The safety and high quality of ethnic ready-to-eat foods as a source of nourishment and food supplies chain to the remote areas become particularly important. Consuming healthy and balanced nutritional foods means eating better quality foods in proper quantities. Such foods can be developed through a preservation technique by using ionizing radiation. Although implementation of the technology for certain foodstuffs has been implemented in some countries, application of the process to a complete set of meals for selected target groups is still very limited. The various recipes of ready-to-eat food rations based on soy bean, fish, red meat, and poultry, were first developed in collaboration with medium-sized food enterprises prior to quality assessments. The products were individually packed and sealed either in a laminate pouch of Nylon-PE or polyester-aluminum foil-LLDPE and exposed to ionizing radiation at 8 kGy or 45 kGy, respectively, under cryogenic conditions throughout the process, to protect the essential dietary nutrients against free radical attack, and to reduce the undesirable chemical migration from packing material to the food and oxidative changes within the food matrix containing fats. The irradiated foods were stored at room temperature without impairing the overall quality. The high quality of irradiated ethnic foods, i.e., bacem tofu, pepes gold fish, rendang beef, semur beef, and semur chicken, have been administered through an intervention study on adult groups as landslide victims in Cikadu, Pemalang for 30 days continuously at breakfast time: 7.00–9.00 A.M. The results showed that body mass index (BMI) (kg/m2), skin fold caliper (SFC) (mm), hemoglobin (g/dL), and total lymphocyte counts (%) of the targeted respondents did not tend to increase (at p ≥ 0.05) after consuming the irradiated foods, while the albumin content (g/dL) showed a significant increase in blood serum (at p ≤ 0.05). Sensory attributes, such as general appearance, texture, color, taste, and odor of such foods showed good evaluation by the respondents in order to collect more information regarding local culture and eating habits, as well as the general opinion about the irradiated foods. The irradiated ethnic ready-to-eat foods were generally well accepted by the respondents, though the cost-benefit of mass production were still of great concern.

Research has been carried out on seaweed-based irradiated functional food ingredients (carrageenan and alginate). This research aimed to determine and analyze the effect of irradiation on the Physico-chemical and microbiological quality of seaweed-based food ingredients. Sample preparation was carried out by preparing carrageenan and alginate flour, then packaged and irradiated with gamma rays at doses of 3, 5, and 7 kGy (0 kGy as control). Samples were stored at room temperature immediately after irradiation and then tested for Physico-chemical properties (moisture content, pH, water activity (aw), protein content, ash content, and viscosity) and microbiological properties (total aerobic microbes, total coliform, total molds and yeast). The results showed that the radiation dose of 3-7 kGy was effectively improved the hygienic quality of seaweed-based functional food (carrageenan and alginate) and optimum at a dose of 5-7 kGy, without changing the water content, pH, and aw. Meanwhile, the viscosity of the material increases with increasing radiation dose.

A preliminary study has been conducted on the Physicochemical properties of irradiated cocoa beans. Polyethylene (PE) plastic was used to pack dried cocoa beans. After that, samples were vacuumed and irradiated using the gamma rays at the levels dose of 2 kGy, 4 kGy, and 6 kGy as well as non-irradiated used as control. Physico-chemical properties were tested, including water content, pH, water activity (Aw), protein, fat, and polyphenols of irradiated cocoa beans, immediately after the irradiation process. The examination results revealed that moderate doses of 2 kGy up to 6 kGy did not affect the moisture content, pH, water activity (Aw), protein, and fat content of cocoa beans, whereas the polyphenol content tends to increase. Therefore, the moderate levels dose of irradiation 2 kGy up to 6 kGy can maintain the quality of cocoa beans such as moisture content, pH, water activity (Aw) as well as protein and fat content, whereas polyphenols content was increased. Further investigation is needed on the effect of gamma irradiation on the physicochemical properties of other cocoa beans and the microbiological properties and storage time.

This study was aimed to investigate the meatballs physical qualities that are irradiated with high-doses of gamma rays. This study used the irradiation method with the dosage of 20, 25 and 35 kGy and storage at room temperature. For the control (0 kGy), storage was done in the freezer. The results showed that at 0 month, the samples water contents at 20; 25; 35 kGy were 67,03%; 67,50%; 66,67%, with significant difference (p<0.05) to control 68,73%. Water content (%) at 2 months were 65,03%; 66.00%; 67.50% and control 63,23% 2 months has significant difference (p<0.05) but still meet the SNI standard (<70%). Optimum water activity was obtained at irradiation dose of 35 kGy. The pH results doses of 20; 25; 35 kGy for 0 month were 6,35; 6,34; 6,39 and 2 months were 6,59; 6,47; 6,46, respectively. pH of control was 5,87 at 0 month and 6,49 at 2 months. The pH of samples stored for 0 month were relatively higher than the control pH. At 2-month storage, the pH of the samples was lower than the control, but still meets the standard. Meatball irradiation up to 35 kGy can be used as an alternative for preservation at room temperature.

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