Effect of ⁶⁰Co gamma irradiation pre-treatment on drying characteristic of wheat

Wheat, pretreated by gamma irradiation, was dried by hot-air. Experiments were conduced to study the influence of three factors (different irradiation dosages, air temperatures, and initial moisture contents of wheat) on the drying characteristics and surface temperature of wheat. Conclusions were reached that: the drying characteristics and surface temperature were all affected by irradiation, and the drying rate and the surface temperature of wheat increased with the increase of irradiation dose. Study on the cell structure of wheat grain after irradiated by electron microscope, and it was found that the change of drying characteristics and surface temperature of wheat were due to the destruction of the cell structure made by irradiation. And the hot air temperatures and initial moisture contents of wheat can also affect the drying characteristics of wheat. The effects of dehydration rate and moisture content on surface temperature under different doses of gamma irradiation were analyzed.