Application of Cold Plasma in Food Safety and Quality

Cold plasma is a novel non thermal food processing technology that uses energetic, reactive gases to inactivate contaminating microbes on meats, poultry, fruits, and vegetables. The microbial inactivation is mainly due to UV light and reactive chemical products of the cold plasma ionization process. Cold plasma systems operates at atmospheric pressures or in low pressure treatment chambers. Reductions of greater than 5 logs can be obtained for pathogens such as Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus. Effective treatment times can range from 120 s to as little as 3 s, depending on the food treated and the processing conditions. Key limitations for cold plasma are the relatively early state of technology development, the variety and complexity of the necessary equipment, and the largely unexplored impacts of cold plasma treatment on the sensory and nutritional qualities of treated foods.