Abstract：To investigate the effects of irradiation sterilization on the quality of crayfish hepatopancreas, Co60 irradiation (6 kGy) was used to sterilize whole crayfish and crayfish hepatopancreas alone, and a non-sterilized group was set as the control group. The color, browning index, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, peroxide value, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, total phenols, and pyrrole of the crayfish hepatopancreas were measured to explore the effects of different irradiation treatments on the quality changes of crayfish hepatopancreas. The results showed that there was no significant difference in color between the whole crayfish group and the non-sterilized group after irradiation sterilization, but the brightness L* of the irradiated crayfish hepatopancreas group increased significantly, and the redness a* value decreased significantly. After irradiation, the absorbance at 294 nm and browning degree of crayfish hepatopancreas increased, but the fluorescence intensity and 5-HMF content decreased, indicating that irradiation would intensify the Maillard reaction but also decompose the reaction products. The POV, TBARs, pyrrole, and total phenols contents of both irradiated sterilization groups were higher than those of the non-sterilized group, especially in the irradiated whole crayfish group, which had a significantly higher degree of oxidation. Overall, irradiation sterilization can maintain the color of crayfish hepatopancreas well, but it can also promote the Maillard reaction and lipid oxidation, especially in the presence of crayfish tails, which further promotes these reaction processes.
2024, Vol. 38 
