Eur. Phys. J. D (2012) 66: 276
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2012-30053-1

Regular Article

Atmospheric-pressure cold plasma treatment of contaminated fresh fruit and vegetable slices: inactivation and physiochemical properties evaluation

¹ Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, P.R. China
² College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, P.R. China
³ Department of Applied Science and Technology and Center for Microplasma Science and Technology, Saint Peter’s College, Jersey City, 07306 New Jersey, USA
⁴ Department of Applied Physics, Polytechnic Institute of New York University, Brooklyn, New York 11201, USA

^a These authors have equal contribution to this work
^b e-mail: zhangjue@pku.edu.cn
^c e-mail: wzhu@spc.edu

Received: 22 January 2012
Received in final form: 19 May 2012
Published online: 30 October 2012

Abstract

A direct-current, atmospheric-pressure air cold plasma microjet (PMJ) was applied to disinfect Salmonella directly deposited on fresh fruit and vegetable slices. Effective inactivation was achieved on sliced fruit and vegetables after 1 s plasma treatment. The physiochemical properties of the slices, such as water content, color parameters, and nutritional content were monitored before and after plasma treatment. It was found that the physiochemical properties changes caused by the plasma were within an acceptable range. Reactive oxygen species, which are believed to be the major bactericidal agents in the plasma, were detected by electron spin resonance spectroscopy and optical emission spectroscopy.