Development of the Continuous Ultraviolet Irradiation System and the Evaluation of Its Impact on Some Quality Properties of Ready-to-Use Pomegranate Arils

In this present study, the effect of ultraviolet radiation in the UV-C range with the wavelength of 254 nm on the increasing shelf-life of pomegranate arils was evaluated. For this purpose, at the first, a continuous ultraviolet irradiation system was constructed and pomegranate arils were irradiated with two doses of 6.3 and 8.4 kJ/m2. The results showed that the simple and interactive effects of UV irradiation, container type and storage time on the weight loss and color indices were significant and on average caused 27% decrease in weight loss, 7% increase in the L* index, 6.7% decrease in the a* value and 10% increase in the b* value of the control samples. With increasing irradiation dose, the total bacterial and fungal count were significantly reduced by 1.65 Log cfu g-1. Furthermore, the irradiation had a significant effect on the studied sensory properties (aroma, color, texture, and overall acceptance). Generally, based on the results of sensory evaluation, color indices and microbial growth, irradiation dose of 6.3 kJ/m2 is recommended to increase pomegranate arils shelf-life in non-porous packaging.