Designing a cold plasma generator and its effect on decontamination of inocualated egg shells and aluminum foil

Cold plasma is one of the most innovative technologies that its sterilization effects on food materials has been very attractive over the last decade.Therefore, in this study we tried to design a cold plasma generator using a microwave oven in our laboratory. Then, the effect of exposure time (0, 60, 120, 240 and 300 S) on pasteurization of egg shells and aluminumfoil (inoculated with Salmonella) was investigated where the remaining bacteria were counted using drop method. Based on our results, firsly, the designed system was able to produce cold plasma (temperatures below 50°C); secondly this system was able to significantly reduce the number of microorganism (up to 5 log) in a short time (less than 3min). Therefore, our achievements confirm the capability of this system for sterilization of food and packaging materials without using heat or chemicals.

Designing a cold plasma generator and its effect on decontamination of inocualated egg shells and aluminum foil Keywords:

Cold plasma , Sterilization , decontamination , Microwave , Egg