Abstract
The dried petals of Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) that the raw material for preparation of food coloring agent, Carthamus yellow pigment, were irradiated with the doses of 5, 10 and 30kGy of gamma ray and electoron beam. Then, the effects on the extraction efficiency and the composition of pigments were examined. (1) It was confirmed that the efficiency of pigment extraction was increased by the irradiation of ionizing radiation to the sample. With gamma ray irradiation at 5kGy and 10kGy, the extraction efficiency increased 10% and 15% respectively, however, with irradiation dose at 30kGy, the extraction efficiency decreased 5% more than non-irradiated sample. With electoron beam irradiation at 5kGy and 10kGy, extraction efficiency increased 4% and 9% respectively, however, the increase were minimal at 30kGy. (2) The absorption spectra of the solition extracted from the irradiated and non-irradiated samples were nearly identical and demonstrated that a change in the composition of pigments did not occur with irradiation. However, the chromophore in pigment molecules may be decomposed with high doses of irradiation, such as 30kGy, it can be assumed that such irradiation can cause a decrease in extraction efficiency of pigments. (3) It was confirmed that decontamination of microorganisms was practicable, with irradiation of ionizing radiation at more than 5kGy.
