SUMMARY Samples of beef and pork fats were irradiated under vacuum at seven doses ranging from 0.5 to 6.0 megarads. Of the components produced by irradiation, 41 were identified by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. These include a series of n‐alkanes, 1‐alkenes, internally unsaturated alkenes and alkadienes. The latter two groups of compounds have not been reported previously in meats or meat fats. In addition, hexadecanal, octadecanal and octadecenal were found to be produced in relatively large quantities by irradiation. Quantitative data showed that a definite relationship exists between the volatile pattern and ther fatty acid composition of the irradiated material. Flavor thershold values of the unsaturated classes of hydrocarbons vary widely among themselves but are much lower than those of the n‐alkanes.

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