Prospects for Treating Foods with Cold Atmospheric Gas Plasmas

Optimum cold plasma generating device for treatment of Aspergillus flavus from nuts surface

The objective of this research is to avail an optimum cold plasma generating device for inactivating Aspergillus flavus from nuts surface. For this purpose, a variety of tests were carried out using three applicable plasma generating devices such as atmospheric pressure capacitive coupled plasma (AP-CCP), direct current diode plasma (DC-DP), and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) for different values of input power, pressure, and irradiation time, using Argon gas. The experimental results were achieved upon performing irradiation of sample pistachio nuts by the aforementioned three devices. Finally, after data analysis based on two factors of toxin inactivation amount and cost feasibility for large scale industrial applications, the AP-CCP device was found to be as an optimum device with an acceptable 4 Logs fungi reduction. However, on the basis of single factor, i.e. toxin reduction rate, the DC-DP device works better with a highest fungi reduction rate of 5 Logs, using Argon in 1 Torr vacuum pressure, 300 W and 20 min irradiation.

Plasma inactivation of microorganisms on sprout seeds in a dielectric barrier discharge

Fresh produce is frequently contaminated by microorganisms, which may lead to spoilage or even pose a threat to human health. In particular sprouts are considered to be among the most risky foods sold at retail since they are grown in an environment practically ideal for growth of bacteria and usually consumed raw. Because heat treatment has a detrimental effect on the germination abilities of sprout seeds, alternative treatment technologies need to be developed for microbial inactivation purposes. In this study, non-thermal plasma decontamination of sprout seeds is evaluated as a promising option to enhance food safety while maintaining the seed germination capabilities. In detail, investigations focus on understanding the efficiency of non-thermal plasma inactivation of microorganisms as influenced by the type of microbial contamination, substrate surface properties and moisture content, as well as variations in the power input to the plasma device. To evaluate the impact of these parameters, we studied the reduction of native microbiota or artificially applied E. coli on alfalfa, onion, radish and cress seeds exposed to non-thermal plasma in an atmospheric pressure pulsed dielectric barrier discharge streamed with argon. Plasma treatment resulted in a maximum reduction of 3.4 logarithmic units for E. coli on cress seeds. A major challenge in plasma decontamination of granular food products turned out to be the complex surface topology, where the rough surface with cracks and crevices can shield microorganisms from plasma-generated reactive species, thus reducing the treatment efficiency. However, improvement of the inactivation efficiency was possible by optimizing substrate characteristics such as the moisture level and by tuning the power supply settings (voltage, frequency) to increase the production of reactive species. While the germination ability of alfalfa seeds was considerably decreased by harsh plasma treatment, enhanced germination was observed under mild conditions. In conclusion, the results from this study indicate that cold plasma treatment represents a promising technology for inactivation of bacteria on seeds used for sprout production while preserving their germination properties.

Decontamination of Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus spores on hazelnuts via atmospheric pressure fluidized bed plasma reactor

In this study, an atmospheric pressure fluidized bed plasma (APFBP) system was designed and its decontamination effect on aflatoxigenic fungi (Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus) on the surface of hazelnuts was investigated. Hazelnuts were artificially contaminated with A. flavus and A. parasiticus and then were treated with dry air plasma for up to 5min in the APFBP system at various plasma parameters. Significant reductions of 4.50 log (cfu/g) in A. flavus and 4.19 log (cfu/g) in A. parasiticus were achieved after 5min treatments at 100% V - 25kHz (655W) by using dry air as the plasma forming gas. The decontamination effect of APFBP on A. flavus and A. parasiticus spores inoculated on hazelnuts was increased with the applied reference voltage and the frequency. No change or slight reductions were observed in A. flavus and A. parasiticus load during the storage of plasma treated hazelnuts whereas on the control samples fungi continued to grow under storage conditions (30days at 25°C). Temperature change on hazelnut surfaces in the range between 35 and 90°C was monitored with a thermal camera, and it was demonstrated that the temperature increase taking place during plasma treatment did not have a lethal effect on A. flavus and A. parasiticus spores. The damage caused by APFBP treatment on Aspergillus spp. spores was also observed by scanning electron microscopy.