• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.155-165
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• 2008

A seasoned squid Jeotkal, Korean traditional fermented seafood, and its ingredients for manufacturing, including red hot pepper powder, ground garlic, sesame seeds, were irradiated with 0, 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 kGy by electron beam and stored at $4^{\circ}C$ for 4 weeks to determine the changes in microbiological and sensory characteristics. The initial contamination of squid Jeotkal such as total aerobic bacteria, yeast & mold, and coliform bacteria were at the levels of 2.88, 3.04, and 4.20 log CFU/g, respectively. However, electron beam irradiation with does at 5 kGy reduced the total aerobic bacteria to about 1 log CFU/g. Yeast & mold and coliform bacteria were reduced to 1-2 log CFU/g after 2 kGy of irradiation and reached to undetected level when the sample was irradiated at 5 kGy and following storage at $4^{\circ}C$ for 4 weeks. Sensory characteristics showed that electron beam irradiation of up to 5 kGy did not adversely affect overall acceptability of squid Jeotkal and its ingredients during cold storage. Therefore, electron beam irradiation is one of the possible means to improve storage stability of seasoned squid jeotkal, which has limited alternative sterilization methods due to the temperature characteristics of the products.