4 replies to this topic

[drtrmiller]

What would happen if you packaged a cricket (or another insect) in a nitrogen-flushed blister pack, and used gamma radiation sterilization to murder all the organisms in the pack?  Would it "spoil," or would it be essentially a 100% preserved specimen, without any heat treatment/cooking?  I wonder if the ants would notice any difference?

 

Food irradiation is already used to preserve many foods you buy, including meats, and has been deemed safe by major health organizations!

 

This holy-grail of convenient, shelf-stable insects may be something to look into.  Google well, my friends.

Edited by drtrmiller, February 7 2016 - 1:35 PM.

[Subverted]

In theory, yes this idea seems pretty sound. Something to consider is whether enzymes would consider to digest things...

[iXvXi]

This is really cool actually, the irradiation can also prevent seeds from germinating!

I would think a electron beam would be more suitable for this (e-beam) but I'm not sure how one would even aquire something like that.

Electromagnetic spectrum would probably be the most plausible.

UV light: I would think this would be "somewhat" achievable. It acts more like a
Pasteurization though, rather than irradiation. Unfortunately you would need over 1000w of UV though and that is costly and would probably require you to make it yourself. You would probably have to use several ballast's and a lot of germicidal bulbs daisy chained together.

Gamma: I'm not exactly sure how you would go about this either. You would need some sort of radioactive material that expels gamma rays in a collimator of some sort. That or a synchrotron or something similar to a partial accelerator which makes my brain hurt thinking about lol.

X-rays: Which acts like "pool" in a sense by shooting protons that "knock" other protons out of another atom. Again, would take some engineering and planning (if it's even legal in your state)

*Gamma rays and x-rays both expels radiation therfore is dangerous. (Given)

Of course all of that could be avoided by paying a 3rd party.

Irradiation does not make foods radioactive, compromise nutritional quality, or noticeably change the taste, texture, or appearance of food. In fact, any changes made by irradiation are so minimal that it is not easy to tell if a food has been irradiated. So I think it's safe to say the ants wouldn't mind.

As far as nitrogen flushing this could very well be done. It greatly reduces the expiration time. I would think all one would have to do is replace the oxygen in the bag with c02 and seal it securely under a vacuum so no oxygen gets back in.

Edited by iXvXi, February 12 2016 - 2:33 PM.

[BrittonLS]

I would think a electron beam would be more suitable for this (e-beam) but I'm not sure how one would even aquire something like that.

I actually came across a video of someone building am electron microscope in their garage. Which of course requires an electron beam emitter. Not sure how great an electron beam would be, I haven't heard of any processes that 'bathe' something in electron radiation. I would think another kind of radiation would be more effective. Usually you need to use an electron beam in a vacuum too, but maybe that's not the case if you want wide dispersal.

[drtrmiller]

I came across a company that performs electron beam sterilization. Seems pretty affordable, but I wonder if there is a minimum charge. Also, the whole manufacturing process would need to be performed rather quickly and probably at the same site, which rather complicates the process.