Degradation of limonene by gamma radiation for improving bioethanol production

Use of orange peel as a raw material for bioethanol production requires removal of its limonene content, which inhibits fermentation. Orange peel was pretreated using electron beam or gamma ray irradiation. Limonene content decreased in a dose-dependent manner, with approximately 60% reduction compared to the control after gamma irradiation at a dose of 800 kGy. However, electron beam irradiation did not demonstrate the same effectiveness. Therefore, gamma irradiation was deduced to be a promising pretreatment method for removing limonene from orange peel.