Impact of Cold Atmospheric Plasma (CAP) Treatments on the Oxidation of Pistachio Kernel Lipids

Abstract

Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) is a non-thermal technology that could be applied for food decontamination from both biological (microorganisms) and chemical (pesticides, food allergens, mycotoxins) contaminants, thanks to the production of reactive species (RS). However, RS could also promote the onset and the progress of food lipid oxidation, which may limit the quality and acceptability of the final products. The aim of this work was to assess the oxidation degree of pistachio kernels after treatment in a surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD). Two different operative conditions for CAP generation were investigated, resulting in the production of high (800 ppm) or low (300 ppm) concentrations of ozone. Limited amounts of hydroperoxides (3.00–4.22 mEq O2/kg), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS, 0.072–0.600 mg TEP/g oil), and phytosterol oxidation products (POPs, 14.43–17.20 μg/g) were observed in lipids of both control and plasma processed pistachios. Plasma treatments did not significantly affect the total fatty acid composition and the amounts of identified unsaponifiable matter constituents (4-desmethylsterols, 4,4-dimethylsterols, 4-methylsterols), except for an unexpected significant increase of γ-tocopherol content in extracted oils. These findings contribute to gaining further knowledge for the scale-up of CAP technology to industrial processing.

The simultaneous influence of ultraviolet rays and cold plasma on the physicochemical attributes and shelf life of dried pistachios during the storage period

“…The main countries in terms of producing raw pistachio in the world are Iran, USA, Turkey, Syria, and China (Makari et al, 2021). The universal production of pistachios in the years 2015–2019 was approximately 1 million metric tons annually, with the main producers, Iran, USA, and Turkey, accounting for around 85% of the whole production (Foligni et al, 2022).…”

“…However, the processing is frequently very time‐consuming, needing high energy input, and is therefore overpriced. Moreover, heat treatment could meaningfully affect the quality of food products (Foligni et al, 2022; Makari et al, 2021).…”

“…Besides this, Cold plasma technology has been displayed to overcome many of the insufficiency of regular decontamination strategies in the food industry, with slight damage to the quality of products and high efficiency (Foligni et al, 2022). Although several physical procedures have shown acceptable results in the decontamination of fungi and degradation of mycotoxins in many foods, to date there are few published works on the effects of simultaneous application of UV radiation and CP on foods, particularly pistachios in is available.…”