Cold plasma (CP) and plasma-activated water (PAW) as novel technologies in food safety and quality: A review

Elimination of microbiological contamination of food products is paramount for consumer food safety and quality. In this way, researchers and food scientists are looking for new processes to improve the quality and safety of food and increase their shelf life. In recent years nonthermal plasma (NTP) has gained substantial attention due to its nonthermal, non-toxic nature, especially for applications such as bacterial inactivation, surface decontamination, and food disinfection from biological and chemical sources. It is being considered that plasma-activated water (PAW), which is a product of NTP's reaction with highly reactive nitrogen species (RNS) and reactive oxygen species (ROS), plays a significant role in food decontamination. Even though PAW has been extensively evaluated for its applications in biological decontamination, a complete evaluation of the most recent developments in the technology (e.g., PAW's applications in chemical decontamination in the food industry) is still missing. As such, this review is focused on NTP and PAW applications for improving food safety (microbial disinfection and surface decontamination),especially their properties and parameters that affect their efficiency in safety factors based on recent studies. Moreover, the subsequent effects on food quality (food allergens, enzymes, organoleptic and sensory properties) are discussed in detail. This review also highlights several limitations and advantages of NTP and PAW treatment, affecting their translation into real-life applications

Keywords:

plasma , nonthermal plasma , plasma-activated water , decontamination