The Potential of Cold Plasma for Safe and Sustainable Food Production

Abstract

Cold plasma science and technology is increasingly investigated for translation to a plethora of issues in the agriculture and food sectors. The diversity of the mechanisms of action of cold plasma, and the flexibility as a standalone technology or one that can integrate with other technologies, provide a rich resource for driving innovative solutions. The emerging understanding of the longer-term role of cold plasma reactive species and follow-on effects across a range of systems will suggest how cold plasma may be optimally applied to biological systems in the agricultural and food sectors. Here we present the current status, emerging issues, regulatory context, and opportunities of cold plasma with respect to the broad stages of primary and secondary food production.

Cold Plasma, a New Hope in the Field of Virus Inactivation

“…It was also shown that DBD could be used to treat packaged food [26], however, inactivation was not as good as in case of non-packaged food and therefore this process would require further improvements before its implementation. Application of CP in food industry Journal Pre-proof J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f 8 for decontamination has multiple advantages over the most widely used thermal processing of food, as it can sustain freshness and quality of food with minimal impact on the environment due to shorter treatment times and energy requirements [11]. One must be careful when using CP for treating sensitive material such as food, as despite CP is in general at room temperature at the point of application, the temperatures can rise in some cases due to the specific CP generation conditions.…”

Nonthermal Plasma–Liquid Interactions in Food Processing: A Review

“…Atmospheric pressure Nonthermal Plasma (NTP) processing techniques have gained importance among researchers during the last decade, particularly for their applications in food (Surowsky, Schlüter, & Knorr, ). Due to their high reactivity and the self‐quenching characteristic, NTP reactive species have great potential to address issues related to food safety, nutritional quality, and environmental safety (Bourke, Ziuzina, Boehm, Cullen, & Keener, ; Misra, Schlüter, & Cullen, ; Pankaj & Keener, ). Apart from its bactericidal properties, NTP can also be used for the removal of pesticides residues (Misra, ; Misra et al., ), antibiotic residue in water (Magureanu, Mandache, & Parvulescu, ), to alter the functional properties of food (Jampala, Manolache, Gunasekaran, & Denes, ; Misra et al., ; Thirumdas, Trimukhe, Deshmukh, & Annapure, ) and packaging materials (Pankaj et al., ).…”

Sustainable Non‐Thermal Plasma‐Assisted Nitrogen Fixation—Synergistic Catalysis

“…[100][101][102] The amount of oxidizing species (e.g.,H 2 O 2 )g eneratedt hrough NTPNFc ould help disinfect the competing microorganisms while the reactive nitrogen species( NO 3 À ,N H 4 + )c ould add nutritional value and serve as fertilizers. Such examples include increasing growth rate, nutritional yield, or seed germination.…”

“…Such examples include increasing growth rate, nutritional yield, or seed germination. [100][101][102] The amount of oxidizing species (e.g.,H 2 O 2 )g eneratedt hrough NTPNFc ould help disinfect the competing microorganisms while the reactive nitrogen species( NO 3 À ,N H 4 + )c ould add nutritional value and serve as fertilizers. The reactions behind these positive influences will be highly beneficial for the future applicationo ft his technology.F urthermore, the reactive plasma species including nitrogen radicals, hydrogen peroxide, and other oxidativec ompounds from NTPNF can also be utilized to detoxify and disinfect water,w hichi sb eneficial for wastewater treatment, water salinity and enrichment,a nd nutrient recycle for various processes.…”