Research note: The effect of electron-beam irradiation on microbial load, shelf-life and color of refrigerated chicken tenders

Electron-beam (E-beam) irradiation is a non-thermal intervention with the potential to reduce microbial load and extend shelf-life in raw poultry products. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of E-beam irradiation doses on microbial load, color stability, and shelf-life parameters of tray packed chicken tenders stored under refrigerator conditions for 27 days. Across all sampling days, E-beam irradiation significantly reduced APC compared to the nonirradiated control (p < 0.05), with suppression of microbial growth persisting throughout refrigerated storage. By day 27, irradiated samples exhibited reductions of 2.90 to 5.90 Log CFU/g compared to the control. Enterobacteriaceae (EB) was largely undetectable in irradiated samples during early storage. At day 27, irradiated samples were significantly lower than control samples, indicating delay in microbial growth. E-beam irradiation consistently increased redness(a*) across storage days independent of dose, while changes in lightness (L*) and yellowness (b*) were minimal, time-dependent and largely remained within acceptable ranges for poultry meat. Ranges 1.5 and 2.5 kGy provided effective microbial suppression with minor impact on color. These findings demonstrate that E-beam irradiation has the ability to alter spoilage of refrigerated chicken tenders by reducing initial microbial load and delaying the onset of microbial growth, while maintaining acceptable color characteristics.