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Consumption of leafy greens has increased significantly in recent years. The nature of leafy greens makes them ideal hosts for spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms while the lack of non-thermal processing intervention makes them a food safety risk for consumers. Current decontamination practices have limited effectiveness, leave harmful residues and lower product quality. High voltage atmospheric cold plasma (HVACP) is a partially ionized gas generated at room temperature made up of electrons, ions, free radicals and neutral molecules. These reactive gas species can significantly reduce bacteria with minimal effect on product quality. A 3.51 log10 CFU/sample reduction of native microflora was observed after 7 days using a five minute, 80 kV, indirect HVACP treatment. A 3.18 and 3.77 log10 CFU/sample reduction of Salmonella enterica serovars and E. coli O157:H7 were observed after 14 days storage at 4 °C. Minimal quality effects were observed with HVACP treatment using nitrogen gas. Research funding was provided by the University of Guelph and the Barrett Family Foundation through the Barrett Chair in Sustainable Food Engineering Fund. 2022-10-01 |
