Effect of reductant level in skeletal muscle and liver on the rate of loss of thiamin due to gamma-radiation.

A study was made of thiamin content of the skeletal muscles and livers of pork, chicken and beef after gamma-irradiation. gamma-Radiation from a 137Cs source was used to irradiate the samples with doses of 0, 1.5, 3, 6 and 10 kGy at 2 degrees C. Samples were also titrated with dichlorophenol-indophenol to determine the reducing capacity of the tissues. The rate of loss of thiamin upon irradiation was found to be about three time as as fast in skeletal muscle as it was in liver, and to be a function of the reducing capacity of the tissues, the loss decreasing with increasing reductant titer. For the same amount of thiamin loss, liver could be irradiated to three times the dose as could muscle.