Applications of cold plasma technology in food industry

The first laboratory use of plasma in the food industry was to study the possibility of inactivating undesirable microorganisms from the surface of heat-sensitive foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, and eggs. Plasma treatment can be considered as a potential alternative to chemicals (eg chlorine treatment) or physical methods (eg high pressure, pulsed electric field, irradiation) for surface disinfection. Advantages of using plasma processes include high efficiency at low temperatures (generally <70 ° C), instantaneous production, low impact on the internal matrix of the product, no need for water or solvent and no waste left. Plasma processing can also have several benefits, such as cleaning surfaces, increasing surface energy, improving moisture, increasing printing and dyeability, and creating very thin coatings on films used in the packaging industry.