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For ages, herbs have been used as medicine and food. Nowadays, the interest in phytotherapeutics is increasing as well as the consumer attention. Some biochemical compounds synthesized by plants as alkaloids, phenolics, flavonoids, essential oils, tannins and vitamins, influence the composition of these plant pharmacologicals, which may produce various reactions in the human body. The microbial contamination in these raw plant materials is common, and the radiation processing is one appropriate technique for the reduction of microorganism. In herbs used as food products, the changes in total β -carotene and flavonoids upon the radiation treatment were tested. The powdered and dehydrated herbs were irradiated with 60 Co gamma rays applying doses of 0, 10, 20 and 30 kGy. The botanical species investigated were rosemary ( Rosmarinus officinalis Linne), watercress ( Nasturtium officinale R. Br), artichoke ( Cynara scolymus Linne) and sweet basil ( Ocimum basilicum Linne). The alterations in the active principles in the herbs following increasing doses of radiation were analyzed employing various methods of extraction and chromatography. |
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