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Food and Nutrition Sciences, 2011, 2, 428-433 doi:10.4236/fns.2011.25060 Published Online July 2011 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/fns) Effect of Gamma Irradiation on Total Phenolic Content and in Vitro Antioxidant Activity of Pomegranate (Punica Granatum L.) Peels 1 2 1* Amol B. Mali , Kalpana Khedkar , Smita S. Lele 1Food Engineering and Technology Department, Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Matunga, India; 2Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT), Vashi, India. * Email: dr.smita.lele@ st th rd Received April 1 , 2011; revised April 25 , 2011; accepted May 3 , 2011. ABSTRACT Pomegranate peels were studied for the effect of gamma irradiation on microbial decontamination along with its effect on total phenolic content and in vitro antioxidant activity. Gamma irradiation was applied at various dose levels (5.0, 10.0, 15.0 and 25.0 kGy) on pomegranate peel powder. Both the values of total phenolic content and in vitro antioxi- dant activity were positively correlated and showed a significant increase (p 0.05) for 10.0 kGy irradiated dose level immediately after irradiation and 60 days of post irradiation storage. At 5.0 kGy and above dose level, gamma irradia- tion has reduced microbial count of pomegranate peel powder to nil. Post irradiation storage studies also showed that, the irradiated peel powder was microbiologically safe even after 90 days of storage period. Keywords : Pomegranate Peels, Food Irradiation, Total Phenolic Content, In Vitro Antioxidant Activity, Microbial Load 1. Introduction as well as beneficial effects on the oral and cardiovascu- lar diseases [10]. It has both antioxidant and an Pomeg