What are the effects of gamma irradiation, modified atmosphere packaging, and storage on different properties of turmeric essential oil?

Nowadays, the irradiation process has gained great attention in food industries, especially for spices owing to its microbial decontamination power. Therefore, the impact of irradiation on the bioactive compounds and physicochemical attributes of food products needs to be investigated during their shelf life. In the present survey, during one year of storage the impact of gamma irradiation at different doses (0, 5, 10 and 15 kGy) under various packaging atmospheres (air, vacuum and N2) on the chemical components and antimicrobial characteristics of essential oil (EO) and Hunter's color values of turmeric powder was evaluated. The findings showed that by increasing the storage time, and consequently, accelerating the oxidation process, the content of total chemical compounds of EO in all samples decreased and the influence of storage time on the physicochemical attributes of turmeric powder was much stronger than the impact of packaging atmospheres and irradiation. Irradiation was impressive in discoloration (ΔE) of turmeric powder; furthermore, storage time and air atmosphere had an increasing effect on its ΔE. •Turmeric powder was irradiated and stored for 1 year under different atmospheres.•Irradiation was effective in maintaining the hygienic quality of turmeric powder.•Gamma irradiation improved health properties of samples during 1 year of storage.•Effect of storage time was more than the other studied factors on samples' quality.•During storage, amounts of some EO's chemical components reduced.