Table 1.
Comparative effects of gamm-ray (GR), electron beam (EB), and X-ray (XR) irradiation on microbial populations of black pepper powder

Microorganism	Sources	Dose (kGy)
		0	2	4	6	8	10
		Total bacteria population	GR	6.5±0.51)	5.6±0.9	5.0±0.3	3.7±0.8	3.2±0.7	1.0±0.4
EB	6.5±0.4		5.6±0.9	4.7±0.1	4.5±0.3	3.4±0.3	2.0±0.5
XR	6.5±0.4		5.5±0.1	4.7±0.4	4.7±0.2	3.6±0.9	2.6±0.6
Coli forms	GR	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND
	EB	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND
	XR	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND
Yeast & Molds	GR	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND
	EB	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND
	XR	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND	ND

Values are means ± standard deviation (n=5).
ND: Not detected within the detection limit‹1 log CFU/g.