Enhancement of dehydration performance of rice waste by gamma-ray irradiation

Food waste (FW) has a high organic content, but its moisture content (up to 75–95%) limits its application. Improvement of dehydration has great significance for the subsequent treatment. This study investigated the influences of gamma-ray irradiation on the dehydration performance of rice waste, a major ingredient of FW. The measurement of mechanical centrifugation dehydration, moisture distribution and bond energy (Hb) indicated that the supernatant volume, free moisture content and decrease in bonding energy is significantly enhanced by gamma-ray irradiation. Moreover, the mechanism of dehydration performance enhancement was discussed based on particle size analysis, reducing sugar (RS) content, UV–Vis spectrum and pH-value.