Cold atmospheric pressure plasma decontamination of allspice berries and effect on qualitative characteristics

  • PDF / 2,433,238 Bytes
  • 9 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
  • 83 Downloads / 197 Views

DOWNLOAD

REPORT


ORIGINAL PAPER

Cold atmospheric pressure plasma decontamination of allspice berries and effect on qualitative characteristics Veronika Medvecká1   · Silvia Mošovská2 · Anna Mikulajová2 · Ľubomír Valík2 · Anna Zahoranová1 Received: 1 April 2020 / Revised: 2 July 2020 / Accepted: 4 July 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020

Abstract The effect of low-temperature plasma generated at atmospheric pressure was studied in term of reduction of bacterial contamination and influence on nutritional characteristics of allspice (Pimenta dioica). The low-temperature plasma was generated in ambient air using Diffuse Coplanar Surface Barrier Discharge (DCSBD). The bacterial species inoculated on the surface of samples were reduced in dependence on exposure time. Plasma treatment time of 240 s led to ­log10 CFU/g of Salmonella Enteritidis to below detection level (1.0 l­og10 CFU/g) from initial population of 7.64 l­og10 CFU/g. After treatment with DCSBD plasma for 300 s, the populations of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus subtilis endospores were decreased by 2.85 ­log10 CFU/g and 1.70 l­ og10 CFU/g, respectively. The parameters related to the decontamination effect were measured. Temperature of samples does not exceed the value declared as low-temperature limit and water activity decreased after plasma treatment. The effect of plasma on the qualitative properties of allspice studied by infrared spectroscopy showed no changes in characteristic chemical bonds on the surface and also inside the samples. Measurements of polyphenolics content in allspice showed that plasma has negligible impact on these main constituents affecting taste and flavor. The experiments demonstrated an efficient reduction in microbial contamination and minimal influence on the aroma profile of treated and stored spice. Keywords  Allspice berries · Cold ambient air plasma · Decontamination · Qualitative characteristics · Storage

Introduction Spices are widely used as a significant part in food products for flavoring and improving the sensorial properties of foods. The increasing attention is paid to the microbial safety of this commodity. The potential contamination of spices depends mainly on the origin of product and the method of processing (growth, harvest, drying and storage) and the type and load of microorganisms may vary. The most frequently, spices are contaminated by bacterial species of Clostridium perfringens, C. botulinum, Bacillus cereus, Salmonella spp., and Escherichia coli [1, 2]. Even, the stability * Veronika Medvecká [email protected] 1



Department of Experimental Physics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Mlynská Dolina F1, 842 48 Bratislava, Slovak Republic



Department of Nutrition and Food Quality Assessment, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology, Radlinského 9, 811 07 Bratislava, Slovak Republic

2

of dried spices is due to the low water activity less affected, the untreated spices can significantly reduce the shelf-life of spiced food products. Espe