Based on the thermoluminescence (TL) assay, our study mainly investigated the specific method for identifying irradiated bee pollen samples. After extracting silicate minerals from samples, integrated intensity of the first TL curve was obtained (G1). Then, the extracted minerals were irradiated with ?-rays at dose of 1 kGy, followed by the calculation of the integrated intensity out of the second TL curve (G2). The cutoff ratio of G1/G2 could be used to identify the irradiated samples: i.e. G1/G2≥0.10 meant samples were irradiated, and G1/G2<0.10 meant the  samples were unirradiated. Therefore, this novel assay could be an effective method for identifying irradiated samples.Cited