| Abstract: | Cooked, frozen or chilled whole tails of Norway lobster were either not irradiated or given doses of 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 kGy using a cobalt 60 source. The cuticle was removed, freeze-dried and ground before determination of the free radical concentration using electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. The ESR signal strength increased linearly with increasing irradiation dose. In comparison to the chilled samples, cooking before irradiation significantly increased (69%) signal intensity whereas cooking after irradiation decreased (27%) signal strength. Irradiating the samples in the frozen state did not significantly alter the free radical concentration in the cuticle. |
