Cold Plasma Technology: A New Tool for FoodPreservation

One such emerging technology that has gained importance for the improvement of food safety is theuse of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) treatment. Cold plasma uses energetic, reactive gases and isemployed in inactivation of contaminating micro-organisms on a variety of foods, such as meats,poultry, fruits and vegetables. This technology has recently shown promise as a sanitizing tool withpotential applications for surface decontamination in dried nuts and sterilization infood industries.Key limitations for cold plasma are largely by unexplored impacts of cold plasma treatment on thesensory and nutritional qualities of treated foods. Nevertheless, cold plasma technology holds promiseas a rapid, effective non-thermal food processing technology and is the subject of active research toenhance efficacy. An overview of the cold plasma technology is presented with its potentialapplications.

Keywords:

atmospheric plasma , preservation , sanitizing tool , food safety