin (BSA) molecules in 0.9% NaCl solution in the concentration range of 0.5–70 mg/mL, encompassing a wide range of protein concentrations in food products, pharmaceuticals and biological raw materials. Conformational changes and aggregation of BSA were evaluated using UV–Vis spectrophotometry at λ = 350 nm. Peptide bond rupture in protein native structures was assessed by performing HPLC-MS/MS analysis after trypsin hydrolysis using three selected peptides located in different domains of the BSA amino acid sequence. It was found that the rate of radiation-induced modifications increased with an increase in the irradiation dose but decreased markedly as BSA concentration increased. While at the BSA concentration of 0.5 mg/mL over 87% of BSA molecules underwent peptide bond rupture under irradiation with a dose of 5 kGy, a two-fold increase in the BSA concentration and irradiation dose enabled bond rupture in only 20% of BSA molecules. Our experimental approach resulting in the development of the dose and concentration model allows us to quantify the degree of radiation-induced protein modifications depending on the irradiation dose and protein concentration in food products, pharmaceuticals and biological raw materials.

The effect of low-energy ionizing radiation in the dose range of 5–30 Gy on the biological performance of rapeseed (Brassica napus) seeds was investigated. Presowing irradiation led to an improvement in both germination rate and crop productivity. X-ray irradiation at doses of 15, 20, and 25 Gy increased rapeseed yield by 298, 130, and 202%, respectively, in comparison with a reference group. Irradiation with accelerated electrons at doses of 30 and 25 Gy increased the yield by 42 and 126%, respectively.