Cereal Chem 41:87 - 97.  |  VIEW ARTICLE

Kinetic Studies with Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Absorption. On the Disappearance of Radicals Trapped in Gamma-Irradiated Flour.

C. C. Lee and I. S. Bhardwaj. Copyright 1964 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Radical concentrations in flour after irradiation with 60Co gamma rays were determined by means of electron paramagnetic resonance. The disappearance of such radicals follow second-order kinetics, the rate of disappearance in flour with 3.0% moisture being greater than that in the corresponding oven-dried flour. Possible mechanisms of reaction of the radiation-produced radicals are discussed. Consideration of such reaction mechanisms in conjunction with baking behaviors suggests that the predominant effects of irradiation would be degradation, with little or no polymerization.