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Published on: June 29, 2014
Non-Thermal Processing via Plasma-Activated Sodium Hypochlorite: Inactivation Kinetics and Quality Retention in
Yuanpeng Li1, Xinmeng Huang1, Yanfei Yan1
1College of Smart Agriculture (Research Institute), Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Biological Resources and Genetic Engineering, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, China.
Abstract:
Plasma-activated water (PAW) represents an innovative disinfection technology utilizing water as the material. In this study, we employed sodium hypochlorite (NaClO; 10 ppm) solution as the substrate for activation by cold plasma (CP) and compared the disinfection efficacy of CP-NaClO with that of NaClO against Escherichia coli, E. coli O157:H7, and Salmonella Typhimurium. In bacterial suspensions, CP-NaClO inactivated all three microorganisms to below the detection limit within 40 s, whereas NaClO treatment resulted in reductions of 5.59, 3.73, and 4.73 log CFU/mL for E. coli, E. coli O157:H7, and S. Typhimurium, respectively. The inactivation kinetics in bacterial suspensions were analyzed using Linear, Weibull, and Log-logistic models, and the Weibull model best described CP-NaClO-mediated inactivation (R2 = 0.95, RMSE = 0.55, AIC = 6.88). CP-NaClO was further employed for disinfecting fresh-cut lettuce. The results indicated that CP-NaClO treatment for 40-70 s achieved a reduction of 0.93-2.76 log CFU/g for the three microorganisms, which was significantly greater than that achieved by NaClO (p < 0.05). No microorganisms were detected in the washing water after 70 s of treatment with CP-NaClO, whereas NaClO wash water contained 1.86 - 2.19 log CFU/mL. CP-NaClO also delayed firmness loss during storage without adversely affecting color attributes. These findings indicated that CP-NaClO was a potential non-thermal processing method, providing a theoretical basis for its application in a fresh-cut industry.
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