Evaluation of the Treatment of Both Sides of Raw Chicken Breasts with an Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet for the Inactivation of Escherichia coli

Abstract

Atmospheric pressure plasma (APP) is an emerging nonthermal microbial inactivation technique. In this study, agar and raw chicken breast were inoculated with Escherichia coli and treated with an APP jet based on cold arc plasma. The aim of this study was to investigate the optimum conditions for the plasma treatment of an APP jet in order to maximize the efficiency of E. coli inactivation. The combination of N2+O2 (10 standard cubic centimeters per minute) and a longer treatment time (10 min) resulted in the highest inactivation of E. coli on agar plates with an optimum treatment distance of 20 mm. The samples in dry and wet conditions showed similar reductions in E. coli count when one side of the samples was treated at a given treatment time. Treating both sides-2.5 min on each side-resulted in a higher growth inhibition of E. coli than treatment of a single side only for 5 min. However, there was no significant difference between one-side treated samples (10 min) and both-sides treated samples (5+5 min). When the concentration of E. coli in the chicken breast sample was 10(4) colony-forming units (CFU)/g, the reduction rate of the E. coli was the highest, followed by 10(5), 10(6), and 10(7) CFU/g; however, no difference was found between 10(3) and 10(4) CFU/g. In conclusion, various treatment conditions may affect the inactivation efficiency of E. coli. In the present study, the optimum condition was determined as the treatment distance of 20 mm and longer treatment time (10 min) with the addition of oxygen to the nitrogen gas flow. Furthermore, the cell concentration of sample was an important parameter for the efficacy of the inactivation process.

Prospective Applications of Cold Plasma for Processing Poultry Products: Benefits, Effects on Quality Attributes, and Limitations

“…Recent studies have proposed cold plasma as a tool to enhance the production yield in chicken farms, through vaccine production, growth and reproduction enhancement (Wang; et al., ; Zhang et al., ; Zhang, Do, et al., ; Zhang, Huynh, et al., ; Zhang, Wang, et al., ), and to assure the safety of the poultry products (Aly, ; Apostol et al., ; Dirks et al., ; Georgescu et al., ; Lee et al., 2011, , ; Ragni et al., ; Rossow et al., ; Wang et al., ; Yong et al., ; Figure ). This wide range of potential application is because of the presence of reactive species and photons and the consequent chemical reactions that these components may induce in the treated product.…”

“…Therefore, the results of this study might be different from that of the industrial decontamination of poultry products wherein the microorganisms are mainly located on the chicken skin or eggshell with special topography and different chemical composition (for example, different protein, fat, and moisture levels). Therefore, food scientist assessed the decontamination effects of cold plasma on chicken meat (Dirks et al., ; Lee et al., ; Myers et al., ; Noriega, Shama, Laca, Díaz, & Kong, ; Rossow et al., ; Wang et al., , ; Yong et al., ) and egg (Apostol et al., ; Georgescu et al., ; Lee et al., ; Ragni et al., ; Wan, Chen, Pankaj, & Keener, ; Figure ).…”

“…Recently, the findings of many studies imply that nonthermal plasma technology can be considered a profitable tool in agri‐food industries such as the poultry industry. Researchers around the world showed that this emerging technology can be used for enhancing the microbiological safety of various products (Aly, ; Apostol, Georgescu, Vatuiu, & Gaceu, ; Dirks et al., ; Georgescu, Nicolae, Apostol, & Gherendi, ; Lee et al., , , ; Ragni et al., ; Rossow, Ludewig, & Braun, ; Wang, Zhuang, Lawrence, & Zhang., ; Yong et al., ) and increasing the production rates in the farm (Wang et al., ; Zhang et al., ; Zhang, Do, et al., ; Zhang, Huynh, et al., ; Zhang, Wang, et al., ).…”

“…Therefore, the food industry employed several approaches to enhance the safety and shelf-life of these products. Conventional preservation techniques for poultry products include freezing, re-products (Aly, 2013;Apostol, Georgescu, Vatuiu, & Gaceu, 2015;Dirks et al, 2012;Georgescu, Nicolae, Apostol, & Gherendi, 2017;Lee et al, 2011Lee et al, , 2012Lee et al, , 2016Ragni et al, 2010;Rossow, Ludewig, & Braun, 2018;Wang, Zhuang, Lawrence, & Zhang., 2018;Yong et al, 2014) and increasing the production rates in the farm Zhang et al, 2017;Zhang, Do, et al, 2018;Zhang, Huynh, et al, 2018;Zhang, Wang, et al, 2018).…”

Applications of cold plasma technology for microbiological safety in meat industry

“…When treating with a 324 plasma jet, exposure of both sides of the meat surface to plasma is recommended for 325 ensuring treatment uniformity and higher inactivation. It has been shown that exposure of 326 each side of chicken breast to plasma for 2.5 min resulted in higher inactivation of E. coli 327 than 5 min treatment on single side (Yong, et al, 2014). 328…”